restaurant in 1978. >> i am a greek immigrant. when i he arrived here i arrived here pennyless nothing in my pocket. >> reporter: his business took off a and few years later he welcomed customers and those in need to stop by for a free meal on thanksgiving day. >> there's not very many plays like this left anywhere. >> reporter: over the years they made the place feel just like home for so many. a visit came with and conversation and that home cooked meal. >> this is great. it's just like home only better. >> happy thanksgiving. >> reporter: and now the gracious gift of giving grazed the community again. >> qlaip thanksgiving. >> you can't -- happy thanksgiving. >> you can't find a better day to thank everybody who helped us to stay in the business. >> reporter: they have been serving free meals on thanksgiving for more than 30 years now. they estimate that they feed so if you do the math real quick that's more than 30,000 people served. reporting in rocky river alyssa raymond channel 3 news and happy thanksgiving. >> same to you alyssa. indeed thanksgiving was not only about eating for the first family but president obama and his daughters helpeder is of a turkey dinner at a local soup kitchen. the president offered a message of unity after acknowledging the devisive elebs. president-elect donald trump sent out a message of university the calling for our country to heal our divisions and move forward as one. mr. trump is spending the holidays with his family at the paul beach florida estate. back here in northeast ojai wrote haven of rest -- ohio, the haven of rest ministries is hoping to create unity with the homeless community. they are using food to help those in need feel like family. spending most of their day cooking a thanksgiving meal here at haven rest ministries it's a little different because you are cooking for hundreds of people in need. >> we like to make them feel like it's a home cooked meal you know just like you would get at mom's house. >> reporter: but unlike mom's house, volunteers in this kitchen have been preparing 150 turkeys and hundreds of pounds of potatoes and green beans for today's thanksgiving meal. every year, haven of rest provide a meal for need. and even for those who maybe alone around the holidays. >> this is a real blessing for me because i don't have any family in town. so i am able to have thanks giving my work family. >> reporter: about 600 people are expected each year for the thanksgiving feast. a plate full of food weighing in at more than a pound. and a colorful place setting that was able to paint a smile on the hundreds of people who walked in. day it's not ordinary day at haven of rest ministries they are used to serving hundreds of people every day of the year. reporting from the akron canton mobile newsroom amani abraham channel 3 news. on this thanksgiving we are also taking the time out to thank our troops. the men and women who on this day have tried to have a traditional of a celebration as possible. abroad fighting isis. those stationed in afghanistan enjoyed a meal with all the fixings as you of the thoughts were with their families here in the united states. we are wishing them all a very happy and safe thanksgiving. if you have finished eating maybe your next stop is a mad dash to the stores that kicked off black friday deals early. hilary golston is live at toys r us how are things there? >> reporter: yeah, well, one made this up so i can't take credit for it but really it's about the 3f's family food and football but add another f to that the frenzy because there's certainly a frenzy at toys r us in parma. as you said, the doors are opened but this is not the only store macy's sears best buy decided to open their doors on thanksgiving. it might make you think what is black friday. it starts now typically. 336 million dollars already spent online. can you believe that? and actually, folks are expected to spend about 2 billion dollars online. but still, 137 million americans say they will shop this holiday weekend so that's thursday, and friday and there are a lot of people who as you can see, they are willing and ready to stand in line. but believe it or not, many of the people are not all that why did you decide to hit the stores so soon. >> i need to get my son a toy i didn't want to be here i got dragged her i am not going to lie. >> reporter: you are not going to lie but hopefully you will get a good deal right? >>i guess so yeah. yeah. hopefully. >> reporter: and the deals are plentiful. you can see a lot of folks putting those huge boxes inside of the carts and we even saw people who star wars fan deciding she would carry the large box and i can tell you they are very large. coming up at 7, we will let you know what we are expecting from shoppers come early tomorrow. and, if there are deals to snag right here at toys r us in parma. >> hopefully you find deals too. if you don't plan to get out today or tomorrow don't worry matt granite has you covered and compiled a list of deals. you can check them out on wkyc.com. tonight downtown cleveland is protected once again. thanks to a new break wall more than 4 years in the making. after hurricane sandy destroyed it in 2012. our andrew horansky shows you how federal tax dollars built the barrier. >> reporter: as millions of americans sat down to thanksgiving dinner four years ago the effects of super storm sandy were still being felt here in northeast ohio. and the worst of it was not even the downed trees and lines or even the shattered roofs but along cleveland's break wall. >> we had just slightly under a mile of the wall damaged. to the point where it was not going to be effective and not have the longevity we need to protect the shipping channel in the eastern end. >> reporter: according to fema sandy was the second most expensive hurricane in u.s. history. 0-mile-an-hour winds were kick -- 70-mile-an-hour winds were kicking up wavesly never before crumbling the artery that allowed ships in and out. army corps of engineers fought for funding and got it. 35 million dollars to rebuild the wall with the 6 1/2 ton casts called dolos. they are nothing new as u you can see-- as you can see they were used in the reenforce the eastern most enter the break wall and for decades they did their job until sandy which proved the old ones were no longer enough. >> it removed the material on the front of the wall. >> reporter: and that's where valley view based alegga concrete came in. contracting with the core to develop new ones three times the size 18,000 in all to piece together like a super sized game of jinga. why do they look the way they many bases on dlsh -- there's many bases and the waves hit and locks them together and protects the break wall. >> reporter: and protect the city in what's been the single most expensive sandy cleanup project. >> a impact storm like that it's amazing especially in cleveland. >> reporter: the hope is if a storm like sandy ever strikes cleveland again, that wall will be indestructible though any of us seeing a storm like that again is highly unlikely. an coming up next at 6, if you don't want to get out in the shopping crowd this holiday season, the newest trend in giving will send your loved ones on the experience of a lifetime. hey betsy. >> that sounds a little expensive. but i am sure since black friday is upon us there are deals to be had. the internet effectively shut down because of the store deals are launching but looking ahead to the day, well it looks like we have more rain and drizzle and fog to contend with. >> if you plan to deck the hallsthe four things to do to keep your family safe. president-elect donald trump is working this tanks giving coming up at -- thanksgiving day. coming up at 7 who he he is wheeling and dealing with and a tour of what will likely be the winter white house. directors behind the disney filmlearn what it takes to put a animated movie together all i am sure we can think of one person on our holiday list that is hard to buy for right? but a new giving trend couldmake shopping for them americans will unwrap a new adventure this holiday season. >> reporter: tired of retail store mobs and endleyless wrapping how about giving the gift of a get away. >> let's face it an iphone or anything else of value can break or you can lose it but you will never lose the memories you bring back from a great trip. >> reporter: travel is the hot new gift trend this year companies like if only an out ings. >> gift a gift certificate but adventures like hot air balloon ride so you don't have to give the entire vacation give a part of it. >> reporter: there are new ways people are traveling fromintergeneration and volunteer trips to cultural immersions. >> that's where people feel like they are less tourists and more like real visitors who sample the local culture of where they are visiting. >> reporter: air b and b launched trips experiences could have flew to culinary excursion or a surf lesson in addition to lodging feeling really' ventureous a surprise destination pack up and go plans your vacation but you don't know where it is until you get there. >> some airlines are offering tickets at a set price but you don't know where you are goinguntil you get to the airport. >> reporter: choosing experiences over material items it's a travel trend the industry is hoping will continue brian mooar nbc news. now is a good time to save too. hotels and airlines and travel agencies like expedia will be offering deals starting with black friday and continuing into the holidays. and as holiday shopping kicks into high gear, ohio ternattorney general mike de-- attorney general mike dewine wants to help you avoid scams. he says look out for an online also be on alert for advanced fee loan scamers offering fake online applications that require a fee paid up front. and, of course, charity scams will rev up scamers will miss misrepresent the charity with vague or fony claims. fony claims. -- phoney claims. now the turkey are done you can deck the halls for christmas. make sure that all your lights have been safety tested and all montng if you have an artificial tree, check that it's fire resistant and if you have a live tree, water it often. look for a winter fun for the entire family this weekend, make sure to check out the ice rink at public square. it's opened and torment cleveland foundation is offering a free skate foreone who shows up. saturday is when the magic -- for everyone who shows up hosted by danielle wiggins and we have a list of events happening saturday right now on wkyc.com. whatever you have planned this weekend we want to check in with the chief to see if weather is is a factor. >> i think there's a whole lot of people who are happy to have the day off of work and they are all full of turkey or going to be very soon and just. >> no matter what. >> and just want nap and this is nap weather. this morning and we have that going on. no problems on the roadways so if you still have yet to leave where you have been hang out through the day today if you are going out shopping or heading home no problems on the roadways. roads are a little wet in some spots we have seen sprinkles and light showers coming and going. and the wind are pushing showers onshore out towards ashtabula and geneva on the lake and madison and madison on the lake and into kingsville too so if you are heading 90 sprirchges. els -- sprinkles and showers come back towards willoughby and then down into the eastern part of cuyahoga county so at about pepper pike area moreland hills and as you fade back over towards mayfield and mayfield village getting light sprinkle. others than that -- other than that we have fog. it's been a murky day. advicibility down below -- visibility down below 10 miles. i noticed just it's been coming and going from time to 40s. no threat for freezing rain or freezing anything but you can see back to the west a cooler air is sitting here it will sweep in as we go through the day tomorrow. so we actually will be transitioning from rain over to a rain snow mix to snow by tomorrow night. and you can see how we have the snow showers in the northern portion of the lakes a little disturbance will be between that is bringing in the cooler air and that's when we will start to see the mix taking place. here's the hour by hour forecast in the clouds. scattered showers sprinkles and drizzle and they are going to be staying with us but temperatures should stay savely above freezing as we go through much of the day tomorrow. showers will be headed eastbound and if you have travel plans tomorrow if you are out east you will run into the rain showers and i think we stay with all rain for a good part of the day. it's going to be cool temperatures only top out in the the 40s. and then by 6 p.m., here we go. a little bit of an uptick in the rain activity. and then once we get evening doy see how things fade south just a little bit that'swhen we should see lake- effect taking over and once we get into the highland areas that's when we get the rain snow mix changing over to snow. tomorrow night into saturday, we could have some light accumulations upwards of a coating to 2 or 3 inches but this is not going to end up being a big one but by saturday morning, it looks like primary and secondary snow belt areas so for tomorrow, damp is the word. foggy conditions to start. temperatures only in the low 40s for tomorrow. and the rest of your window nation forecast does indicate the snow mix to snow coming in late day and again, that will spread from primary to secondary by the start of the day on saturday. then we will start to see things improving as we go through saturday evening into a dry sawn we get ready for rain that is likely to come in the fore o monday into tuesday that could be heavy rain as well. dave is in next with and now the k a of bedford and honda of bedford sports report. >> super dave hillary -- hilary said it earlier but one of the big f is football friend family. >> i like that. house. >> tough have it it was on in a lot of places. it's a big part of thanks giving three tell vyings viceed games with important matchups with playoff implications one coming up and browns not a part of the important stuff. the browns play at 1 on sunday. they have that time reer is heed of for them always -- reserved for them always on sunday. there's a important game for important implication they are 7-3, two games behind the cowboys dallas is playing and they play the cowboys again so they need wins not just for the east but to stay in position to make the playoffs. they seem relaxed and ready to go. >> we are putting ourself in a position where you know you can keep ath locker room loose and it can be that way if you know guys are preparing and doing everything possible to get ready for the game and you know locker room should be fun and in a row it should be fun and you are enjoying the fun and in playoff contention and a chance of winning division and it's exciting and should be good energy around the locker room. well-- >> well turkey day especially important in detroit as always. two teams like the giant in the playoff space. tied at 13 under a minute to play tbroord picked off by darius with 36 left and final from 40 yards lions win 16-13 and detroit in sole possession of first place in the nfc north we don't say that very often. we are two days away from the big game on saturday. ohio state is 6 1/2 favorites. senior tackle it's tradition dating back to 19123. the senior -- 1913. senior buck ice tackling a dummy one last time. 20 seniors will experi emotional listen to one of the captains. >> it was our last regular season away game this past one. and it was you know emotional talking about that. and the last one senior day against a team up north is going to be very emotional and exciting i don't think you can end any better way for the regular season in the last one in the shoe. >> that's true and now the cavs enjoying a day off with family before hosting dallas tomorrow. extending the holiday they might not be too thankful tomorrow night if the cavs play like they did last night. my goodness what a win for them. kevin love had 8, 3-pointers in the first quarter and 34 points and nba record for most points in the first quarter. 3 points shy of the league record for points in any quarter he finished with 40 lebron with the 44th career tripledouble. 60s including playoffs 91 points and cavs seat record pointers and won 137-125. how about the 4 days ofseyera obviously -- off, obviously helpful. >> able to rest up and play well and we can be thankful we are champions in 2016. >> all year long. it's ic. >> to have turkey knowing you rachelle any one -- knowing you are champion. >> even when you don't get a game on the air. back at -- we will all be back tonight, working holiday. donald trump tweeting about a campaign promise, as new details and questions emerge about how often he's receiving intelligence briefings. giving thanks. the celebrations and traditions at home and abroad, as retailers work to get holiday computer and into their stores. fatal encounter. a teenager killed. a 62-year-old man charged with murder. what the suspect allegedly said that has the fbi looking into whether this was a hate crime. and virtual house call. the hi-tech health care trend that's spreading. telemedicine, even if your doctor isn't that far away. "nightly news" begins now. from nbc news world headquarters in

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