Thanksgiving happens in an unlikely place every year in Great Falls.
"We've been having these Thanksgiving get-togethers for almost 11 or 12 years now," said Jeff Rainey, a member of the Great Falls Breakfast Club.
The Great Falls Breakfast Club is a group of local residents that has been gathering every morning for more than a decade at the local
Arby's in the Great Falls Village Centre. In addition to meeting for a daily breakfast, the group also holds an annual Thanksgiving
celebration – usually during the week before the actual holiday.
"Every year they have a feast here for everybody and everybody brings something," said Indernohan Singh, store manager for the local Arby's.
Members of the Great Falls Breakfast Club bring the usual Thanksgiving standards, and also make sure to share their food with the staff of Arby's.
"We actually have an entire Thanksgiving meal – turkey, mashed potatoes, you name it," said Rainey.
Breakfast Club member Sam Thompson smoked a turkey for this year's spread, and also brought in venison sausages.
"We just set it out on the tables, and anyone who comes in is welcome to it," said Thompson.
Singh says that the staff of Arby's are big fans of the Breakfast Club and its yearly Thanksgiving tradition.
"This is a great thing for my store," said Singh.
The group came into being as a result of customers who met while stopping in for their morning coffee.
"We started chatting each other up and next thing you know we've formed this group whose membership goes up as high as 15 or 16 people
and as low as 7 or 8," said Rainey. "There is such a varied group of people that are meeting there, so personal advice is given, business advice is given. It's never boring, let's put it that way."
The Breakfast Club meets anywhere from 8:30 a.m. to as late as 11:30 a.m., depending on the day.
"If you show up, you're in," said Thompson.
Thompson enjoys the diversity of the group, which includes doctors,lawyers, teachers and retirees. As a contractor, Thompson says he has actually picked up quite a bit of work as a result of the club.
"It's a great group of guys... it's really anybody and everybody," said Thompson.
Jeff Rainey agrees that the Great Falls Breakfast Club is made up of solid community members.
"Pretty much everybody there are individuals who volunteer and give back to the community," said Rainey.