Man Camp is Cooking a Feast | Video

Chris Williams | 11/20/2012

For a lot of the guys living in the man camps it will be their first time away from their families during the holidays.

"Oh it`s very rough. I`ve got a 13 month old little girl at home, and a wife," said Chad Cherny, who hails from Wyoming.

The Bakken Buffet is cooking a Thanksgiving feast to help oil workers feel more at home.

"It`s a bad time to be away from your friends and family, so we try to make them part of our family, and just spoil the heck out of them," said manager Lon Bergstrom.

The man camp is home to several hundred workers. Head chef Justin Curry is ordering a massive amount of food to make sure he is prepared.

"We have 300 pounds of turkey, 400 pounds of prime rib. I have about 200 pounds of duck coming in to roast, and probably a dozen pit hams," he said.

Curry says it will take all day to prepare the food, but the reward is worth the long day.

"Make people happy. Feeding people."

The workers say they will miss their family, but they are happy they still get a chance to celebrate Thanksgiving with the friends they`ve made working up here.

"I`m thankful that I`m working with friend and my crew mates, and we`re safe and we all go home in one piece," added Cherny.

And they really have become their own little family here in the Bakken.

"We`re close, we hug each other," said Russell Siegismund who comes from Salt Lake City.

Doors open at 11:00 on Thursday.

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