Turkey Tuesday saw its return at a new venue – Mount Abram.

GREENWOOD — This Thanksgiving, Mount Abram saw the return of Turkey Tuesday – an annual tradition of the Bethel Area that had begun to flounder after COVID. The program, originally started by Dave and Heather Nivus, has been passed on to the Bethel Food Pantry.

“Thirty-six years ago they started Turkey Tuesday so that folks in the hospitality business could celebrate Thanksgiving in spite of the fact that they had to work through the holiday,” said Dave Bean at the opening of the dinner. It has moved to a fully community-based event, bringing in around 200 participants at the event’s new location – Mount Abram. This marks the first time Turkey Tuesday has been held in person since COVID first hit.

“The last in-person event was 2019,” said Dave Bean during his opening words. “For two years after that it was held virtually.” The event petered off for a time, until this year brought it back in full swing. On the day itself, despite grey weather, locals still showed up to the event to eat, interact with their neighbors, and give donations to the Food Pantry.

Much of the food and cooking was facilitated by chef Catherine Brown, who Bean credited as really helping hold the event together. The turkeys were provided by Sunday River, while the sides and desserts were brought in potluck fashion, keeping with the tradition of the event.

“As much as possible, it was the same as it had been previously,” said Bean. “We kept all the recipes exactly the same as Dave and Heather’s.” At the end of the meal, participants took the leftovers home to reduce food waste.

The event itself made sure to acknowledge the past Turkey Tuesdays, with respects to the previous stewards. “We really appreciate Dave and Heather passing it off to our nonprofit,” said Bean. At the dinner, a poster board was set up with photos from every single previous Turkey Tuesday. In the future Bean hopes to digitize the photos for convenience of transport.

The addition of the cash bar went well when it came to raising money for the food pantry. “We did better with cash and Venmo than otherwise,” said Bean. The use of Mount Abram as a venue also is something that Bean hopes to carry forwards into the future.

“Mount Abram is a really community focused resort,” he said, “and that goes really well with what we’re doing.” He added, “We’ll work with Mount Abram and really try to make it be an even more complete collaboration between Mount Abram and our nonprofit for next year.”