Divide and conquer is how Robyn Coleman’s Thanksgiving went Thursday.

Coleman got the children and her sister-in-law got to cook.

Coleman, of Mechanic Falls, brought her sons, Noah and Cooper, and nieces Taylor and Alivia Farrell to help serve a free Thanksgiving dinner to anyone who came to the Pleasant Street Baptist Church in Mechanic Falls on Thursday.

Taylor and Alivia’s mother, Ashley, stayed home to cook a Thanksgiving meal for her extended family.

“I think I got the better end of the deal,” Coleman said.

Coleman’s carload of children pulled their weight by passing out bread, and pouring cups of juice and iced tea.

They even washed dishes … sort of.

“Whatever they can do, they do,” Colleen Dehayes, who was in charge of dish-washing, said of the children who stepped up to the plate.

Dehayes said she watched her former church close its doors because of the lack of youth. Not this one, Dehayes said.

“We have a booming youth group,” Coleman said. The group has grown from just five children a couple of years ago to over 20 now.

“It’s a beautiful thing,” Dehayes said.

Parishioners give their energetic Pastor Greg Morgan credit for the participation boost.

Morgan, however, handed the thanks to Sandy Reynolds, the woman who makes the Thanksgiving tradition happen at the small two-story church.

“She has such a big heart and she’s an amazing cook,” Coleman said of the Oxford woman.

No meals were served on Thanksgiving at the church until Reynolds arrived five years ago. She, her husband, Arthur, and Sarah Allen started the tradition.

Church members served 10 people the first year, 50 the next, 75 the year after and 80 the next Thanksgiving.

“It’s getting easier and easier every year,” said Reynolds, who starts planning two months before.

Arthur Reynolds and Brian Robinson delivered meals to people who could not leave their home.

“It’s heartbreaking to see people alone on Thanksgiving,” Arthur Reynolds said.

Tina Cothran and her daughter, Jennifer, were grateful for the meal they received from church Thursday.

“It’s good for people with a small family,” she said. “It does not make sense to cook a big meal for just my daughter and I. It’s really nice of them to do this for people that feel alone.”

Before Cothran and her daughter had finished their dessert, Arthur Reynolds and Robinson returned from delivering meals.

“It’s very touching,” Robinson said of providing the free Thanksgiving meals. “I feel so good inside right now.”

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