ST. PETERSBURG
As a little boy, Gay Inskeep's younger son thought everyone across America gathered for Thanksgiving in community settings with family, friends and strangers. For Andrew, it wasn't unusual that his parents, aunt, uncle and neighbors devoted days to shopping, chopping, peeling and baking for the guests they welcomed all Thanksgiving afternoon at Pilgrim Church. He'll turn 17 today, looking ahead to the 14th Thanksgiving since his parents began their tradition of feeding the needy and others yearning for a touch of holiday togetherness.
The Inskeeps start with lists.
Turkeys, 26
Gravy, four pots
Sweet potatoes, 70 pounds
Cranberries, 10 bags
Doughnuts for volunteers
Pot holders
Three-prong extension cord for the coffee pot
It goes on. Think pumpkin pies, pecan pies, apple pies and double pumpkin pies. Add volunteer assignments and hangers and plastic bags for the free market where guests can "shop" for gently used clothing, toiletries and more.
Gay and her husband, Paul, are never sure how large a crowd they'll feed. Over the years, the numbers have climbed from a few dozen to more than 400.
"We do it on faith," said Gay, 52. "We just think it's going to work out, like the loaves and fishes."
"I am glad it has gotten as big it has," said Paul, 54, who insisted from the start that most of the food should be made from scratch.
"Everybody deserves a good home-cooked meal," he said Saturday as the couple shopped at the Publix near their Treasure Island home.
It took less than an hour for them to stock their carts with the necessities, including a toilet brush and toilet cleaner. Publix staff trailed behind with the turkeys. The bill was almost $700. An earlier expedition to GFS in St. Petersburg totaled $170.
Donations usually arrive unsolicited to cover the cost of much of the food, Gay said.
"We go into it expecting to pay for it ourselves," she said, adding that remaining funds go to the church for its food ministry and to aid needy families.
The other main cooks, Gay's sister-in-law Aralyn Petterson, and neighbor Ann Balistierri, 64, and her musician husband Mike, 67 — he provides dinnertime entertainment — do their own shopping.
"We feel very blessed to be part of this and that we are able to be part of this," said Ann Balistierri, who declines to be reimbursed for the mountains of mashed potatoes she and her husband prepare.
They've been involved from the beginning.
"As soon as I heard about it, I said I would like to do something and I had a great recipe for mashed potatoes," said Balistierri, a court reporter, of the recipe that calls for more than 100 pounds of potatoes, butter, milk, cream cheese, sour cream and Parmesan cheese.
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Explore all your optionsGuests begin arriving before the church doors open. Cloth tablecloths, real plates and cutlery set the stage for the free meal offered without obligation.
"We don't do any sort of proselytizing," said Gay, though the dozens of volunteers gather before dinner for "a 'go-team' type of prayer."
Aralyn, 57, and her husband, Karl, 47 — Gay's brother — have been part of the event since it began in 2001. They used to host a large dinner in the back yard of their Gulfport home.
"We always give back to the community," said Aralyn, whose contributions include cranberry Jell-O salad and green bean casserole.
"My specialty is the traditional stuffing," she said. "It's onions and celery and lots of butter, and then I am also responsible for doing pumpkin pies. This year I get to do 18 pumpkin pies."
Aralyn, a sign language interpreter, also makes gallons of gravy and sausage-studded dressing.
There's little that's not made from scratch. Gay, who manages the staff of the judicial branch in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court, makes her own cranberry sauce. She is among the pie bakers. Hers are pecan. But it is Paul who does the bulk of the cooking.
"He does all of the turkeys. He does the sweet potato casserole. He does the homemade rolls and he does the corn bread stuffing," she said.
In fact, he makes 14 pans of corn bread just for the stuffing.
"Oh, you've got to make your own corn bread," he insisted when asked about that step.
His 25 to 26 dozen rolls will be made in double ovens at home, while most of the turkeys will be cooked in roasters at the church on Thanksgiving.
It's a family endeavor. His parents, Pat and Paul Inskeep, arrive from Buffalo, N.Y., his mother bringing a bushel of apples, her own lard and flour for her trademark pies.
Andrew's older brother, Alex, flies in from New York. Carlus, Gay and Paul's former foster son, and his wife will also be there Thursday and, of course, so will Andrew.
"It's a lot of work, but I enjoy it, because you get to help people out, people who won't be having a meal," he said.
A junior at Osceola Fundamental High School, Andrew said the close proximity of his parents' mammoth Thanksgiving undertaking with his birthday doesn't bother him. The important thing is that his family is usually together, he said.
He'll turn 18 next year the day all gather for Thanksgiving at Pilgrim Church. "I guess they will be singing happy birthday to me," he said.
Contact Waveney Ann Moore at wmoore@tampabay.com or (727) 892-2283. Follow @wmooretimes.