Thanksgiving marks the start of the Holiday season, when families and friends come together to share a meal and be thankful for the year.
But the season is always full of merriment and mirth, and Denverites have a history of reaching out to those in need. Fixtures in charity include Daddy Bruce Randolph, Virgil and Rosa Linda Aguirre and Hattie Anthony, who opened their hearts and kitchens to strangers so they can have a holiday meal.
Bruce Randolph Sr. was born on Feb. 15, 1900, in Pastoria, Arkansas and opened Daddy Bruce’s Bar-B-Q with $1,000 loan. The restaurant became a fixture on the corner of E. 34th and Gilpin for decades.
Daddy Bruce had a giving heart and started making free Thanksgiving meals as early as 1967. His annual act of service became a tradition and started catching the attention of local media in the early 1980s.
Thanksgiving meals included turkey, traditional appetizers, and his famous barbecue. Denverites from all over the city would come to his restaurant knowing they would get a free meal.
Daddy Bruce also gave an education in the art of giving for future generations. One example was when a Rocky Mountain News columnist, John Coitt, wrote about a group of elementary school kids who were invited to Daddy Bruce’s restaurant.
On Thanksgiving Eve 1983, Coit wrote that 52 fourth-graders from Witt Elementary School in Broomfield were to meet Daddy Bruce Randolph, who estimated he would feed 50,000 people on Thanksgiving Day.
“Devlin Dykes, 9 said he’d been thinking more about what Thanksgiving meant since he read about Daddy Bruce.
“I’ve had nine Thanksgivings now, so you’d think I’d know. But now I’m thankful to meet Daddy Bruce and see that he is real and see what his place is like.”
Daddy Bruce also held Easter Egg hunts and clothing drives for the community, but he continued to offer his annual Thanksgiving dinner until he passed away in 1994.
Today, the Epworth Foundation carries on Daddy Bruce Randolph’s legacy through the Denver Feed-a-Family Distribution program.
Rosalinda’s Mexican Cafe
Rosa Linda Aguirre was born and raised in Mexico and moved to the United States in 1967. She met her future husband, Virgil, in 1970. The couple opened Rosalinda’s Mexican restaurant in 1985 at the corner of 33rd and Tejon.
Soon after, the Aguirre family opened its restaurant and kitchen every Thanksgiving for those looking for a home-cooked meal. Virgil and Rosa Linda Aguirre hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for needy families, featuring shredded turkey, beans, rice, stuffing, green chile, desserts, and other traditional appetizers.
While it was a family tradition for the Aguirres to spend Thanksgiving serving the community, they also had an army of volunteers to lend a hand, including Denver Mayor Federico Pena, who served meals in 1986, and Wellington Webb, who highlighted the contributions immigrants made to the city.
“I knew that my faith in God would help me succeed. I saw how Daddy Bruce helped the community and I saw the need, “ said Aguirre in an interview with La Voz back in 2007.
Rosalinda’s closed on Oct. 30, 2015, and its annual Thanksgiving tradition came to an end.
Hattie Anthony
Back in the 1980s, Hattie Anthony would venture down to Larimer every week for years. In 1983, she said she usually cooked enough food to feed 150.
“I grew up in Hooks, Texas, the oldest of eight. My father was a Baptist minister. Not much money, but he knew how to manage and we always had enough to eat. I don’t mean we were ever hungry, but when we’d kill a hog or chickens, he always sent us, the kids, running a bit of meat to some family that didn’t have any. Same with bread, clothes, or whatever else we had. Sharing was my father’s middle name.”
She told the Rocky Mountain that she was inspired to help others when, in 1977, her family had a rough Thanksgiving.
We had nothing, and that’s a fact. We were hungry and I didn’t know where to turn. My husband was sick and couldn’t work, and we were in a bad way.
But then the Catholic Diocese called and asked if she would accept a Thanksgiving box.
From then on, Hattie worked with her church to create a food bank and spent her time collecting food to keep the weekly dinners going.
