These are the faces of some ‘Gratefull’ Chattanoogans

Lon Cartwright had to come out and see if “it was for real” – if a community could actually bring folks together for a community potluck.

Mike Forrester has attended every year and loves the food, though he wishes there was his favorite Thanksgiving dish – “chitlins.“

Hollis Evans was checked out of school early to volunteer alongside his parents. Apple pie was the most in-demand item, he said.

These three Chattanoogans were some of hundreds that gathered around a 240-foot-long table stretching down M.L. King Boulevard on Monday for a community-wide Thanksgiving potluck called Gratefull Chattanooga.

Hosted by local nonprofit Causeway, the event formerly known as One Table is now in its fifth year.

Here are some of the faces gathered around the table.

Mike Forrester grew up in Chattanooga.

He attended Kirkman High School back before the town became “a tourist town” and studied masonry and welding.

He worked as a welder for years, but now he’s disabled and walks with the help of a cane.

But he always plans on attending the event.

“I always make a point to come out,” Forrester said. “I always meet somebody new.”

The only thing missing from the event though is Forrester’s favorite dish.

“You probably don’t have it on your table,” Forrester laughs when asked. “It’s chitlins. …I also like ham, and boy, don’t get me in front of some duck.”

Hollis Evans, a fifth grader, went to school at Nolan Elementary Monday morning, but only for about an hour, before his dad check him out.

“It’s okay, we were just reading,” Hollis said.

Hollis joined his dad, Jonthan Evans, his mom and his younger brother, along with the staff and their families of Chattanooga’s North Face office to volunteer at this year’s Gratefull Chattanooga event.

“I loved it last year,” the ten-year-old said. “The fact that so many people come together for Thanksgiving, I love it,” the ten-year-old said.

He helped serve pie and said the apple pie was definitely the crowd favorite, followed by pecan.

When asked, Hollis said his favorite Thanksgiving dish is turkey – but he really wants to hunt his own one day.

On Sunday night, Buddy Shirk played the organ for a showing of the film “Ad Astra” at the Tivoli Theatre.

On Monday, he found himself playing melodies on a Steinway piano in the middle of M.L. King Boulevard while dressed as a Christmas elf.

Shirk manages Summitt Pianos on Hixson Pike, and has provided the piano for the event each year. He along with performers from Southside Studio, Chattanooga High Center for Creative Arts and others entertain folks as they enjoy their lunch.

“People seem to kind of enjoy it,” Shirk said of the musical entertainment. “People sometimes will start spontaneously singing. And they love to watch the children perform.”

Like Hollis, Natalee Castro and her classmate, Sarah Bargerstock, were also “on a field trip” Monday morning.

The Hixson High School seniors are members of the school’s Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter. Several of them, along with their teacher, came to the event to volunteer.

Dolling out vegan gravy to passerby, Castro rolled up her sleeves and said this is the second year in a row that she has volunteered and she loves it.

“I love it whenever people come through and whenever they start to say thank you or are tearing up, it just makes me so happy,” she said.

Next year, Castro will hopefully be attending the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She wants to study veterinary science, maybe become a veterinary technician.

For now, when she isn’t helping serve up holiday cheer, Castro and her FFA classmates are tending to Hixson’s very own farm animals and dogs who attend the school’s doggie daycare.

Sandy Campagnone arrives in a festive, turkey hat and studies a map of the different food as she waits in line with her husband and son.

“Our kids are grown now and do their own things, so it’s nice to have some fellowships and friends because that’s what the holiday is all about,” the first-time attendee said.

Campagnone has the week off, so her husband and her joined their son, Ethan Fogus, 30, on his lunch break.

“I thought this was such a nice event,” she said.

Retiree Lon Cartwright recently moved to Chattanooga. He’s only lived in town a few months, but he was attracted to the mild winters and festive, pretty fall. He likes the four seasons, Cartwright said.

He attended the event with his friends, Richard Johnson and Barbare Keim. He was skeptical at first.

“I’ve near heard of a community giving a community potluck,” Cartwright said. “It’s amazing.”

Cartwright said the food was wonderful – “better than what you could get in a restaurant” – and so was the company. He sat next to a Lee University student who was on her lunch break and chatted with her. He also went back for seconds.

He’ll spend Thursday with his girlfriend having “a second Thanksgiving,” but for a few hours Cartwright joined alongside his friends and others and built community together.

Kelly Carvara helped serve at a table set back a bit from the two longer serving lines. A member of ChattaVegan, a local vegan organization, she helped serve folks interested in the event’s vegan options.

Event organizers had noticed there weren’t alternative options in previous years for those who followed a vegan diet so Britt Coward, a board member for ChattaVegan, and other volunteers like Carvara jumped in.

Carvara has followed a vegan diet for about three and a half years, she said. She works on the weekends so she can’t always engage with the community, but she and other vegans have helped do neighborhood clean-ups and soon will host an LGBTQ vegan potluck.

“I’m so excited we’re here,” she said. “We can show it’s not just a fringe diet anymore. More and more people are becoming vegans.”

Though the unit is down several people and a couple are out of maternity leave, the women who make up Chattanooga Police Department’s Victim Services Unit made sure to come together and make an appearance at this year’s Thanksgiving event.

Jae Pamplin is new to Chattanooga so this was her first experience at the event.

“All of our unit came together as a way to serve,” she said.

She got to hold one of two giant yellow balloons marking the end of each line.

“This is an amazing idea and a great way to get the community together,” she said.

The Mississippi native has only lived in town a few months, but already loves it.

“I’ve got nothing bad to say about Chattanooga,” she said.

A self-proclaimed picky eater, when asked what her favorite Thanksgiving dish is, Pamplin thought about it and then settled on macaroni.

Trevor Brogden is from Chattanooga, but he hasn’t always been as engaged with the community.

Last year, his manager gathered the staff at NHE, a real estate management company, and signed them up to volunteer at the Gratefull Chattanooga.

“We got to meet a lot of people,” Brogden said.

This year, as Brogden pulled on plastic gloves and hovered over steaming dishes of green beans and stuffing and turkey, he was the veteran volunteer.

Matthew Anderson and another colleague were ready, unsure what to expect as dozens lined up for lunch.

“We’re just here to give back,” Brogden said. “I’m from Chattanooga originally, so I get to see a lot of people I haven’t seen in awhile.”

Contact Meghan Mangrum at mmangrum@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6592. Follow her on Twitter @memangrum.