Volunteers Set To Serve Dinner For 1,000

FALMOUTH- Cooking for two, 10, or even 20 people on Thanksgiving is somewhat common for families in Falmouth, but cooking for 1,000 is an entirely different matter—one that takes months of planning and a certain personality.
“We love the stress,” organizer Deborah L. Netto of Brick Kiln Road laughed, while seated at her dining room table last week. “It is definitely a challenge.”
“But it always seems to come together,” Rachel P. White of Old Main Road, North Falmouth, quickly interjected. The two, along with John A. Bordieri Jr. of Acapesket Road, East Falmouth, were sorting out last-minute details for the dinner, to be held next Thursday, November 27, at the Portuguese-American Association’s Navigator clubhouse on Ashumet Road in Hatchville.
The Thanksgiving dinner has become a tradition that Ms. Netto and her husband, John A. Netto Jr., have inherited since 2002 after a few years of volunteering, when Jay Bartolomei, owner of Villagio Italian Ristorante & Martini Bar, organized the feast.
Except for two years ago, when Ms. Netto’s mother died, the event has continued like clockwork, allowing a community to come together for the holiday.

Ellen Barol of Falmouth, a volunteer at the Falmouth Service Center, helps to fill bags that will be given out for Thanksgiving. The service center is expecting 800 families to sign up to receive Thanksgiving meals this year. This Sunday is the annual turkey drop-off day. DON PARKINSON/ENTERPRISE

Ms. White remembered her first time attending the dinner several years ago, with her children away at school and herself fresh from surgery. She said, “I didn’t want to be alone.” Arriving at the Navigator at 9:30 in the morning, she immediately “jumped in and began helping,” she said. “I left at 6 that night.”
Since then, her role has expanded to include acting as the volunteer coordinator, responsible for signing up roughly 200 residents, young and old, to ensure that the dinner goes off without a hitch. What makes this event a success, Ms. White said, is the support from the entire community. “The sum of the parts is definitely greater than the whole,” she said.
At least for her, she said, the ability to give back to the town makes this event a fulfilling endeavor. “I think it does more for me than for the people we feed,” she said.
As to who can come to the dinner, Ms. Netto said: Anyone. Whether it is those in need, those who may be alone, or those wanting a stress-free holiday without the cooking: all are welcome. Volunteers will provide rides for those unable to drive and will drop off meals for those who prefer to stay home.
Last year volunteers served 500 meals in the clubhouse, coupled with more than 400 deliveries.
So how does one prepare for such an event? “We beg, borrow, and steal,” Ms. Netto said, obviously exaggerating with the last portion of the phrase.
Planning for the dinner began in September, Ms. Netto said, with the goal of amassing the following items: 90 turkey breasts; 150 pounds of potatoes; 130 pounds of carrots; 70 pounds of onions; 120 pounds of turnips; 30 bunches of celery; 150 pounds of butternut squash; and 75 pounds of sweet potatoes.
Because of the economy, Ms. Netto noted that donations are not as large as in year’s past. Yet, regardless, she expected the dinner to be a success based upon past experiences and a refusal to dwell on the negative.
Donations come from companies as large as Coca-Cola Bottling to local stores like Kappy’s, Family Foods, and Seafood Sam’s.
Last year, Ms. Netto said, Karen M. Phillipino of Hawks Way cooked a tray of lasagna for the dinner. Following the high school football game between Falmouth and Barnstable, the Falmouth High School Band Parents brought leftover orange juice, bagels, and doughnuts, Ms. Netto said.
This year, that spirit has continued, Ms. Netto said, with the help of people like Claire G. Lecy, who is a massage therapist with LCMT Muscular Therapy Associates, which has offices on Waquoit Highway. Ms. Lecy purchased $100 worth of groceries, ranging from brown sugar to aluminum foil to paper towels, that she donated to the event, Ms. Netto said.
Organizers also benefit from networking, Ms. Netto said, noting that one volunteer, Nancy L. Quigg, helped secure turkey breasts at a reasonable cost from Roche Brothers because she has a cousin who works in their corporate office. The supermarket chain even donated $500 toward the overall cost, Ms. Netto said.
One of the best partners in this effort, Ms. Netto said, is the Falmouth Service Center, the town’s food pantry. Through monetary donations to the service center, she said, organizers are able to obtain food at a fraction of the cost they normally would have. “They can turn a dollar into $4 or $5 by using the Greater Boston Food Bank,” Ms. Netto said.
In return, organizers are asking that residents who attend the dinner donate a free canned good to the service center. In these tough economic times, Ms. Netto said, supporting the service center is more important than ever. “Everybody is hurting and everybody needs help,” she said.
The Falmouth Military Support Group will also be accepting items, such as travel-size toothpaste, baby wipes and hand and body lotion, for local military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Organizers are also asking that residents donate additional goods to the service center in bins at several businesses throughout town including Shaw’s Supermarket on Teaticket Highway, Stop & Shop on Teaticket Highway, Windfall Market on Scranton Avenue, and West Falmouth Market on Route 28A. The Morse Pond School on Jones Road also is collecting canned goods for the pantry.
Work begins in earnest for the event this Friday, when Mr. Bordieri and Mr. Netto drive  to Boston to pick up the vegetables. They will drop those off to Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School in Bourne, where students in the culinary program will cut, slice, and peel those by next Tuesday.
Organizers are hoping to get Cape Cod Community College students involved this year cooking gravy for the meal.
On Monday, food preparation will begin and the actual cooking will start on Tuesday, with David M. Mutti, the sous chef at Liam Maguire’s Irish Pub & Restaurant, and Michael P. Lewis, owner of Seafood Sam’s, overseeing that effort. As they cook, Ms. Netto said, “we help by getting things they need, like slicers, mixers, and sheet pans...We call it organized chaos.”
On Wednesday, residents are invited to drop off baked goods, including desserts and other items, and help decorate the hall. Deliveries will begin on Thursday morning with meals served at the clubhouse from 12 to 4 PM.
As to why this meal has become so important to organizers, Mr. Bordieri summed it up, by saying, “You look at it as the one time of year you can give back to the community you live in.”