Members of a local church cooked a Thanksgiving turkey with all the trimmings for Chester's finest Wednesday.
The city's police officers, firefighters, and EMT's all knew that the Firehouse was the place to be for the best meal in town.
It has been a tradition for ten years. On the Thursday before Thanksgiving, members of Chester's First Faith Missionary Baptist Church, prepare and serve a Thanksgiving meal here at the Chester Firehouse.
"The EMT's, the firemen, and the police officers, everybody that's in the medical field are welcome," says Deaconess Sharon Townes.
And come they did, for a serving of turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing, green beans, and steaming hot gravy to top it all off.
"It really is just a blessing where we can come and give back to our first responders," said Deacon Jeffrey Britton. "They do so much behind the scenes."
Before First Faith stepped in, Chester's public servants did their own cooking.
"Everybody in the departments would all get together and we would cook and have our dinners here," said Kitty Wrench. "And now, we're blessed to have these people give us such great food. It's wonderful; it really is."
"We're very much appreciative of what they do every year, and the food was delicious," said Portia West.
"It means a lot to be appreciated for the work you do," said Captain Charles Fells.
First Faith's pastor is also Chaplain of the fire department.
"We have great cooks here at First Faith," said Pastor Robert A. Johnson. "And when they decide to cook, it seems that everyone comes."
Even Chester's new mayor stopped by.
"I'm the Director of Public Safety, and firefighters are my guys," said Mayor-elect John Lindner.
There was not a total count on how many people were served at the Firehouse Wednesday afternoon, but it seemed like the line never ended, and no one was turned away.
