LOCKPORT — Students from the Niagara County Community College Culinary Institute will be handling the turkey preparation for this year’s Salvation Army Thanksgiving dinner.

The dinner, being offered for the 18th year since it was founded by a group of Harrison Radiator retirees, will be served from 11 a. m. to 2 p. m. Thursday.

Home-delivered meals are available, too, but they must be reserved by Tuesday. To have a meal delivered, call 434-1276.

“It’s not only for the needy, but anybody who’s living alone,” said Al Sammarco, one of the retirees who organizes the meal.

Last year, about 600 meals were served between the on-site diners and the home deliveries.

In the past, the retirees and some Sunrise Optimist Club members handled the turkey roasting. A variety of locations were used; last year, they tried pizza ovens at the Pizza Oven, a Vine Street pizzeria, and had to start three days before the holiday.

“NCCC’s cooking all the turkeys and slicing them for us. They’re cooking 50 turkeys for us. It’s saving us a lot of work,” Sammarco said.

Wayne Wagner, one of the retirees, turned to NCCC after discovering that the culinary students catered a successful dinner at Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Lockport.

But the Pizza Oven will still be in use for meal preparation. Sammarco said they’ll be cooking the stuffing there. The pizzeria is owned by John Rinaldo, son of Jack Rinaldo, one of the core group of retirees.