MORRISTOWN – Peter A. Paquette is not one to mince words.

The third annual community Thanksgiving Day Dinner organized by his wife, Mary M. Paquette, was “a big hit” he said Friday.

“It was awesome,” he said.

Mrs. Paquette said this year’s dinner managed to raise $685 each for the Hammond, Brier Hill and Morristown food pantries, and children’s Christmas parties sponsored by the Morristown Volunteer Fire Department and the Brier Hill Volunteer Fire Department.

“The community support is just overwhelming,” she said.

On top of monetary donations — the actual meal was free — Mr. Paquette said an estimated 1,500 pounds of canned food and toiletries were donated for the food pantry.

Mrs. Paquette said the pickup truck they used to haul the donations was sagging under the weight.

“We really want to thank everyone for the donations,” said Mr. Paquette.

The meal itself, served at 1 p.m., involved 27 turkeys and roughly 40 volunteers helping deliver food, set up the Morristown Fire Hall for the event and, of course, cooking.

“The guys in the kitchen worked until about 9:45 Wednesday night to make sure everything was prepared, and then showed up at 8 [a.m. on Thanksgiving] to get everything set up,” said Mr. Paquette.

About 200 people attended the dinner on Thursday, and Mrs. Paquette said the weather was so nice “we had the door open.”

“It’s just a great opportunity to get everybody out and see people you haven’t seen,” said Mr. Paquette.

In addition to the free meal, enough food was made so people could take home leftovers.

“We had enough for anyone who was interested in taking some turkey home,” said Mr. Paquette.

Asked whether Morristown can expect another community Thanksgiving in 2013, Mrs. Paquette said, “definitely.”

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