Man opens feast to nor'easter clean-up crew

Avon, Conn. (WTNH) - One man took it upon himself to cook a Thanksgiving feast for an out-of-state crew still in his town, cleaning up from the nor'easter.

There are still piles of debris all over Connecticut and there are still crews from out of town working to help clean it up. In Avon today, folks made sure those crews didn't go hungry.

A crew with Michael's Tree & Loader company out of Memphis, Tennessee has been been working sun up to sundown, helping to clean up the state after the autumn nor'easter.

"We gotta do what we gotta do, and we're in the service industry, so we do our best to serve people and when people are needing help, we go to where they need the help," said Brian Harrison from Memphis.

But that service means they are far away from home on Thanksgiving.

"My wife is at her parents, did all the phone calls and talked to the families and everything back home, they just tell us all to be safe," said Harrison.

It's a sacrifice Harvey Reeser thought needed to be recognized.

"I know what it's like, cause when I was in the military, I was away from my family," said Reeser.

Reeser invited a few of the crew to his home for Thanksgiving but thought, what about the rest of them? He's the former chief of the Avon Fire Department, so he contacted the fire department and got them on board. Miller's Food donated the birds and suddenly, Reeser found himself making a meal for 70 people, and he's doing it single handedly.

"I have a system and more people in the kitchen kind of slows things down," he said.

In the kitchen at 5 a.m. the turkeys in the oven by six and, of course, he's adding his own special touch, a stick of butter and an apple in each one. He says, it gives it the extra little something.

The workers say it's a blessing to have such an outpouring from strangers in a strange state.

"Well, there seems to be southern hospitality up here, people opening their doors to us,' said Harrison.

This is the first day that they've had off in three weeks, they'll be back at work tomorrow.