The dinner tables were filled with hundreds of senior citizens, many of whom had carefully chosen their ensembles - hats perched on carefully coiffured hair, suits with matching shoes.

The volunteers who served them were mostly teenagers, some in scout uniforms, others outfitted in "casual punk," including one who wore a curly black wig and another with "naturally" pink hair.

It could have been an epic culture clash, the white-haired set meeting Generation Now. Instead, yesterday's gathering at Reading Terminal Market was, as one diner put it, "beautiful, just beautiful."

"You see how happy all the senior citizens are, enjoying themselves," said Lucille Duren, 69, of Southwest Philadelphia. "And the food is delicious. I really enjoy this."

About 350 senior citizens dug into heaping plates of turkey and fixings at the feast sponsored by market merchants and held among its stalls. Among those whizzing by with plates of mashed potatoes and stuffing and white bowls of warm brown gravy were local Boy Scouts and a youth group from Roxborough Presbyterian Church.

An additional 700 seniors will enjoy a Thanksgiving meal Thursday thanks to the merchants and Little Brothers of the Elderly, a group that delivers meals and companionship to isolated residents.

The meals cost participating merchants more than $3,000 in supplies - including 600 pounds of potatoes and 200 pounds of onions - and dozens of hours in preparation.

"Do you know how long it takes to debone and slice 200 turkeys?" asked Jack McDonald, owner of the market's Down Home Diner, who has helped organize the meal for the last four years.

But, McDonald said, it's worth the effort.

"These senior citizens support Reading Terminal Market, they built Reading Terminal Market, and we want to thank them," McDonald said. "That's what Reading Terminal Market's about: back to the Earth, when people were friends and took care of each other."

This month, the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging asked the directors of its 35 senior centers and its senior employment program to invite low-income older people to yesterday's feast.

Helen Cooper, 72, was among those invited.

"This makes seniors feel better," Cooper said. "You get old if you're just sitting there at home."

On Thanksgiving, Cooper is cooking dinner for 15, including her five children and four grandchildren. Yesterday, she said, was her chance to sit and be waited on.

"I really enjoy this," Cooper said. "I just like being around people."

Marion D'Ambrosio, manager of the market's Salad Express, served food, played a guitar, sang and found time to sit and laugh with some of her regular customers.

"I love my seniors," she said.

Why? Before she could answer, one of her regulars walked over, gesturing dramatically and moaning about her day, and the pair played out a routine they had done a hundred times before.

D'Ambrosio laughed and said that getting to know her customers, and being able to give something back to them, was one thing she loved about working at the market.

"That's what makes us different from a mall or a food court," D'Ambrosio said. "You never see a mall doing something like this."