How to prepare Thanksgiving for 1,500 people at the Hilton Head community meal
By 9 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, the line has formed for the Hilton Head Island Annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner, a tradition that celebrates service and gratitude.
The host of this affair is Hudson’s Seafood on the Docks, a storied, family-owned restaurant on Skull Creek that’s as much a part of the landscape as the encroaching tide.
About 1,500 people will move through the line between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., which ends in three expertly designed dining rooms that promise family-style Thanksgiving specialties and good, old-fashioned camaraderie.
The meal is free, but volunteers accept donations to benefit The Deep Well Project, Second Helpings and Bluffton Self Help.
Attendees of the community dinner come early. The 350 volunteers who help put on the feast start much earlier.
St. Andrew By-The-Sea United Methodist Church, which sponsors the meal, collects donations from its members at its services on Christmas Day on Hilton Head and in Bluffton for the following year’s Thanksgiving dinner, organizer Gloria LaCoe said.
Eleven months later, the manual labor begins.
Six days before the meal, 97 massive turkey breasts arrive at Hudson’s and are expertly seasoned with brown sugar, chile pepper and salt before they’re brined for 36 hours, according to chef Isaac Jimenez.
Then, the turkey breasts are cooked for 2 1/2 hours. At 9 Thursday morning, the carving team — a select group of men who volunteer together every year — creates a turkey-carving assembly line.
Debone, carve, chop, repeat.
Debone, carve, chop, repeat.
They arrange their work in large metal pans, which are then steamed so the turkey is perfectly cooked.
The turkey station is one of many. Others prepare ham, mashed potatoes, collard greens, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, carrots and stuffing in the sprawling but crowded kitchen at Hudson’s.
Meanwhile, another show goes on outside the kitchen doors, Hudson’s owner Andrew Carmines said.
When people join the line, those they stand next to will be their tablemates. Families, retirees, visitors, friends and strangers are all seated together. Once seated, they put on name tags, LaCoe, the organizer, said.
The name tags, which include where people are from, are instant conversation starters.
“We’ve had people from 30 different states and nine different countries,” LaCoe said.
As sometimes happens at family gatherings, if there’s a lull in conversation, the table’s appointed host (a Hudson’s employee) facilitates new topics and helps serve the meal.
‘The best memories’
The community meal has been an island tradition for 21 years.
Carmines’ father started it to welcome to the table those who are alone on Thanksgiving.
“It was designed for people who were lonely on Thanksgiving,” his son said Monday.
On an island home to thousands of international visitors, northern transplants and retirees — it filled a need many knew too well.
In the years since its inception, the community meal has exploded into a beloved island tradition that embodies the spirit of service.
The meal has been especially important in years the island has seen turmoil.
“The best memories were the year when Matthew hit in October,” LaCoe said.
She said she called Carmines to assess the damage after Hudson’s was nearly destroyed in the storm.
“He said ‘we’re doing this. We’ll be open,’” she said. The meal that year was a place for people to heal after the hurricane caused $12.2 million worth of damage on the island.
Eager to help
This year, the 350 spots for volunteers filled by the end of September, Carmines said.
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“For some, this is their family tradition,” he said. “They come in and do the same job every year. ... There’s really not a day of the year that you feel closer to the Thanksgiving tradition than serving this meal.”
Carmines said many families volunteer together. Children can help starting when they are just 10.
“It’s really neat when parents recognize the teaching opportunity and have kids volunteer,” Carmines said. “This is what’s important on Thanksgiving.”
Other organizations in Beaufort County are also serving free Thanksgiving meals.
From noon until 2 p.m. on Thursday, The Parish Church of St. Helena will host its 40th annual free meal at the parish hall at Newcastle Street in Beaufort.
Hilton Head Community Thanksgiving by the numbers
Feeding the masses on Thanksgiving calls for a lot of planning, preparation... and food. We asked Carmines and chef Jimenez to open their books and report just how much food goes into the annual meal.
Turkeys: 97
Whole hams: 16
Potatoes: 100 pounds Russet and 100 pounds sweet
Cornbread stuffing: 200 pounds
Pumpkin pies: 160
Collard greens: 30 gallons
Gravy: 30 gallons
Carrots: 210 pounds
Cranberry: 15 gallons
French baguettes: 200
This story was originally published November 28, 2019 at 4:00 AM.
