Donna Bowman and her boyfriend, John Cialek, carve turkeys at the Hudson Fish and Game Club Wednesday afternoon in preparation for the club’s annual Thanksgiving dinner. (File photo)

HUDSON – Hundreds of people from local communities enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast once again this this year during the Hudson Fish and Game Club’s annual dinner.

Volunteers began their food preparation early Wednesday morning to have everything ready to go for the holiday. As early as 7 a.m., people began to filter into the club’s kitchen to cook, a practice that continued into Thursday. Club Chairman Tommy Gilbert said he has been helping with this dinner for 25 of its 27 years.

“I’ve been doing this for so long,” Gilbert said. “It’s a whole lot of fun – it’s a whole lot of fun. Nothing is going to change.”

Gilbert said the club has third generation helpers, as those who started pitching in with their parents are now bringing their children to help cut vegetables. This year, various community groups, such as the Scouts for example, offered a bit of assistance in making sure everything was done well and on time. There were plenty of vegetables for the younger cooks to cut up this year, with 200 pounds of yams and squash, along with 300 pounds of mashed potatoes. There were also plenty of pies from which to choose.

Additionally, more than 100 turkeys were prepared. Gilbert said about 700 people will have a meal delivered to them, with another 100 people joining them at the club for a meal.

“It’s a whole concerted effort,” Gilbert said. “The whole club gets involved and the community gets involved.”

One of those community members getting involved Wednesday during all of the preparation is Donna Bowman, whose boyfriend, John Cialek, is an 11-year member of the club. The couple carve birds into perfectly portioned pieces. Just last week, she completed chemotherapy after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in May. She is not even cleared to work until Dec. 2.

“It feels good giving back,” Bowman said. “I’m just so relieved that my chemotherapy is over and I got through it, and hopefully cancer free now.”

Bowman has volunteered the last three years and said she has a lot to be thankful for this year. She enjoys being around to help out and thinks these meals mean a lot to those receiving them. Bowman also has a soft spot for the veterans she knows she is helping to feed this holiday.

“I’ve been very lucky,” Bowman said. “I was very lucky and I just want to pay it forward to some of the veterans. Some of the veterans can’t even get out of their houses, or they don’t drive. Everybody has a story.”

Tom Murray also helped on Wednesday, as he has for nine years now. He has seen the event grow through the years. Nonetheless, hundreds of people are still getting served savory meals in the communities of Hudson, Pelham, Nashua, Litchfield and North Tyngsboro.

“I enjoy this every year,” Murray said. “I look forward to this.”

He also said volunteers come with their families, with generations of kids coming in to help the community, which he said is awesome.

“Everybody deserves to have a Thanksgiving meal,” Bowman said.

Adam Urquhart may be contacted at 594-1206, or at aurquhart@nashuatelegraph.com.