“My Thanksgiving day traditions start at my Uncle Steve’s in Woodbury where all our family comes together. Every year after we eat, we always play a game of Texas Hold’em and the winner (usually me), gets a $100! Then we watch football and enjoy each other’s company.” – Dave Cliett ‘17
“We always do the Turkey Trot as a family. My sister always bakes apple pie and I bake pumpkin pie. After dinner, my sister and I break the wishbone!” – Taylor Ebnet ‘17
“Every Thanksgiving, my family spends the day with my extended family and my best friend, her family, and her extended family. We start the morning early with a Turkey Trot which is mainly just an excuse to eat pie for breakfast right after. Then the girls help in the kitchen while the boys play outside and do “guy things.” The day is spent playing games, drinking wine, and eating a ridiculous amount of turkey. Thanksgiving is and has always been one of my favorite days of the year!” – Natalie Watkins ‘17
“At the Schwartz household we like to have the entire family over to have a big Thanksgiving meal. We also enjoy playing board games, watching football games, socializing, and hunting for easter eggs. We always have pecan pie for dessert to finish our big Thanksgiving meal.” – Peter Schwartz ‘17
“Every Thanksgiving morning, my dad and brother go to my grandfather’s church before sunrise fora a father-son Bible study.” – Ben Michalicek ‘17
“My family always goes to my cabin in Luck, Wisconsin. Each family member is in charge of making a side dish, but we all help out and cook the turkey all day! The food is always to die for, but getting together with people is my favorite part.” – Lucy Nelson ‘19
“After we run the Turkey Trot 5K, my day begins with a fully loaded Thanksgiving brunch with one side of the family and ends with a heavy set Thanksgiving dinner with the other side of family on Summit Avenue in Saint Paul. Playing cards and doing white elephant gifts are typical amongst my family during the holidays but once things are said and done, you can find my sister and I at the nearest shopping mall for those Black Friday deals.” – Sabrina Repke ‘18
“For Thanksgiving, my family and I get together with my dad’s side of the family. We usually have lunch at my grandma’s house. The meal consists of your typical Thanksgiving spread, turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc. After lunch, everyone stays for hours to catch up and watch football!” – Danica Tiegs ‘17
“I’m from a huge Irish Catholic family so we always go to my grandparents’ house and me and my 16 cousins pick leaves outside and then put them between wax paper and iron them together to use them as place mats. Then we set the table while my parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles would all be watching football and cooking our huge dinner! There’s always a fire going, and music going and football playing and lots of conversation! When dinner is ready, we serve ourselves in a buffet style and then all meet in the dining room and go around the table and say what we’re thankful for.This usually ends in laughs and tears. I remember one year my aunt told my brother that she was pregnant and so he shared that he was “thankful for his new baby nephew” and the whole room went crazy! These traditions thankfully continued even after my grandparents passed and now they take place at my house, because my mom is the oldest of the seven kids!” – Jane Thotland ‘17
“My family’s Thanksgiving tradition is to invite my relatives from Northern Minnesota down for the long weekend. On Thanksgiving, we have a huge lunch with my favorite sweet potatoes. Then for supper, we eat leftover turkey sandwiches. We always have the football games on TV too, which I’m not sure whether or not anyone watches, or if now it’s just become tradition!” – Matt Ouren ‘19
“We usually have a pretty low key lunch at my dad’s parent’s house with the stereotypical meal (turkey, ham, buns, mashed potatoes, stuffing, creamed corn) and whoever can come, comes. Usually just my dad’s brother and sister and sometimes their kids.We just usually just hang out, play Dominos or Uno. And the guys watch football in the basement while the ladies sit upstairs and chat.” – Janessa Jahnke ‘ 17
“Each year at Thanksgiving, my family trades off between spending the day with my dad’s parents or my mom’s parents. We switch every other year, but the traditions are similar for both sides of the family. When we gather, it’s a pretty big gathering, all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins join and we have a giant meal with turkey, mashed potatoes, and more. We still have the stereotypical “kids table” but after going to college I qualified for the “adult table.” We have a big family so it’s fun getting all of us together in one place!” – Sarah Vanyo ‘17