Thanksgiving at Bob's Diner

(Bob’s Diner – 27 Main Street – Brewster, New York)

Since the autumn of 1955, Bob’s Diner has been a landmark in the heart of Brewster village.  Named for Bob Sprague, grandfather of the current owner, Thomas, the diner has been an eating place and meeting place for nearly 60 years.

I have been a Southeast resident since the mid-1970s and dined there through the management of all three owners: Bob; Bob’s son Jimmy and Jimmy’s nephew Tommy.  Throughout those years, the diner’s place as a mainstay in the community was evident, but under Tom’s stewardship, it went from being a long-established business in the village to being a place where Brewster’s families would go to meet.

Most folks who know about the diner are aware of how the Spragues celebrate Thanksgiving, but few know why.  Bob’s Diner offers a full blown holiday banquet to all comers on Thanksgiving Day.  The community gets behind the project with local people and businesses donating food and with turkeys being cooked in ovens all over Brewster. The meal of roast turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mixed vegetables, white and sweet potatoes followed by pies, cakes, puddings and beverages – is served free to all who attend from mid-day to evening. 

No payment is accepted, but donations made that day are given directly to one of the local churches.  Leftovers are donated to one of the local food pantries.

Tommy told me once that the Sprague family did not have a home that would accommodate all the Sprague family members, so they decided to celebrate Thanksgiving together at the diner.  For a family that thinks the way they do, it was not such a stretch for them to want to serve, rather than be served, on Thanksgiving Day.  In 2007, Tommy decided that they could celebrate the holiday together at the diner while they fed all the folks who  would have been dining alone.  It was such a success and so personally rewarding for the Sprague Family, that they have done it every year since.

So, Tommy and his mother Cathleen McGrath, his sister Sylvia and his brothers, Michael and Robert, team up to serve the all-you-can-eat holiday feast each year.  The intimate relationship between Bob’s Diner and the community goes a long way to explain its continued success for nearly six decades.

                                     Denis Castelli
                                     Putnam County Historian
                                     Village of Brewster Historian