The late Bob and Dorothy Casper couldn’t forget what they saw while delivering food for Meals on Wheels in the early 1980s, their now adult children said.

Owners of the iconic St. Paul restaurant Cherokee Sirloin Room, which they purchased in 1971 and later passed down to three of their sons, the couple had a heart for feeding the hungry.

So, they signed up as volunteers to deliver pre-packaged meals to individuals and families in need. During some stops, the two encountered disturbing scenes, like the single mom with a cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth and the smell of alcohol on her breath as she held her infant.

Daily Mass goers at their parish, St. Leo (now called Lumen Christi) in St. Paul, Bob and Dorothy came home from such encounters wanting to do something more.

Dorothy, a prayerful woman known for writing poems centered on God, consulted Bob and their children about what they could do. One of the children, Tom, remembers a conversation about it following a family Thanksgiving dinner.

They came up with an idea and launched it in1983: host a Thanksgiving Day dinner for anyone who wants to come. Whatever their need, be it material or spiritual, the restaurant doors would be open that day, and all meals, served from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m., would be free.

Nearly 40 years later, the tradition continues, with all five of Bob and Dorothy’s children — Bob, Tom, Rick, Nancy and Jim, now in their 50s, 60s, and 70s — participating, plus their spouses, some of their 23 grandchildren and even some great-grandchildren. Bob died in 2000, and Dorothy passed away in 2015 at age 90, participating in the event until she was 88.

The first year was rough, as a major storm blanketed the Twin Cities with 11 inches of snow on Thanksgiving Day. They had planned to serve 300 to 400 people in the restaurant, but fewer than 100 showed up. Two years later, they started offering take-out.

The event has grown steadily since then, with support from community and church leaders who have spread the word. Today, between take-out and dine-in, they serve nearly 4,000 people per year. The legacy continues as strong as ever, even though the Caspers sold the restaurant two years ago.

Former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, who served as mayor of St. Paul from 1994 to 2002, praised the Caspers and their efforts. He and his wife, Laurie, who belongs to the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, ate at the Cherokee Sirloin Room on numerous occasions.

He said the Caspers’ Thanksgiving dinner “reflected a commitment to community. It reflected, I think, a sense of faith. It reflected being a big small town and caring about your neighbors. I think that’s what makes St. Paul great.”

After one more year at the restaurant after the sale, the venue was switched to nearby St. Joseph in West St. Paul, with the food prepared at Casper’s Cherokee of Eagan, which sons Tom, Rick and Jim bought in 1991. Tom later left to own and operate other restaurants, while Rick and Jim have continued to run Casper’s Cherokee. The two brothers oversee the volunteers and employees who start preparing the Thanksgiving Day food at their restaurant weeks in advance. The new owners of the Cherokee Sirloin Room, Brian and Mollie Rubenzer, parishioners of St. Joseph, continue to help out at the event. They named the restaurant Cherokee Tavern.

Dorothy set the tone for the Thanksgiving Day dinner. She always led a prayer shortly before guests started arriving. She and Bob insisted on providing full service, with volunteers seating guests and serving their meals. At the front entrance, Dorothy greeted every person who came through the door, including those stopping by for take-out orders, numbering as many as 500 meals. All five of her children, plus 100 or so volunteers who came every year, wholeheartedly bought into the effort.

“They wanted everyone there to feel like they were a guest at the restaurant,” said Tom’s wife, Sheila, who now makes a Thanksgiving dinner at her home every year for all the Caspers after their work that day is done. “No one was to feel like they were getting a handout. Everyone should feel welcome, should feel just as if they were a guest in your home.”

Little touches were added like nice tablecloths and entertainment. One volunteer dresses up like a pilgrim and walks around to every table to greet those who dine in. A number of musicians also have served over the years, playing instruments such as piano and harp.

St. Joseph parish is maintaining the tradition and trying to grow the event. In the summer of 2018, Rick and Jim, both parishioners, approached pastoral care director Jennifer Mak about having it at St. Joseph after the Rubenzers told them it needed more support than they could provide.

“I was excited right away” when the Caspers asked to move the event to St. Joseph, Mak said. “I just love this kind of thing — the whole idea of being available to people, and to be able to serve them and provide a good experience and to be welcoming. Everybody deserves a nice Thanksgiving meal. So, to be able to help with that is an honor.”

On a practical level, Mak said she thinks St. Joseph, just a few blocks from Cherokee Tavern, is “a natural fit” to host the event, with lots of eager volunteers and a pastor, Father Michael Creagan, who is “all on board.”

She said 50 to 75 parishioners already have signed up for this year’s dinner, and the collection at the parish’s Thanksgiving Mass will go to covering the cost of food for the dinner, which Rick Casper said will be about $15,000. They estimate they will cook and carve 450 turkeys this year, along with thousands of pounds of mashed potatoes, stuffing and yams. Also on the menu are rolls, cranberries and pumpkin pie.

The change of venue in no way reduces the involvement or the passion of the Caspers, especially Rick and Jim, who carry the most prominent roles today. They spend countless hours working on it, in addition to managing the restaurant, with Jim pulling an all-nighter at St. Joseph last year.

It all connects to their faith, passed down by their parents and carried on in their own families, their own hearts.

“I go to church every day,” Rick said. “A lot of times when I’m at church, I’m always praying for something, asking for something. This (Thanksgiving Day) is a time that I’m thankful for what the Lord has given me, and (how he has) blessed me and my family. It’s the one day I feel the thankfulness.”

This simple gratitude makes it easy to smile at those coming in to eat and those coming in to take meals to surrounding churches of various denominations. It makes it easy to offer hospitality and even crisis assistance. Like the time Rick was notified that a guest had locked herself in the bathroom after finishing her meal. She had brought all her belongings into the restaurant and didn’t want to leave because she had nowhere to sleep that night.

Rick gently knocked on the bathroom door and urged the young woman to come out. He sat down with her, listened and got her the help she needed.

Tom said he once approached a woman who looked too well dressed to need a free meal. In her 80s, she told Tom when he sat down at her table that all of her family members had died and she was alone on Thanksgiving.

Tom’s kind smile and reassuring voice told her she was among friends that day. At the end of the meal, she reached into her purse and pulled out a $20 bill and handed it to Tom.

The event is all about giving others a meal and fellowship on Thanksgiving, the Caspers said. It all traces back to Bob and Dorothy, whom they honor with their opening prayer every year.

And, it’s why the grandchildren of Bob and Dorothy have gotten involved. Tony Schille, Nancy’s oldest child, is an employee at Casper’s in Eagan, but he’s off the clock on Thanksgiving Day when he dons an apron to work in the kitchen. He started coming to the event when he was 3 or 4 and started helping out when he was 6 or 7. Now 34, he hasn’t missed a Thanksgiving dinner since his first appearance.

“About the last decade now, I’ve been the mashed potato master — the guy that gets the mashed potatoes done,” he said. “These forearms get pretty exhausted at the end of the day.”

He will arrive at St. Joseph between 4 and 5 a.m. Thanksgiving Day and make fresh batches of mashed potatoes, more than 2,000 pounds worth, with help from his brother, Joseph. His sister, Katie, who is pregnant with her third child, also helps every year.

Why does he choose to spend his day off getting up earlier than usual and working just as many hours, if not more?

“I guess the best way of putting it (is) there’s five love languages in life, and gift giving, I think, is huge in the Casper family,” he said. “So, I think I’ve learned to gravitate towards gift giving.”

Sometimes, he stops making the mashed potatoes for a few minutes and tries to soak it all in.

“It means a lot” to be part of it, he said. “It’s quite astonishing. You get to watch this family walk in that … without this dinner, who knows if they would have had one. A lot of times, it can bring tears to your eyes.”

Over the years, the event has drawn the attention of the broader community, including the media. Nancy, keeper of the scrapbook and the unofficial family photographer, can page through newspaper clippings documenting the impact and growth of the event.

There is one anecdote that she and her siblings treasure. The last time Dorothy served at the dinner, in 2013, a local TV reporter came to do a story about it. After finishing his interviews, he put down his gear, put on an apron, and worked as a volunteer until the event ended.

“When the day was through, he went over to my mom and said, ‘Can I get a picture with you?’” Nancy recalled. “He had nothing but wonderful things to say, and the two of them giggled and laughed and had a wonderful conversation. I just think it was very nice.”

What may be less obvious are the struggles the Caspers have endured in being able to put it on some years. There have been some downturns in the business, chief among them a devastating fire at the Eagan restaurant Oct. 11, 2011, which kept it closed for seven months and caused a $2 million loss.

The fire occurred right about the time they normally start preparations for the Thanksgiving dinner at the St. Paul restaurant, putting the fate of the event in doubt, not to mention the fate of the Eagan restaurant itself.

“You sit there and you think, ‘Geez, are we really going to be able to do it this year?’” Jim said.

They talked among themselves, Rick recalled, and asked: “How can we even think about doing the Thanksgiving (dinner)? But, we thought the other way: How can we not do the Thanksgiving (dinner)?”

Despite the struggle, the Caspers pulled together to stage their 29th annual Thanksgiving dinner in 2011. The tragedy helped them see that making food for thousands every Thanksgiving is part of their family’s identity, and will be for the foreseeable future.

It’s also an opportunity for many volunteers to give of their time on Thanksgiving Day. It’s a community event, one that goes beyond just their family, the Caspers said.

“We’re fortunate that we had the restaurant. We’re fortunate our parents said, ‘Let’s open our doors (on Thanksgiving Day).’ But, this is a community event, and without the community, it wouldn’t have happened,” Nancy said. “So, we’re very blessed that so many people were giving of their time, and so many people were helping, and that our family is close.”

For more information, call Jennifer Mak at St. Joseph in West St. Paul at 651-789-8359.