FAIRBANKS — An annual Thanksgiving dinner that served more than 300 seniors per year has been canceled.

The Elders Thanksgiving Dinner has given a free feast to Fairbanks seniors for the past eight years. Usually hosted several days before the holiday, it was paid for and coordinated by the Bentley Mall Safeway and the Westmark Hotel.

Alma Rider, secretary of Santa’s Senior Center, said the cancellation changed the center’s plans for the holidays, but she and others aren’t anywhere near upset about it.

“When they’ve had three- to four-hundred people there, that’s a big thing,” she said. “... Most of us have a place to go on Thanksgiving, and (the Elders’ Dinner) is the week before.”

Safeway store manager Rick Searles said volunteers couldn’t devote enough time this year to put on the event. Preparations for the dinner usually start in July.

The Fairbanks-area isn’t lacking in Thanksgiving get-togethers.

Others include a free Thanksgiving buffet at noon Nov. 25 at the North Star Center for Aging, though the event will only have the capacity to serve fewer than 50 people. Salcha’s Neighborly Organization will host a community potluck at 2 p.m. Nov. 26 at 8678 Richardson Highway.