“Every year when I walk away,” said Sayed Haq, “I feel like a million bucks.”
CHICOPEE – They flew out of the kitchen in a steady stream Thursday, white-aproned volunteers serving what is thought to be the largest free Thanksgiving dinner in the state, held by the Fairview Knights of Columbus at the Castle of Knights on Memorial Drive.
Carol Pirog, in white apron, stood at a corner directing traffic so the fleet-footed servers wouldn’t crash into each other. Pirog started volunteering for the event 12 years ago, soon after her father died. To help assuage her mother’s grief, she brought her mom, too.
“My mother died a couple of years ago,” said Pirog, “so now I do it in her honor.”
The sit-down dinner is served on white china, and the servers in their aprons form a white band that extends down a whole wall.
The vast hall at the Castle holds 174 round tables for 10, which on Thursday had to be “flipped,” or re-set, as diners finished, to accommodate the hundreds of hungry people who came to eat.
“I think we’re going to top 1,000,” said Ronald Belair, chairman of the event, as the 2 p.m. closing time drew near.
“We also sent 2,150 home deliveries to shut-ins,” said Belair. In addition, the Fairview Knights sent 400 meals to Kate’s Kitchen in Holyoke and 400 to the Boys and Girls Club in Chicopee.
Belair estimated his team of volunteers at 200. Some have been working around the clock since Monday.
Elijah Saraiva, 5, was probably the youngest server. He said his favorite thing about the feast was the “bwead.”
He started out serving bread when he was 2 years old, said his mom, Jill Saraiva, and had graduated to serving dessert – apple pie squares – for the first time this year. Elijah’s dad, David, is an officer in the Fairview Knights.
Other young servers included Chicopee Comprehensive High School student Christopher Beaulieu, 17, and Ludlow Middle School students Emily Alves, 14, A.J. Alves, 12, and Haley Procon, 13.
Another volunteer, Sayed Haq, of Westfield, had been assigned to dress up like an Indian, complete with headdress. His wife, Jane, was dressed as a pilgrim.
Sayed, a Pakistani-American, said the children at the dinner were fascinated by his costume – though one little boy was so alarmed that he told his parents to take him home.
Many of the people waiting to eat brought their families. Nancy Velasquez drove from Springfield with relatives to claim the head of the line at 10 a.m., two hours in advance of the doors opening.
World War II veteran Jerry Barselow, 87, said he has been coming to the Thanksgiving event for years. He likes the “camaraderie and the wonderful people,” he said.
Raymond Owens, 5, said he was most looking forward to the turkey, while his sister Tiana, 12, voted for the mashed potatoes. They waited in line with their grandparents, since their mother was working.
Jazmyne Mendez, a tiny 5-year-old, came with her parents and grandmother. Her favorite thing about Thanksgiving is “dessert,” she said, jumping up and down in anticipation.
Danielle Dion said she and her husband, Yvon, like “everything” about Thanksgiving at the Castle. Yvon is a member of the Knights, and the couple belong to St. Rose de Lima Parish in Chicopee.
As diners moved on to the dessert phase, one of the servers doffed his white apron, walked to the front of the hall, donned a jacket and began to sing “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas.”
It was Ray Guillemette, nationally known as an Elvis impersonator, who has waited on tables at the Castle of Knights for the past four Thanksgivings. After singing several holiday songs, Guillemette left for his own Thanksgiving feast. “My wife and I are having family at our home,” he had explained before he took the stage.
“There’s going to be a lotta turkey, a lotta mashed potatoes, a lotta love and a lotta magic.”
Volunteers seem to get as much out of the event as the guests they serve. “Every year when I walk away,” said Haq, “I feel like a million bucks.”