Saturday VFW post 97 hosted dozens of veterans for a warm and tasty thanksgiving dinner.

Post commander Chuck Suderman says he doesn’t know when this event originated but they don’t plan on stopping anytime.

“I'm not sure exactly when it started, I presume back at the beginning. They said it's a long established tradition for the post to do this,” said Suderman.

A tradition that Suderman says needs no explaining, vets giving back to vets because they care.

“We find it's a good thing for the health of the post itself for all of the members to get together as often as possible to just talk things over, get to know each other and share ideas with each other,” said Suderman.

During the holidays Suderman says the post becomes more important.

He says this should be a place where any military veteran can come to relax and feel at home and during the holidays it's a place to be with the people you care about most.

“It's kind of like having your second family. Most everybody has a family on the outside, not everyone does, but they also have this and it turns out to be a bunch of pretty good friends,” said Suderman.

In his first year in charge of the dinner Suderman says for the dozens who stopped by.

Everybody’s plates and stomachs alike were overflowing with turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, rolls and more.

“We were full but everybody was happy, everybody was fell fed and everybody left with a smile on their face,” said Suderman.

But Suderman says it's that same smile that makes the entire day of preparation worth it, even if he just learned how to debone a turkey. 

“It's a good occasion, gives you a good feeling at the end of it. And when it's successful like this one was, it's worth the effort,” said Suderman.