Student body discusses holiday traditions, anticipation

As Thanksgiving approaches, students look forward to relaxing and spending time with loved ones. Thanksgiving is a national holiday which celebrates thankfulness and blessings from the past year with friends and family. School will be out for Thanksgiving break for campus students, Nov. 25-Dec. 2.

The majority of families celebrate the holiday with a feast including foods like turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing. Depending on the culture, different foods may be served on the dinner table.

Originating in 1621, Thanksgiving officially became a holiday in 1863 and many traditions have been adapted since then. Back in November of 1621, when the “first Thanksgiving” took place, the feast lasted for three days.

A “normal” feast in today’s time includes turkey, but back then instead of serving turkey, duck and other kinds of birds were served. The Pilgrims also celebrated with games such as a pin game and target shooting.

Throughout the last 400 years, Thanksgiving traditions and celebrations have evolved and changed. Beginning with the introduction of mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, the dinner we now serve on Thanksgiving boasts pumpkin pie and gravy rather than berries and venison.

In 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday of every November. Every year, on the morning of this holiday, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade commences at 9 a.m. on the corner of 77th Street and Central Park West in New York City before an annual football game.

Students and staff share favorite aspects of Thanksgiving

Looks forward to eating with family
Antonio Ruelas, ’23
November 15, 2019

“Our main tradition at Thanksgiving time is really just gathering around and eating a big giant turkey and a bunch of Mexican food like tamales. My favorite thing about Thanksgiving is eating; you can’t go wrong with eating.”

Shares areas of thankfulness with family
Brandy Penberthy, ’23
November 19, 2019

“Usually my family goes to my grandparents house or some sort of relatives house. All of the kids usually help cook with my grandma or grandpa. We ask each other what we are thankful for and then we sit at the table and eat all of our food.”

Substitutes turkey with cultural cuisine
Victoria Topjian, ’22
November 15, 2019

“For Thanksgiving my family and I go out of town together and we celebrate at a cabin. Since we are Armenian, we only do kebabs and other foods like that instead of turkey.”

Deep-fries turkey, watches football
Brad Gage, groundskeeper
November 16, 2019

“I get together with my family, usually my close family like my cousins, my aunts and uncles and my brother. We deep fry a turkey and hangout, eat a lot of food and watch a lot of football and just enjoy the day.”

In the following podcast, Shane Phillips, ’23, interviews Brad Gage on his Thanksgiving festivities.

Anticipates spending time with friends and family
Edward Fikse, ’22
November 15, 2019

“I plan on spending my thanksgiving break just hanging out with friends and with my family, just bonding together. We will be going to my grandparent’s house and just eating a meal. My cousins will be there as well; it’s really fun.”

Experiences first Thanksgiving
Karoline Sandberg, ’22
November 20, 2019

“I think Thanksgiving will be a great time for me to show my host family how grateful I am for them. Since I have never experienced Thanksgiving, I think it’s going to be very special. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun coming together as a family and really focusing on what we are thankful for.”

First Thanksgiving felt awkward
Laura Rauscher, ’20
November 22, 2019

“My first Thanksgiving here in America was a little bit weird because of the fact that in Brazil we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. So my first Thanksgiving actually was with my host family and we went to their families house. It was like all the family together and I was just kind of uncomfortable. I don’t really  have a family there and they just made a lot of food and played games. I thought Thanksgiving was something way different. I would never guess they would just celebrate with games and eat a lot of food. So it was just very weird for me because that something we do in Brazil on Sundays because that’s the main day that we usually are with family. We make a lot of food and play games, so it was just a little bit weird.”

Expects quality time with family
Landon Bell, ’21
November 15, 2019

“For Thanksgiving, we usually all go over to my grandparents house. All my family from everywhere comes down and we all just have a good time.”

Utilizes holiday break to rest
Samantha Portale, ’21
November 15, 2019

“I plan on spending my Thanksgiving break just relaxing to be honest because schools been kind of stressful. So just relaxing and taking time to relax is important. However, on Thanksgiving Day, I celebrate with my family and hang out and eat dinner or lunch. We gather together with family that I don’t really get to spend that much time with.”

In the following tweet, The New York Times shares the benefits of sharing a meal with relatives during the holidays.

“… while attending the company holiday party or fa-la-la-ing with family might seem like a chore, social scientists and other experts make a compelling case that there is strength in numbers: Gathering is good for our body and our spirit.”https://t.co/gFvqBil4iM via @NYTimes

— Simran Sethi (@simransethi) November 19, 2019

Appreciates American Thanksgiving traditions
Serena Zhao, ’20
November 15, 2019

“My first Thanksgiving was in 2016 when I first came into my host family’s home and they asked me to choose one of their family members and to think of some things that they did for me. I need to write a thank you letter to them and also choose a gift to buy for them. Then on the day of Thanksgiving, the whole family exchanges Thanksgiving gifts for each other. I think that is a good way for family connections. We not only get to celebrate Thanksgiving, but to form a better relationship with each other. I think it was actually fun to celebrate Thanksgiving because we don’t have such celebrations in China where we get to appreciate our families and friends. I think that it is  a good way to get to know other people and to just be thankful for what they did for us.”

Shows gratitude to family members
Dylan Zhang, ’20
November 22, 2019

“For Thanksgiving, we go and have dinner together. Since I am a foreigner from a different country (China), the Thanksgiving for me is like kind of thanks for your parents, thanks for your supporters who have been supporting you throughout your life. Thanksgiving is the celebration where the whole family gathers together to celebrate this and show your  love to them and it’s a very meaningful festive for me.”

Watches parade, shops on Black Friday
Melanie Portwood, English teacher
November 15, 2019

“Usually our family gathers at our house and we do all the traditional Thanksgiving foods kind of potluck. We often watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in the morning and after we have all of the Thanksgiving feast. We like to look at the Black Friday ads to figure out what we’re going to do and how we are going to shop; it’s all great fun.”

Makes effort to see both sides of relatives
Amy Deffenbacher, campus principal
November 22, 2019

“Our family spends time with both my family and my husband’s family. Everyone lives in Fresno, so we make an effort to see both sides. We eat traditional Thanksgiving foods. Sometimes we will see a movie or do trap shooting, but mostly eating and hanging out.”

What are your Thanksgiving traditions? Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving food? Share in the comment section below!

For more articles, read Disney+ launches, provides streaming alternative and COLUMN: Chinese, American education compared, challenges recognized.

Shane Philips can be reached via email.