Gary & Leo's selling personal Thanksgiving meals after community dinner cancelation

For the first time, starting Wednesday and through Thursday, Gary & Leo’s Fresh Foods will be offering individual Thanksgiving dinners to customers for $10 a piece.

For the last few years Gary & Leo’s has sold full turkey dinners fit for a family of six to eight people including, a fully cooked 10 to 12 lbs. turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, and an apple or pumpkin pie for $100.

The individual meals include everything the full meal does, albeit in much smaller servings, except for the pie.

The opportunity to order full meals ended Monday, but Manager Tracy Job said given the unusual nature of 2020 there may be a market for the more individualized meals.

“I feel there might be a need in the community,” he said. ”There are a lot of folks who aren’t going to go and spend time with family because of the COVID situation.”

Job said the decision to offer these meals was prompted by the cancelation of the Havre Community Thanksgiving Dinner, which will not be happening this year because of the surge of COVID-19 in the area.

He said Gary & Leo’s has been involved with the event for a very long time.

“Generally, we are counted upon by the donor to put all the food together for the group that cooks it. We’ve always baked the turkeys for them, we bake the dinner rolls, we bake the pies, he said, “ ... we’ve always been involved with it.”

Job said he’s sad to see the event go but he knows the reason it needed to.

”It’s heartbreaking,” he said, “but, at the same time, I completely understand. As a community we have to be careful, be prudent and stay healthy.”

He said Gary & Leo’s is going to make as many individual meals as they can and will sell them first come, first serve.

“We’re prepared to make quite a few of them,” he said.

He said he isn’t sure how many they’re going to sell because they’ve never offered this option before, but he has a good feeling about it.

“I think it will go quite well,” he said. ”I’m excited for the idea, excited to see the deli putting them together and taking care of our customers.”

Gary & Leo’s will be taking orders for the individualized turkey meals until they close at 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving, assuming they don’t sell out.