HURLEY -- The spirit of giving filled the room at the 27th annual community dinner at the Aging Unit of Iron County Christmas Day. Both volunteers and patrons went away satisfied after the free turkey dinner.

"It's been going steady all day," said volunteer Gary Giancola of Hurley. "It's a good chance to give back a little."

Organizers David and Melissa DeCarlo of Gile, Wis., estimated that about 600 people were served food from the dinner, including more than 450 "to go" orders for shut-ins from Iron Belt, Wis., to Wakefield.

"That's the most we've ever sent out," Melissa DeCarlo said. "If it wasn't for the business people of the town and their generosity, we couldn't do it."

She also thanked the approximately 75 volunteers of all ages who worked at the dinner. Besides individuals and businesses, the Christian Men of the Northland based in Ironwood have come through year after year with hands-on and financial help, she said.

Thirty-five turkeys, 75 pounds of potatoes, 60 pounds of stuffing, 50 pounds of green beans (until they ran out and switched to corn), 40 dozen potato rolls and dozens of homemade cookies and other side dishes were prepared days in advance for the dinner that has become a Christmas Day tradition. With as many volunteers as they get, DeCarlo said, it surprisingly takes only about an hour to clean up after the dinner.

The family has hosted the dinner ever since Melissa's parents, Jim and Marylou Merritt of Merritt's Housekeeping, started it 27 years ago. The tradition was initiated after they moved to the area from Janesville, Wis., where they belonged to a church that hosted holiday turkey dinners for the homeless.

"They wanted to continue that here," Melissa said. "There's not a lot of homeless people on the streets around here in December, so they decided to make it a Christmas dinner for the community."

Marylou Merritt died 11 years ago, but Jim Merritt still helps out. This year, he started cooking days in advance, Melissa said.  Melissa has volunteered for every dinner; while David has helped out for 21 of the dinners, ever since they were married. Children Janell, 21, Samantha, 17 and Isaac, 8, also serve, cook and clean up for the event.

"I have never cooked a Christmas Day dinner for my family ever since we've been married," she said. "This is our Christmas."

Besides the dinner, music was provided by scheduled musicians and by people who got up and played some Christmas tunes on the piano. A children's choir sang Mozart and even a young juggler provided entertainment going from table to table.

The Christmas event is not widely announced, Melissa said. Besides some newspaper and radio coverage, she said it's mostly word-of-mouth.

"Amazingly enough, after more than 25 years there are still people who haven't heard of it," she said. "We see the same people come year after year ... it's very refreshing to see some new people. We're seeing a trend of families now."

Everyone who comes gets to eat, she added.

"Even the volunteers ... they eat and clean in shifts."