Thanksgiving, Silver Bullet style

Bill Roberson and his wife, Christina Perez, and their two sons are going to be serving homemade turkey soup, stuffing and sweet potatoes Thanksgiving Day from The Silver Bullet, their food cart.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20151125/NEWS02/151129712

SUSAN SMALLHEER / STAFF PHOTO Christina Perez and Bill Roberson, and their two sons, Cameron Reyes and Julian Roberson, front, left and right, stand in front of their food cart, the Silver Bullet, where free turkey soup, sweet potatoes and stuffing will be served on Thanksgiving Day, along with free used winter clothing. Published November 25, 2015 in the Rutland Herald Thanksgiving, Silver Bullet style By Susan Smallheer STAFF WRITER SPRINGFIELD — Bill Roberson and his wife, Christina Perez, and their two sons are going to be serving homemade turkey soup, stuffing and sweet potatoes Thanksgiving Day from The Silver Bullet, their food cart. The family will also be handing out good used winter clothing too. Everything’s free. “It’s a ‘pay-it-forward’ kind of thing,” Perez said Tuesday, who said The Silver Bullet is being moved for the day to Riverside Middle School. Volunteering is nothing new for Roberson, who earlier this year volunteered to take what many consider a thankless job — the town’s constable. The family has been collecting warm clothing that they will give away to people Thursday, and said anything left would be donated to the Springfield Family Center. On the picnic tables at the Silver Bullet’s usual spot, Perez organized big plastic bags of winter clothing including hats, mittens, gloves, scarves and sweaters. “We don’t have any long underwear,” Roberson said. Boots would be a plus, he said, as well as sweatshirts. “Socks are very important,” said Roberson’s son, Cameron Reyes. But the family, which has been back in Springfield for about a year and a half after a six-year hiatus in Connecticut, said it was simply a matter of giving back to the community. Helping out will be Julian Roberson, 8, and Reyes, 20. When they left Springfield for Connecticut for “job reasons,” Roberson said, they kept their home on Autumn Street, with the goal of coming back. Julian, a student at Union Street School, said he was glad to be back in Vermont. In Connecticut, he said, “People don’t wave at you.” Perez and Roberson said in their time away, their hometown has changed. “I would say people are less fortunate,” said Roberson, who added that he was concerned about the increase in crime and drug activity. On Wednesday, two 18-pound turkeys will go into the oven, and soup will be made from those birds. In addition, Perez and Roberson will be serving sweet potatoes grown by the Springfield farmer they bought their produce from, Bruce Huls, as well as a traditional stuffing, made with apples and cranberry. The Silver Bullet’s usual spot is adjacent to the Connecticut River and the Cheshire Bridge, across from Hoyt’s Landing boat access. And even as the temperatures hovered around 40 degrees, a woman stopped by and asked if they were open. “I hear you make a great roast beef sandwich,” she said from the comfort of her car. The Silver Bullet is closed for the season — sort of. This Friday, the cart will be at Christmas Trees of Vermont, the large cut-your-own operation on Connecticut River Road. The Silver Bullet will be there on December weekends as well, for people getting trees. “We’re taking the month of January off,” Roberson said. Roberson said the town’s parks and recreation department had given them special permission to set up their cart for a couple of hours down at Riverside. “I’m going to park it close to the sidewalk,” Roberson said. If anyone would like to make any donations, Roberson and Perez said people should leave things at the Silver Bullet’s regular spot on the Charlestown Road, and they will pick it up Wednesday, late in the afternoon. And since the weather is going to be balmy by Thanksgiving standard, sunny and in the 50s — there might be a pick-up game of kickball for the younger set, Perez said, pleasing her younger son. “It’s going to be a beautiful day,” Roberson said.