Free meal to be available on Thursday

By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

As families come together for their annual Thanksgiving traditions tomorrow, not everyone is so lucky to have a place to go, a meal to eat, or a family to laugh with during the holiday season. The Continental Divide Brew Pub in New York Mills will be hosting a dinner to provide a place for anyone who’s looking for that experience this holiday.

Cyrus Bickell, Continental Divid Brew Pub General Manager, understands that those circumstances are more common than many might realize. Bickell himself usually has a tough time around the holiday season since his mother passed away several years ago. Being empathetic towards that experience, he decided about a month ago that he wanted to do something about it.

“For me personally, the holidays are kind of tough,” he said. “I just wanted to offer something to people that don’t have something to do around this time of year, when it’s a little harder, just to have a place to go and be with people.

“Also, just not to have to worry about paying for another meal,” he continued. “Just come here and hang out and have a free meal or take the meal to go, we’re having to-go options as well.”

Bickell said that his staff members liked the idea of hosting a Thanksgiving meal for the community and decided to host one this year. A generous group of anonymous donors gave funds to pay for the dinner. The meal will be a traditional dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, dinner rolls, and other Thanksgiving sides and will take place on Thursday, Nov. 28 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. as supplies last, at the Brew Pub.

Although Trinity Lutheran Church and the Rustic Daughter’s Bakery weren’t able to host their annual Thanksgiving Eve community meal this year, Bickell only recently learned about that NY Mills tradition. He said this isn’t a replacement for that meal, but hopefully an option for those who aren’t able to spend the holiday with family this year.

“Like I said, it’s a tough time for me,” he said. “So having those people like that, someone to be with who has similar feelings toward the holidays. That’s my biggest thing, we want to put it out there for people, but we don’t want to make too big a deal about it. Just doing something good for the community.”

If you or a loved one plans to spend the holiday alone, consider stopping by the Continental Divide Brew Pub for some good food and fellowship or a to-go meal to make the holiday a little brighter.