Before sitting down to the table with their own families, volunteers from Winchester First United Methodist Church and other churches made sure other families had Thanksgiving dinner this year.
Some worked all day Wednesday to prepare food for somewhere in the neighborhood of a thousand people. Beginning early Thursday, others delivered 889 turkey dinners to people's homes before 10:45 a.m, when attention shifted to feeding those who arrived as guests for dinner at the church on South Main Street.
The free Thanksgiving dinner has been a tradition at the church for more than 40 years, but some who serve every year said they couldn't remember ever serving so many people before.
"I've been doing this ever since I was a pup, and this is the most organized and efficient I've ever seen it," said Chris Shearer, a young adult member of the church.
