Oceanside Senior Center, along with the help of the New Venture Christian Church, will host a special series of three Thanksgiving dinners during the next few days, with Sunday's and Thursday's dinners served free.

These special meals are being prepared for all low-income folks, as well as senior citizens.

The first dinner will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at the Senior Center; the second meal is from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Senior Center; and on turkey day itself, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Salvation Army Center, 3935 Lake Blvd., in Oceanside.

Tuesday's dinner has a suggested donation of $2.50 per person. No reservations are necessary for any of these dinners.

BIG BUCKS -- Leucadia's Jeff Gross didn't get the $1 million on ABC-TV's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" on Thursday evening, but he did walk away with half that amount. Only two contestants have walked away with the top prize.

With all of his lifelines gone, Jeff studied the $1 million question Thursday as given by game show host Meredith Vieira: "Now used to refer to a cat, the word 'tabby' is derived from the name of a district of what world capital?"

Jeff thought the answer was "Cairo," but wasn't that confident, so he decided to take the money and run. It's a good thing he declined to go for the top money because the correct answer is "Baghdad." He would have lost all but $25,000.

The 43-year-old mortgage loan consultant correctly answered the other 14 questions, netting him $500,000.

When asked what he'd do with all the money, Jeff told Meredith he'd take a trip with friends, but that he'd also do a lot of "drinking beer and chasing women."

I don't think you'll have to run too hard to catch them, Jeff.

XMAS FAIRE -- You can get a jump on your holiday shopping this weekend if you drop by the 25th annual Mission Christmas Crafts Faire between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. today and Sunday at the historic Mission San Luis Rey. There will be a juried fine arts and crafts show, along with entertainment, plenty of food, a Santa's village and snow for children to romp in today only. This annual event is sponsored by the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce.

TAMALE TIME -- If you love to celebrate the holidays with tamales, it's time to get your order in with the auxiliary of the Mexican American Educational Guidance Association. To raise money for their scholarships, MAEGA Auxiliary will make more than 100 dozen this year -- that's 1,200. You'd better hurry, though, because the sale is Dec. 3 through 5, and MAEGA is expecting an early sellout. Chicken and meat tamales are available at $20 per dozen. Call (760) 753-2129.

Notes for Tom Morrow can be sent to tmorrow@nctimes.com, faxed to (760) 757-2072 or call (760) 901-4074. Find his previous columns on the Internet at www.nctimes.com.