Top of the Rockies in Alpine served up 223 Thanksgiving meals at the 2023 annual dinner at the Donn Wooden Civic Center, Nov. 23.

The count included both dinners served at the center and delivered in the Alpine area with the help of the Alpine Fire Department.

In 2022, 175 meals were served.

Ten turkeys, four hams and 60 lbs. of potatoes helped create the dinner servings on Nov. 23. Monetary donations for the event doubled this year, reaching $1,185.

Andrea Burchard and Justin Fritz acknowledged the countless hours of 30 people assisting at the same time recognizing Bill and Pam Callahan for initiating the annual dinner that continued to grow until Top of the Rockies took over the event.

The Callahans remembered the early days of the Alpine Thanksgiving dinner.

“Pam and I originally started the community event as she was already spending a good portion of Thanksgiving day preparing the feast for just us,” Bill said. “Subsequently thinking of other Alpine folks eating alone and might enjoy company; we decided to give it a go!”

He added, “[We] had four turkeys on year one with leftovers. Our last year before we moved six  turkeys, and [we] barely had enough to feed the volunteers.”

Food and financial donations were accepted for the Alpine Thanksgiving Dinner through the Alpine Food Bank.