MIDDLESEX COUNTY PROBATION OFFICERS HELP SERVE
THANKSGIVING MEAL TO SENIOR CITIZENS AT
CAMBRIDGE COMMUNITY CENTER

Middlesex County Probation Officers helped serve more than 150 senior citizens a traditional Thanksgiving meal with all of the trimmings at the Cambridge Community Center this week. This year marked nearly 12 years of volunteer work by Middlesex County Probation employees who have donated their own personal time to provide seniors Thanksgiving dinner at the Center.

Cambridge District Court Assistant Chief Probation Officers Ronald Layne and Timothy Kelleher, Middlesex County Juvenile Court First Assistant Chief Probation Officer Stephen Allsopp as well as Waltham District Court Probation Officer Debra Stead joined Center staff, board members, and community volunteers in helping to prepare and serve the meal. They also assisted with clean-up.

Layne, Kelleher, Allsopp, and Stead donned aprons and helped serve steaming plates of roasted turkey, gravy, stuffing, green beans, peas and rice, macaroni and cheese, candied yams, rolls and butter. Kelleher could be found in the kitchen preparing plates-to-go for delivery to seniors who are shut-ins or were unable to attend the Thanksgiving luncheon at the Center.

A Cambridge native, Layne and his Probation colleagues look forward to the annual dinner and serving the city’s senior citizens at the Center, a neighborhood institution which celebrated its 80th anniversary this year. The popular meeting space has served several generations of Cantabrigians through its after-school programs, classes for children and senior citizens, and neighborhood health center.

“I enjoy volunteering at the Thanksgiving dinner each year. The seniors seem to really enjoy the good food and conversation. For me, it is an honor to give back to the community where I was born and raised and where I now work in the Cambridge District Court Probation Department,” said Layne.

Allsopp, a former Cantabrigian, said of his volunteer work at the Center’s Thanksgiving feast, “The meaning of Thanksgiving is thanks. I grew up in Cambridge and it is nice to give back to the community and to see the senior citizens many of whom were like parents to us.”

Kelleher said of his years of volunteering at the Center, “I like giving back. It is a great feeling.”

Yvonne Gittens, Center board member and instructor, said Center staff and board members appreciate Layne and his colleagues’ time and efforts.

“They serve, clean up—especially clean up!! Without the help from Ronnie and his Probation colleagues we would not be able to serve the seniors a sit-down luncheon,” said Gittens.

Senior citizens like Joyce Smith, Ruby Pearson, and Eurene Lashley look forward to attending the dinner each year.

Smith said she “enjoys the atmosphere” as much as the food.

“It’s a good time for mixing and mingling with friends and folks we haven’t seen since the last dinner. Everyone enjoys it,” she said. “Everyone is very cordial and the meal is scrumptious.”

Pearson said she also enjoys the opportunity to dine with new and old friends.

“It is nice to get out and be among people who are younger and older. I enjoy seeing people I know,” she said.

Lashley said the dinner is especially important to senior citizens who have no one to share the holiday with.

“There are seniors who come who would not have Thanksgiving because they have no family or their families live outside of the city or have to work. The dinners are very well-organized. It is a time when people in the community and those who have moved out come back. It’s a time to reminisce and talk about the part the Center played in our children’s lives,” Lashley said. “We want to keep the center open and the dinners going because the center is such a vibrant part of Cambridge.”

Center Board member Virginia Ward and Middlesex County Juvenile First Assistant Chief Probation Officer Stephen Allsopp prepare plates for seniors at Thanksgiving luncheon.

Cambridge District Court Assistant Chief Probation Officer Ronald Layne helps serve dinner at Thanksgiving luncheon.

Cambridge senior citizens sit down to Thanksgiving luncheon.

Cambridge seniors enjoy food and conversation.