Paying forward ... with thanks

• Henry, Rosie and Jessica Huber

Henry, Rosie and Jessica Huber enjoy the public Thanksgiving dinner in Two Harbors Thursday. They, along with Howie Huber, also helped volunteer at the event. The Hubers, who once lived in Two Harbors, were the family featured on the television show, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” filmed over the summer at their new home in South Range, Wis. Submitted photo
• Community Thanksgiving Dinner

The Holy Spirit Catholic Church was packed with eaters enjoying a community Thanksgiving dinner Thursday. Matt Suoja
• Verna Rafn

Verna Rafn performs during the dinner. Matt Suoja
• Shirley May, Ed Taylor and Chris Lemke

Shirley May, Ed Taylor and Chris Lemke help prepare the food. Matt Suoja

Talk about it

A family featured on national television as they received a new house this summer spent their Thanksgiving miles away from that fabulous home.

Who can forget the Huber family of South Range, Wis., and their “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” appearance this summer? On Thursday, they left that home behind to celebrate with and serve strangers at a community buffet at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Two Harbors.

“Sir, may I take your plate for ya?,” Howie Huber asked a man who had just finished his meal. “Happy Thanksgiving!”

Huber and his family bused dishes and served strangers for two hours Thursday.

“Here ya go,” Huber said to a woman, handing her a turkey dinner on a plate. “Enjoy.”

It’s just how he and his family wanted to spend this Thanksgiving.

“We feel really grateful,” Huber said. “I can’t think of any better way to show gratitude than to help other people.”

“I wouldn’t want to spend it any other way,” said Jessie Huber. This was the Hubers’ first Thanksgiving since their whirlwind summer. That’s when they were chosen to receive a home makeover by producers of the show on ABC. It was a topic of discussion that came up during the community dinner.

“We’re finally catching our breath a little bit after that experience,” Howie Huber said. Jessie Huber added that the family is finally settling into the new home, and their children are putting their own touches on it.

“Rosie has taken a crayon to the wall a little bit. It makes you feel at home, once there’s a little Playdoh on the floor and a little bit of dog hair on the rug, then you can really start to relax,” she said.

Thursday was all about giving thanks and giving back to the community, for changing their lives.

“It’s just really renewed our faith in people and how good people are,” Howie Huber said. “Now when someone cuts us off on the road or something, instead of feeling angry, we might think the guy was probably painting our house at 2 in the morning.”

“We’re so thankful for our family and we’re so thankful for our health,” said Jessie Huber, interrupted by her 4-year-old daughter, who came up and gave her a big hug.

“And we’re so thankful for the friends and wonderful people that we have in our life.”

The Hubers are also official energy providers now. Just this month, they started up their new wind turbine which feeds into the power grid. They’ll get a credit on their power bill for the amount of energy they provide to the power company.

Tags: two harbors, news, thanksgiving, huber family, huber