When Darrell Worthy was growing up, Thanksgiving meant 30 neighbors sharing a potluck meal in the family driveway. "My parents worked at a golf course. They'd 1 all the workers to come to Thanksgiving dinner. They would never turn anybody away," he says. "If there was a kid in the 2 who needed dinner, he got it."
Today, Worthy carries on the 3 at his restaurant, where a combination of barbecue and community 4 has made it a hot spot, Locals 5 the restaurant for its burgers and meatloaf. For many, it is also a stop on the road to 6 . It has a program that brings former 7 into the kitchen for the first time to help them 8 service industry skills. The effort was 9 by manager Casey DeGuise, who arrived there with drug problems. "He had been rejected for 35 jobs," Worthy says. "We said ‘Let's take a chance,' and he's never 10 ."
Worthy himself knows that a little help can go a long way. "I had a time when I was definitely drinking too much," he 11 . Now, he offers to others the 12 he once needed. He keeps a cooler by the front door of his restaurant with 13 food for anyone who wants it. But his favorite pastime is still watching 14 plates turn to dirty dishes.
"If we can pay the bills and staff, we're happy," says Worthy. "If we can 15 the community, we're happier."
