ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — It’s that time of year, when Thanksgiving meals share space with kegs at Bayboro Brewing in St. Petersburg.

What You Need To Know

  •  Bayboro Brewery owner doubles annual efforts, prepares 400 meals for veterans and their families

  •  Bayboro owner James Coleman began the tradition five years ago

  •  Jayson Austin of Barbacoa Boyz joins Coleman with a mobile smoker to start midnight cooking

  • A small army of family, friends and fellow vets pack meals for delivery, from green beans to apple pies

In the middle of the night on Thanksgiving Eve, James Coleman was at the beginning of his workday outside his St. Pete brewery.

“This is our fifth year,” said Coleman, carrying boxes of marinading chicken from the keg cooler to a massive mobile smoker, courtesy of Jayson Austin from Barbacoa Boyz.

Together, they fed food-insecure veterans.

“So we are going to load 160 birds in one shot,” Coleman said. “So, we’ll probably do this two or three times tonight, and we should be done by 9 a.m.”

This isn’t just a once-a-year effort on behalf of veterans — it is ongoing.

Patrons put extra pints on their tabs all year long.

Coleman offers a free tab for veterans several times a year.

“So like on Veteran’s Day, I think we gave out 480 beers,” Coleman said.

That’s what led to the Thanksgiving meals.

“I started learning more about veterans that did not have Thanksgiving meals — or meals in general,” Coleman said.

That was unacceptable to Coleman, his family and fellow veterans.

They started with 50 dinners.

Fast forward five years and about 800 individual pies.

“Right now, today (Thanksgiving), we are gonna feed over 400 with a goal in the next year or two to double-, triple — get over 1000,” Coleman said.

That is how Coleman shows up and shows gratitude for his fellow veterans — one meal of thanks at a time.