With the long weekend, the staff of The Roaring Gazette enjoyed time with their families instead of reporting on Tallwood news.  In the communal spirit of the holidays, we would like to share with our readership our various Thanksgiving experiences.  Feel free to share your own holiday traditions in the comments section.  Happy holidays, and thanks for reading!

Haylee Burel (Opinion Writer): On Thanksgiving, I worked in the morning at one job, and in the afternoon at another.  I came home at around two in the morning, and my mom and I ate Thanksgiving dinner together as leftovers. This was very touching to me because she stayed up late just to eat a different version of Thanksgiving with me.

Erica Navarrete (A&E):  On Thanksgiving, I woke up much too early and slaved over a stove for six hours.  My family came over to eat, and I fixed a plate and watched Supernatural during Thanksgiving dinner.  My god-sister and I ate together and gossiped about the rest of the family downstairs. Over break, I finished three seasons of Gilmore Girls and one season of the revival, yet I finished none of the homework I said I would.

Bethany Hansel (Staff Writer): My entire family got together in Richmond on Saturday, and my aunt cooked us all a gourmet meal. None of the food was traditional Thanksgiving food, and almost all of it contained meat, even though four of us are vegetarians. We vegetarians were left with almost no food to eat and could only watch everyone else stuff themselves with strange-looking, unknown food.

Heine Pham (Arts and Entertainment Writer): I had Thanksgiving dinner with my family. I went Black Friday shopping and spent all my money buying clothes I do not need. I also watched 80’s movies and two seasons of Friends.

Ashley Mallinson (Arts and Entertainment writer): My entire family came over for Thanksgiving dinner, and we had all of the traditional foods along with homemade pastries.  After dinner, everyone played card games together, with my grandma winning every round. It was kind of an anticlimactic day, but it was nice nonetheless. Over break, I also ended up binge watching Tarantino movies like Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Inglourious Basterds, etc.

Marissa Goodall (Opinion Editor) : For a change, my family stayed in town and spent Thanksgiving with my maternal uncle instead of the whole extended family. This time I actually contributed to the meal by making traditional Haitian pâtés, which was a long but satisfying task, as the dough is very messy. That Friday I bought a Columbia jacket for Black Friday and procrastinated doing homework. Throughout the break, however, I mostly listened to new music.

Donyale Wight (Staff Writer):  I stayed home for Thanksgiving this year, and my maternal grandparents visited us from North Carolina.  At first, we ate a variety of different foods on Thanksgiving day.  Then that Friday we ate chicken from Farm Fresh (which my grandfather enjoys VERY much).  I also experienced my first Black Friday shopping experience, and it was wild!  The lines were ridiculously long, and there were clothes everywhere.  I will say that I enjoyed it, though it was very….interesting.

Marcie Fennell (Staff Writer): I spent the whole Thanksgiving day cooking, because my mother was dragged out shopping with my grandmother for pre-Black Friday. I made Sopapilla, a Spanish dish, and I was irritated because no one pronounced it right. Then we started decorating the tree. But my dad bought the wrong size stand, so our tree fell over and my mother kind of went ballistic. But it was all good because I basically slept for two days straight.

Aniyah Lewis (News Editor): For the first time in my cognizant memory, Thanksgiving was not in held at my grandparents’ homes. This year, my family gathered at my uncle’s for thanksgiving, and it was incredible. The macaroni and cheese, which I look for every year, was abundant and delicious. My uncle prepared curry chicken especially for those, like me, who do not eat pork or beef. It was delicious, and I was pleased.

Christian B. (Photography): Well, for Thanksgiving, instead of just having it at my home like my family usually does, we had it at my cousin’s house. My father was in work, and my mother cooked, like, two things, and we all met at my cousin’s home where she made the majority of the food. This was really unusual because she doesn’t usually cook big meals, or really anything outside of the stereotypical American diet.

Joseph Diggs (Sports): The night before Thanksgiving, I helped my dad cook and bake a couple of desserts.  The morning of, I found my dad still awake making even more food. By the afternoon, the power went out from 1:00pm-8:00pm. We were not able reheat any of the food my dad made the night before. Throughout the day, me, my sister, and my brother did the mannequin challenge. We ended up at my grandparents’ house that night to have a great Thanksgiving as a family.

Donya Lechqer (Staff writer): Thanksgiving break was amazing. Thanksgiving day, I had a traditional Thanksgiving meal with my entire family, and the vibe was simply pleasant. Saturday, my friends and I celebrated Friendsgiving at BRAVOs, and we went shopping. I gained five pounds.

Mr. Denvir (Club Sponsor): My wife and I went to Philadelphia to celebrate the holiday with my family.  We had our Thanksgiving dinner on the top floor of my cousin’s apartment building in Center City Philly.  The view and the food were amazing.  The highlight was meeting three new and small additions to the family.