Tall turkeys and small turkeys, feathered and furred, came flocking into the gym at Belmont Middle School during the annual Gobble Wobble on Tuesday afternoon.

In preparing for Thanksgiving break, students and teachers gathered together for an assembly toward the end of the day to celebrate the holiday with the infamous turkey trot and turkey call competition where students let loose some unique and unusual turkey calls.

The event also included a food drive to assist needy families.

Throughout the week, students from all grades collected and worked on their costumes which were decorated in feathers, colored construction paper and brown paper bags. Some costumes had the traditional turkey look while others chose to stand out in the flock with multiple colors and different designs. Each homeroom classroom sent its turkey out to parade around the gym, showing off snoods and feathers.

Three new judges for this year's event were chosen to wear the ceremonial turkey headdresses. Judges this year included aide Elise Dubreil, foreign language teacher Traci Minton and special education assistant Kathryn Petozzi who had a hard time deciding what turkey deserved the title of 2009 Turkey of the Year.

After their short march around the gym, each turkey said its name, or name in disguise, and gave its best gobble for the crowd. After all gobbles were made, judges chose eighth grader Carmen Malca as the 2009 Turkey of the Year because of a poem she read aloud instead giving a gobble.

The Gobble Wobble is a long-lived tradition at the school and goes back 15 years. Vice-Principal Tim Saunders said the event is meaningful every year but especially this year with the need in the community being higher than normal.

"It's a real positive tradition that we look forward to every year," said Saunders. "Our kids really look forward to it as well as our staff members. Everyone enjoys it and we're just happy to be doing something for the community."

Saunders said it was gratifying to see an increased number of students taking part in this year's event.

"In light of some the challenges that people are facing right now, the kids feel that and I think that motivated some of them to participate," said Saunders. "I'm really pleased with what we were able to collect this year."

Leading up to the Gobble Wobble, the students took part in a food drive last week, bringing in canned foods and nonperishable items. The school collected a total of 2,150 pounds of food, with the sixth grade raising the most with 1,046 pounds, for an average of 175 pounds per classroom. The seventh grade collected 365 pounds, eighth grade collected 355 and the fifth grade collected 223.

Saunders welcomed Father Albert Tremblay Jr. from St. Joseph Church in Belmont who came to thank all the students and staff for donating the food that they had collected.

"We serve a lot of families out of the Belmont and Canterbury area," said Tremblay. "Many people come to us for help and we are grateful for the school's donation."

Tremblay said every donation counts because even a single box of groceries can make such a large impact on someone's life in the community.

"On behalf of all of those who helped, thank you for the bottom of my heart," he said.

Food collected over the past week will go to the food pantry at St. Joseph's which also donates to other pantries in need in the community.

Last year, the school donated more than 2,000 pounds of food to the pantry and the year before more than 4,000.