Through a series of conversations with several older patrons a few years ago, Rami Korio was reminded of The Town Pub's roots. The venerable tavern on Broad Street always connected with others in the community and its manager felt inspired to bridge the past and present.

Three years later, the Town Pub is preparing to host its annual free Thanksgiving Dinner for senior citizens and needy persons in Bloomfield. Dinner will be served from 1-4 p.m., with all food freshly prepared on site and served by Korio and his staff – all of whom are volunteering their time.

“We want to give something back to the town,” Korio said.

With the return of Foley Field, the Town Pub showed it could successfully connect with younger patrons by sponsoring Bloomfield High School's Homecoming. However, Korio wanted to connect older members of the community and ensure they would eat a hearty, healthy meal this holiday since, as the manager put it, “Before we're a bar, we're a family restaurant.”

This year's Thanksgiving Dinner should be bigger than year's past: Korio was more active in the community this year, distributing flyers in town churches and through Janet McCarthy, wife of Mayor Raymond McCarthy. From drawing 45 visitors in 2009 and 65 last year, the number could conceivably climb north of 100.

“This year, I doubled the amount of food I had last year,” Korio said. “I have a feeling we're going to get a lot of people.”

To this end, there will be 15 turkeys being roasted and carved, served along with trays of stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, rice and apple pie – all of which will be prepared in The Town Pub's kitchen.

Furthermore, the Town Pub is encouraging folks to take home leftovers.

The Town Pub will continue to be civic-minded come Christmas time, when Santa Claus will give out 30 toys to 30 children. Korio said he plans to work with the town to give 30 underprivileged children presents.

In addition, he is also planning to host an Easter dinner along the lines of what has already been established for Thanksgiving.

“Thanksgiving is a giving day,” Korio said. “There's nothing much better than saying, 'Thank you for coming.'”