By Suzanne Laurent
LONDONDERRY — Despite the stormy weather, spirits were high inside the Londonderry Senior Center on Saturday afternoon as 120 senior citizens were served a delicious turkey dinner compliments of the Londonderry Professional Firefighters Association.
For the fifth year, the dinner was organized by Lt. Mike McQuillen and Lt. Gary Dion. The town's firefighters and their families all pitched in to help deep fry the turkeys and cook many side dishes as well as serve the meals to the guests. Seven meals were brought to the homes of those who couldn't come out for the event.
"We wanted to give something back to the community and this was a positive way for us to do it," McQuillen said.
Firefighter Jon Camire manned three kettles under a tent in the yard of the senior center as he deep-fried the turkeys and passed them in through the center's kitchen window.
There was a serving line set up, and plates were piled high with the succulent turkey and sides, and quickly served to the hungry guests after a blessing given by Fire Department Chaplain Chet Ham. Town Councilor Kathy Wagner and Sen. Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, also pitched in to help with serving the meals.
The meal was made possible by donations from Market Basket, Hannaford Supermarket, Countryside Florists, Coca-Cola and the Londonderry school district, which supplied kitchenware.
