Brooksby	UPDATED: Wednesday, November 07, 2007
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A feast for all traditions this Thanksgiving

Posted on Thursday, November 01, 2007

By Setarreh Massihzadegan
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Whether it’s prime rib or turkey, plated meals or buffet, a large, noisy dining room, or an intimate setting—Thanksgiving traditions vary widely, but community members at Brooksby Village have no trouble finding a way to fit in their own.

The McIntosh Catering Room at Brooksby is large enough to accommodate two families and two very different Thanksgivings at once.

Music and dining
When Patricia McLeod reserved the room at Brooksby last year, she wanted to be sure it had one amenity that didn’t involve food: a piano.

“We planned to sing carols at the piano,” McLeod says. “That’s a family-type thing; it’s a good time for it.”

So McLeod, who often plays the piano before dinner at the Windsor restaurant, requested the side of the ballroom-sized catering room with the piano, and Brooksby staff obliged.

McLeod and her family members, who were visiting from California and Nova Scotia, enjoyed time around the piano after trying the extensive Thanksgiving buff et that was set up for them in the room.

“The catering department does try very hard to please you and heed your requests,” McLeod says. “I’m very happy with what happened.”

A prime tradition
Edgar and Greta Bellefontaine also kept their traditions well preserved with a full dining room and prime rib dinners.

“Everybody gets their turkey one place or the other, but I wanted a sit-down dinner and I wanted it to be a memorable event,” Edgar Bellefontaine says. For him, that meant prime rib and all the fixings, including asparagus, mashed potatoes, salad, dessert, and an open bar.

One item always on the menu is his daughter’s broccoli casserole, which she adds to the spread prepared by Brooksby staff .

With family flying in from Florida, Texas, and Maine, a total of 26 people gather for the Bellefontaines’ holiday, now celebrated in the McIntosh Catering Room.

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“The whole family gets together for Thanksgiving dinner and we’ve done it for years,” Bellefontaine says. “When we moved here, our big dining room [from the previous house] was gone, so we bring them here.”

Now preparing for their third Thanksgiving at Brooksby, the Bellefontaines look forward to another full day of celebrating. “It’s been wonderful; we passed from our family event into the event at Brooksby without missing a beat,” Bellefontaine adds.

Catering to all needs
As for the staff at Brooksby, Bellefontaine says they are right on target. “We tell Lina [Gentile, the catering events manager] what we want and she does a wonderful job with it,” he says.

Matthew Harrington, Brooksby’s catering events coordinator, contends that anything is possible. “It’s up to them, whatever they want to do—we can do anything from just hors d’oeuvres to filet mignon,” he says.

For those who would prefer not to reserve an entire catering room, community members can reserve one of two private dining rooms, which each hold groups from eight to 16 people, at the Windsor and Overlook restaurants.

In a private dining room, the group has the same brunch menu as the main dining rooms, but can also work with catering on a special menu.

Thanksgiving brunch is served in the main dining rooms at Brooksby from 11 am to 1:30 p.m. Diners can choose from a buffet of traditional American fare, including baked ham and turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, apple cider, and plenty of pastries.

With families and children filling the restaurants, the atmosphere at Brooksby is busier than usual on Thanksgiving.

Just the right distance
For Beverly Johnson and her husband, Thanksgiving is a day to travel to the homes of one of their sons in nearby New Hampshire. As Brooksby Village is situated between the Johnsons’ two sons, they can split the holidays between their son up north and the other who lives in Pembroke, Mass., on the South Shore.

“It’s nice, we’re midway between them, so we either go to one or the other because otherwise one is traveling,” Johnson says.

Because Thanksgiving is a free day for the usually busy Johnsons, it works as a good day for them to visit with the family. “It’s a relaxing day,” Johnson says. “I make the gravy and my son and his wife do most of the rest of the cooking. It’s nice because the women hang out in the living room and the men hang out in the kitchen,” she says.

But for those who choose to stay on campus, Thanksgiving is a time for friends also. “This is a wonderful place to be if you don’t have family nearby or if you don’t have people living close by,” Johnson says. “You have so many friends that you’re never really alone.”