The Worcester County Sheriff had to make some changes to his annual senior picnic this year.

Normally, thousands join Sheriff Lew Evangelidis for a meal. This year, the sheriff and the Reserve Deputies Association hosted more than 900 seniors from across the area for a drive-thru picnic at SAC Park in Shrewsbury.

The free picnic included a car wash, barbecue and goody bags from nearly two dozen local businesses and organizations. The sheriff says it's the biggest event of its kind in New England.

"We wanted to do something. Seniors were saying, 'Could you do something for us?' So we decided to do something that has never been done before," Evangelidis said. "A drive-thru senior picnic where we have 250 volunteers. We've got 900 people. We basically capped it out. We sold it out. We try to give back to the community, and especially during COVID I can honestly say I think COVID was our finest year. I think we stepped up when a lot of people had to step back."

The event was canceled in 2020 as a result of the pandemic.