Tuesday, November 23, 2004

A Reason To Be Thankful

By O'Ryan Johnson
Staff Writer

LAWRENCE -- A North Andover grocer and a business owner with Haverhill roots have saved Thanksgiving for some 100 needy Lawrence families.

A three-alarm blaze early Saturday morning played holiday spoiler for the families relying on donated baskets of canned vegetables, boxed stuffing and turkeys this holiday.

The baskets lost in the fire were gathered by the Lawrence Methuen Community Coalition and were going to families in the Arlington Neighborhood who could not provide the traditional holiday bounty.

But the story has a happy ending.

Butcher Boy Meat Market and A. Raymond Tye, owner of United Liquors Limited, are splitting the cost to replace all 100 Thanksgiving food baskets, with food from the upscale grocery store.

The original baskets included a turkey with canned vegetables, instant potatoes and stuffing. The Butcher Boy baskets will have a 16- to 20-pound fresh turkey, two boxes of stuffing, 5 pounds of fresh potatoes, turkey gravy, cranberry sauce, peas, rolls and fruit cocktail. Thomas Yameen, one of the store's owners, said the retail value of each basket is between $80 and $100.

Yameen said Tye, a longtime friend, called him Sunday to say he would pay the cost if Butcher Boy could make the baskets. Yameen, whose family started the store in the late 1930s just after the Depression, said they've known hard times and were happy to help.

"He called and asked if we can do this," Yameen said. "I said, 'Only if you let us share the cost.' Life has been good to us. We've had hard times ourselves. We're in a position where we were able to help and we're happy to do it."

Rabbi Ira L. Korinow of Temple Emanu-El in Haverhill said Tye's family also came from meager beginnings.

He said Tye was born in Haverhill to a family of Russian immigrants and rose from those roots to achieve the American dream. Tye's brother was the prominent Haverhill dermatologist Maurie Tye. Raymond Tye owns United Liquors, a wholesale distributor based in Braintree.

The new baskets were assembled yesterday and could be delivered to the Lawrence Methuen Community Coalition today, said program director Harold Magoon.

"That's like an unbelievable thing," Magoon said.

The fire that tore through 471 Broadway early Saturday morning left 48 people homeless, and destroyed the coalition's office. The cause has not been determined. Inside the office the assembled baskets were spoiled by water, smoke and fire. A deep freezer in the building that held 70 turkeys was also destroyed.

Magoon and staff began gathering the food Nov. 1 with all of the items coming from residents and local Spanish grocery stores. It was a grass-roots effort, with neighbors and small businesses dropping off cans and boxes of food -- not one big corporation providing a bulk donation.

Magoon said the destroyed meals were going to families identified by the Department of Social Services, and three neighborhood groups, as needing help providing Thanksgiving dinner for their families.

While the 100 meals are now replaced, Magoon has an ambitious plan of also giving baskets to the families who lost their homes in the fire.

Donations of canned goods, boxes of stuffing and mashed potatoes, turkeys or cash can be made at the Greater Lawrence Community Action Council office, 305 Essex St., or at Mayor Michael J. Sullivan's office at City Hall.