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On Tuesday, members of the Lanett Senior Center celebrated Thanksgiving early by eating a buffet lunch together at Sunny’s Home Cooking. Sandra Thornton, senior manager of the Lanett Senior Center, said the center holds a Thanksgiving restaurant meal every year.

“We have a council that’s part of the center, and they actually asked that we continue and come here to celebrate Thanksgiving,” she said.

The senior center chose Sunny’s because it’s local, but Thornton said it has plans to visit other restaurants in the future. She said the senior center met on Tuesday because it would be closed for Thanksgiving.

“Our mayor was here, and he brought greetings to everyone — Mayor Jamie Heard — which was nice,” Thornton said. “Everyone was happy to see that he took the time to come down to come down and make the seniors [feel] special.”

Thornton said she was thankful that God had provided her with the opportunity to serve at the senior center.

“We’re like a family at the Lanett Senior Center, so I’m happy to be with my family,” she said.

Heard said he felt honored to be a part of the lunch, although he couldn’t stay long because he had a meeting to attend.

“The seniors really seemed to enjoy going,” Heard said in a statement. “It was something different for them, and probably that was the first time that some of them have gotten the chance to go down there and eat.”

Heard said he has many things to be thankful for.

“I’m thankful for my life and health, I’m thankful to be a servant in the community, and most of all, I’m just thankful that I have God in my life,” he said.

Heard also said he was thankful to be able to serve as the mayor of Lanett.