In 2008， a woman with Parkinson’s disease paid to have an ambulance take her from her nursing home to the dinner. It was the woman’s first outing in seven years. When she had to leave， she cried.
“She came from Watertown （Mass.）， which is nowhere near here，”Macaulay said. “She just heard about the dinner and had to come.”
The dinner really started hopping in 2010， after someone at 5）National Public Radio spotted Macaulay’s ad and called him about it. The phone call led to a segment in NPR’s StoryCorps series， resulting in a peak attendance of 89 people at that year’s event.
In recent years， Macaulay has been hosting his Thanksgiving dinners at local churches with lots of space. He still buys and prepares all the food himself， but these days he serves everything in 6）chafing dishes and 7）meticulously records the temperatures of different foods.
It’s worried him that the change of venue and the new procedures might make the meal seem less homey. To 8）compensate， he decorates the church hall to look like a living room， complete with rugs， lamps， soft chairs， a fake fireplace， a wood stove and candles.
“He makes sure people aren’t sitting at long tables in a big hall，” said the Rev. Damaris Cami-Staples， pastor at First Baptist Church of Melrose， Mass.， where Macaulay held the dinner last year. “All the tables have place settings and look beautiful， and the ambiance is so nice.”
What’s more， this isn’t an eat-andrun affair： People can make themselves comfortable， relax and talk for hours. Starting at 1 p.m. on Thanksgiving， guests can start enjoying cheese， crackers， chips， dip and other snacks. The full meal includes turkey， dressing， sweet potatoes， mashed potatoes， gravy， cranberry sauce and vegetables， and the dessert list is extensive.
Macaulay pays for all the food himself and spends about 40 hours putting the whole affair together. On Thanksgiving Day， he runs nonstop from about 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. He said it’s important to him that he not seek out volunteers or monetary donations because“that’s not what this is about.”
“He does things in the background — he doesn’t like the glory，” Cami-Staples said. “He does this because he knows how much it hurts to be alone on Thanksgiving， and he knows that people need more than just the food. They need to be together with others who care about how they’re doing.”