When the coronavirus pandemic closed restaurants seemingly indefinitely in March, David Melincoff — owner and operator of downtown Burlington’s Sweetwaters American Bistro — was less worried about the long-term future than about one then-faraway day.
“My question,” he recalls, “was, ‘What are we going to do about Thanksgiving?’”
For three decades, Sweetwaters has offered a free public holiday dinner featuring 1,500 pounds of turkey, 600 pounds of mashed potatoes, 400 pounds of stuffing, 100 pounds of cranberry sauce, 60 pounds of butter, 50 gallons of gravy, 50 gallons of coffee and 200 pies.
This year, the restaurant is one of several Vermont institutions continuing with plans to give away Thanksgiving meals — albeit with takeout replacing table service.
“We’re doing it differently this year,” Melincoff says. “We couldn’t serve our usual 1,000 people with social distancing, but it never crossed my mind not to do something.”
In the state’s capital city, Montpelier’s 48th annual Free Community Thanksgiving Dinner, an event that usually hosts 800 people, will morph into a pickup event through a partnership with the National Life Group and its cafeteria provider, Sodexo.
“We knew we couldn’t have a sit-down meal,” organizer Christine Hartman says, “and we wouldn’t have been able to do this if we didn’t have the help. Over the years, we’ve depended on volunteers, but a lot of them are older and more susceptible to Covid. We’re happy we found a way to make this work.”
Montpelier will offer meals on the day before Thanksgiving from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. outside Bethany Church at 115 Main St. and the National Life main entrance at 1 National Life Drive, with more information available at the website of sponsors at the Washington County Youth Service Bureau.
In Rutland, the Loyal Order of Moose will trade its half-century Thanksgiving dinner tradition for an anticipated 400 takeout meals and home deliveries from 1 to 3 p.m. at its 78 Center St. lodge.
“We’re not doing eat-in this year because of the virus,” member Mike Burke says, “but we decided we’re still going to do a meal because there are a lot of people who don’t have family or friends.”
In Brattleboro, the 48th annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner will give way to Wednesday distribution and delivery of heat-and-serve meals through the new Everyone Eats program, which is tapping federal Covid-19 funds to pay cash-strapped local restaurants and food providers to prepare 1,000 free meals.
“This is a unique program that brings different sectors together,” says Stephanie Bonin, executive director of the Downtown Brattleboro Alliance, which is coordinating the effort. “We’re able to save restaurants, feed our community and support our local farmers.”
In St. Johnsbury, Kingdom Community Services will substitute its annual Thanksgiving gathering with takeout dinners on Saturday from 11 a.m. until noon and Thursday from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. (people are encouraged to reserve in advance by calling 802-748-2442) at the Universalist Unitarian Congregation at 47 Cherry St.
“This year we would have to follow our usual procedures not only for food safety, but also for Covid, so a sit-down meal would be a real stretch,” says the Rev. Susan Ohlidal, board chair for Kingdom Community Services. “We’re doing the best we can to make things work in other ways.”
Anti-hunger advocates are encouraging people in other parts of the state to contact their local food shelves, community action agencies or 211 to learn about other holiday meal options.
Back in Burlington, Sweetwaters will mark its 30th Thanksgiving event with a coat giveaway at 8 a.m. and dinner pickup from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. One might think the staff, usually facing hundreds of plates after a long day of table service, would welcome this year’s reprieve from dishwashing.
“It’s not a burden at all,” Melincoff replies, “but a nice reminder of what you should be grateful for.
“A lot of the people who come in will tell you it’s the only time they get to sit down in a restaurant and be waited on. Things will look different, but now more than ever we feel the community needs our support.”
