Friends, family, strangers share Thanksgiving at Carson Nugget

Friends, family and strangers came together Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving together, thanks to the Carson Nugget’s free dinner.Many of the 845 who walked through the doors between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. said they were thankful to the Nugget for hosting the free holiday dinner for the 58th year.“I’ve got to congratulate the Nugget, this is a fantastic thing to try to do for the community,” said David Simpson.Richard McNatt, originally from Texas, appreciated that it gave his wife a day off of cooking.“This gave her a break this year, after 39 years of her cooking Thanksgiving dinner,” he said.Simpson and McNatt, sitting next to each other, had never met before Thursday but were treating each other as fast friends.Karen Meek and Margaret Pieplow came together to the Nugget dinner. The two met through Pieplow’s daughter.Pieplow came to Northern Nevada from Wisconsin to take care of her ailing daughter, who recently passed away. Meek and her daughter’s other friends took Pieplow in, she said.“It’s always been a family time for me, and now my family is gone,” Pieplow said. “Now I’m around people,” she said motioning to the banquet hall.McNatt piped in, “You can talk to anyone and they’ll answer. We can leave all the politics behind now.”Meek said she is thankful for her friends, Pieplow now being counted among them, for great feats in sickness and in health.All four said the meal tasted like it had come out of one of their own ovens.Richard Zuccarello, Don Jansen and Walter Maine all knew each other as they shared dinner. Zuccarello said he has been coming to the dinner for five years now and Maine said he has been coming for four.“I enjoy sitting down and relaxing, talking to friends,” Zuccarello said.Maine does not have any family in the area and said he enjoys not having to cook the whole meal.“When you don’t have any family, it’s easy to come here and you don’t have to cook for yourself,” he said. All three were infatuated with the food and Maine was especially with the town.“You can’t beat this little town,” he said. “I love this town.”