LIVERMORE FALLS — About 70 people showed up to enjoy a Christmas dinner with their neighbors Wednesday at George Bunten Post 10 American Legion Hall. According to organizer Cindy Paradis, the annual dinner is celebrating 23 years of bringing folks together for a free Christmas meal.

Empty nesters and those looking to share the holiday cheer with their neighbors were in attendance. Guests were served a choice of roast turkey or ham, with mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, gravy and traditional sides. Dessert choices were plenty, with several different pie flavors and other sweet treats like cookies and cherry cheesecake.

Pam Spaulding, left, and Rose Darling ask Debra Breton if they can get a fresh pot of coffee for the dining room Wednesday during the Livermore Falls American Legion Christmas Dinner. Spaulding, who started the Christmas Dinner years ago with two friends, has since passed the organizing to Darling. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

“It’s more than all the material stuff; it’s feeling like you’re part of something,” Paradis said. In her 18th year of involvement, Paradis said she enjoys seeing new and familiar faces each year. “It’s brought a lot of people together, and it’s nice to see volunteers come back because they know it’s something beautiful,” Paradis said.

“There are new people every year, but the core people are still here,” organizer Pam Spaulding said. Spaulding was one of the three women that started the tradition in 2001 to cope with the absence of their loved ones.

Spaulding comes back to it year after year “to feed the people who would have been alone on Christmas day because everybody’s gone.”

“Christmastime is not like it used to be, like when we were growing up,” Judy Lagasse said. With illness and an estranged family, Lagasse said she finds comfort in the gathering. “It’s nice with people and it’s good for me.”

“My parents are both gone too. Things just aren’t the same,” Maurice Jalbert said. Like Lagasse, sharing the company of others is what has brought Jalbert to every dinner since 2001.

Trent Paradis and his father, Richard Paradis, leave the Livermore Falls American Legion Christmas Dinner with to-go orders they will deliver to community members who are unable or choose not to leave their homes. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

“Thanksgiving and Christmas to me are both the same: it’s a time for giving,” volunteer Ron Moren said. Moren was the first one to greet the guests stepping inside, escaping the freezing cold.

“Most of the people involved in the kitchen are also involved with the American Legion’s monthly breakfast. I just volunteer to help them,” Moren said. “I’m a full-time people-greeter. It’s a really fun job.”