Staff writer
After hosting a free-will donation holiday dinner last Christmas, Cindy Taylor and her brother, the late Loren Goddard, decided to make the event annual, hosting another dinner Nov. 28 at Cindy’s Cafe on Thanksgiving.
Taylor said she decided to host for the dinner because there had been no public dinner in town last year.
“I thought ‘No, this is ridiculous when I have a big backroom and a banquet room, I have everything we need, so we’re just going to do it here.’”
Cindy’s will open at 6:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving, serving breakfast until 11. After breakfast ends, a dinner buffet will open. Taylor said they will serve turkey, ham, yams, and potatoes. Volunteers are welcome.
“If anybody wants to donate anything, that would be awesome,” she said.
Taylor said she understands there are people in town without families to share a Thanksgiving meal.
“I have my granddaughter and my daughter,” she said. “This is my family. This restaurant and the people that come here are my family.”
Taylor said half of the proceeds for the dinner would go to the restaurant, the other half going toward a memorial fund for Goddard. She hopes to get a park bench erected in his honor, because of his fondness for visiting the park.
“I think doing this will help mend my heart,” she said. “I think I won’t be so sad, being around people instead of staying home.”