BATON ROUGE - St. Vincent de Paul hosted its fifteenth annual turkey carving competition ahead of Thursday's community Thanksgiving meal. Elected officials, LSU legends, religious leaders and community members gathered to participate.

Cheryl Cochran is the CFO and interim CEO of St. Vincent de Paul. She said the judges have specific criteria to look for during the carving.

"They judge them on creativity, I think on speed, getting the most meat off it," Cochran said.

Some said they trained for the competition.

"I train hard. I train hard. I slice the turkey at all our family gatherings and have for years," former LSU gymnastics coach  D-D Breaux said.

Denise Terrance is the dining facility director with St. Vincent de Paul. She said she watches the competition each year, and that while the competitors are given electric carving knives, a plain knife is better.

"It's an extra challenge because you got that blade that's moving and you're holding it, you must be in control," Terrance said.

All the turkey carved in the competition is served with St. Vincent de Paul's Thanksgiving meal.

EBR Metro Council Darryl Hurst took first in the carving competition.

"The turkey is the sweetest part because the turkey is going to go in someone's stomach and make sure they have a great meal tomorrow. The victory comes second, but the victory is really everybody having a home, the victory is everybody having a great meal tomorrow, the victory is everybody having the ability to wake up and make an impact every day," Hurst said.

Terrance said the competition is about giving back.

"Just be thankful for every second, every minute, every single detail about Thanksgiving is important," Terrance said.

Thursday's meals will be served at:

- St. Vincent de Paul from 11:30 to 1:00 p.m. for sit-down.

- Raising Cane's River Center Exhibition Hall from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for sit-down. (If getting a drive-through meal, please enter from Government Street.)

- The McKinley High School Alumni Center from 11:00 to 1:00 p.m. Sit-down only.

- St. Gerard Catholic Church Seelos Hall at 11:00 a.m. on a first-come first-serve basis. Pick-up only.