Here are a few of our team's favorite memories from Thanksgivings in the past. We wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Mark Blackford, Digital Strategist
It's become a tradition over the past several years for me to run the local turkey trot 5k on Thanksgiving morning with my kids and father. The race is sponsored by the First Presbyterian Church in Sidney, Ohio, with the only entry fee being non-perishable food items that are then donated to the Alpha Center Food Bank and Holy Angels Soup Kitchen in downtown Sidney.
Kelly Braun, Content Specialist
Every Thanksgiving my mom gives each of us (all children, spouses and grandchildren!) an ornament that represents or symbolizes something important from the year. It could be from a family vacation we took together or an accomplishment such as running a 5K, and of course, the big moments - marriage, buying our first house and having our girls. My tree is completely filled with great memories and a true reflection of all the blessings I am thankful for.
Aimee Bucher, Chief Marketing Consultant
I have so many wonderful Thanksgiving memories, but my favorite would have to be the year my now 16-year-old was in the first grade and had a Christmas Tree project. His assignment was to have his family help him decorate a cardstock Christmas tree. He and I discussed it and decided it would be a whole, extended family project. Together, Max and I painted the tree and then made several paper ornaments to go on the tree. On Thanksgiving Day, before we ate, we had each family member write a favorite Christmas gift on one of the paper ornaments. When we sat down to dinner, we went around the table and each person shared the story behind their favorite Christmas gift. We heard a lot of great family stories that hadn't ever been shared before. We still have that cardstock & paper Christmas tree. So many of the people represented on that tree are gone, but their memories are alive when we bring that tree out each year.
Patty Cisco, Principal
My fondest Thanksgiving memory was 27 years ago when we lived in Westerly, RI. It was the first Thanksgiving for our young family of two daughters to be away from any family, not to mention my first turkey cooking event. I labored over preparing the turkey and it smelled heavenly throughout the day. A final check late in the afternoon revealed a strange white sticky-looking substance in the middle of the turkey cavity. You guessed it-I never took out the plastic package of giblets etc! As I feared poisoning my family, my husband sadly carried the turkey to the trashcan outside where our neighbors, an older couple witnessed the tragedy. Upon hearing our story, they warmly invited us to join their wonderful family for our first ever fried turkey, clam bake, and oyster dressing thanksgiving. YUM!! From that point forward they became our adopted grandparents and we created new holiday traditions.
Lisa Davidson, Marketing Consultant
My favorite Thanksgiving memory is when my children, bored waiting for food, decided that the adults needed some pre-dinner entertainment. They raided the dress-up trunk and art supplies and transformed into a delightfully red-haired, toothless Native American boy and proper Pilgrim girl. We were treated to the elementary-school version of the first Thanksgiving, written and narrated by the oldest (and bossiest) and acted out by her younger brother. The baby had a construction paper hat plopped on his head and was dragged around “stage” depending on where he was needed most to make the story come alive. However, the real star of the show was the turkey they crafted from dance tights stuffed with leotards—who knew pink ballet tights were the exact color of an uncooked turkey??
Rachel Hayes, Marketing Consultant
My favorite Thanksgiving Day memory falls across the past 5 years. Moving away to a big city for schooling was both fun & exciting, but like they say "absence makes the heart grow fonder." My first Thanksgiving back after moving away to college made me remember why I love being home.
My family is very traditional when it comes to Thanksgiving. We do the same thing every year: eat good food, play some board games and celebrate being thankful for each other by spending the day with our family. Not only spending the day with my immediate family but also spending the Thanksgiving holiday with all 19 aunts and uncles on my mom's side of the family and 14 aunts and uncles on my dad's side. We have always rented out a big hall for our Thanksgiving get-togethers (Because shoving over 50 people into one house just isn't realistic!). There is nothing better than getting to spend Thanksgiving Day with all of my wonderful aunts & uncles and cousins. Every holiday truly is like one big party! When you come from such a large family, you don't always get to see everyone so the holidays are great.
Plus, 5 years ago I introduced my then boyfriend (now husband) to my crazy family. He comes from a much smaller family, so before Thanksgiving (and some other holidays) for the first year or two I had to coach him on who was who. It was quite entertaining listening to him try and remember a total of 33 aunts and uncles (try throwing all of my cousins names into that mix, too! ha!). The Thanksgiving holiday just helps remind me of how blessed I truly am to come from such a large loving family, and how blessed I am to sharing this Thanksgiving with my husband.
Michael Glass, Interactive Designer
Michael didn't provide a favorite Thanksgiving memory. We considered using this space to create a "favorite" memory for him, but he's still kind of new and we're not sure how he would take that.
Anyway, here's a nice picture of him, his wife, and his daughter that we stole the picture from his Facebook page. Hope that's OK, Michael!
Jenna Schultz, Senior Designer
My favorite memory from Thanksgiving was the Fall of 2003. I was a freshman in high school and our XC season had just ended about two weeks prior. My best friend Brigitte and I wanted another chance to race, so our parents traveled with us over Thanksgiving break to Kenosha, Wisconsin to race in the Foot Locker Cross Country Regional Championships. My parents made a vacation out of it and we stopped for 2 days in Chicago on our way up to WI. I got to experience the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for the first time, and of course, spent an entire day shopping on Michigan Avenue. We had Thanksgiving dinner at a Rainforest Cafe, of all places.
I also distinctly remember walking out of dinner with my leftovers and giving my food to a homeless man a few blocks from the restaurant - a first for me. The day after Thanksgiving we finished our drive to Wisconsin for the race, and it was an amazing experience being surrounded by an extremely talented field of runners. It was a very unconventional vacation for my family (usually we are warm-weather seekers), but it turned out to be one of my favorite trips. And it was the first time I fell in love with Chicago.
Jordan Staugler, Digital Strategist
My family always goes to my Grandma and Grandpa's every year for Thanksgiving and like most families, we usually enjoy some turkey or ham. But one year, my Grandma decided to try something different and made "Hamloaf", a meatloaf hybrid. In short, the hamloaf wasn't good. So all the grandchildren had to think of clever ways to make the hamloaf "disappear". It's now one of those classic running jokes every year around the Thanksgiving table. That and the time Aunt Becky killed the cat.
