With Thanksgiving on the horizon, North Carolinians Opposed to the Outlying Landing field gathered Tuesday to commemorate a seven-year struggle they have led from the fields and forests of Beaufort and Washington counties and which, heretofore, has kept the Navy at bay.

“I want to thank everyone for the work they’ve done,” said Jennifer Alligood, chairwoman of NO OLF. “If it wasn’t for the ground troops, the people out on the road, the people making phone calls, the persistence, we wouldn’t be celebrating this occasion today.”

Many of those “troops’’ gathered Tuesday night at the Beasley Farm Shop on the Washington-Beaufort county line to give thanks that the area in which they live and farm has not become a hive for Navy Super Hornet jets.

Shortly before 6 p.m., the farmers from the fields and women and children from their homes began arriving at the big metal building where the group holds many of meetings, covered dishes in hand.

Shortly thereafter, the group set down to a potluck dinner of fried chicken, corn, potatoes and other fruits of the farmers own labors.

“Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for what you have,” said Christy Ange. “It’s also a time to reflect on the past.”

Ange presented a new slideshow of compiled photographs chronicling the people of Site C’s struggle against the Navy building a pilot-practice field on their land.

The film opens with wide shots of lush farmland in Washington and Beaufort counties, set to “Born Country” by the Band Alabama.

“Honest work out in the fields,” the song goes, echoing the voices of opposition to an OLF at Site C. “Family ties run deep in this land and I’m never very far from what I am. I was born country.”

As the soundtrack shifted to James Taylor’s “Carolina in My Mind,” the photos became more personal, spotlighting nearly every member of NO OLF that contributed time and effort to the group’s cause, travels to Washington D.C. to lobby representatives and numerous rallies.

The film was dedicated to two “dedicated OLFers” who have died since the Navy’s record of decision targeted Site C for an OLF in 2003, said Christy Ange. Ange and her twin sister Jennifer coordinated the film. Photographs of the two - Conrad Cox and W.C. Alligood - concluded the film.

As the lights came up, a standing ovation was given, followed by tearful hugs.

“For seven years we have fought for what is ours,” said Jennifer Ange. “We’ve been a lot of places and done a lot of things. Each person has done a part to get us where we are today.”

In the spirit of the holiday season, Christy Ange gave thanks for the group having avoided the proposed OLF for so long.

“We’ve got a lot to be thankful for people,” she said. “We’ve got the Navy out of our land for seven years.”

Having begun her own fight against the Navy in September, when northeastern North Carolina was announced to be the location of four new proposed sites, Gates County resident Laura Dickerson applauded the grassroots effort put forth by Washington and Beaufort county residents.

“I can’t imagine fighting this fight as long as you all have,” Dickerson said. “If we band together, maybe there won’t be an OLF anywhere.”

Myra Beasley, in whose shop the meeting was held, read aloud from a resolution passed by the group Sept. 25 pledging “support to the communities and people of northeastern North Carolina.”