Thanksgiving is a holiday known for the historical feast of “The First Thanksgiving” held by the pilgrims. To celebrate this holiday nowadays, people commonly have a large dinner to resemble the meal eaten that day and spend the night with their families.

Jack Dahlinger, junior, celebrates Thanksgiving by taking a trip to Indiana to spend time with his aunts and uncles.

“Every year, our Thanksgiving dinner includes turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, cranberries, salad and stuffing,” said Dahlinger.

Out of all the food served, Dahlinger looks forward to turkey and cranberries the most. He said those foods are his favorite because not only does he like the taste, but it also helps him get in the spirit of the holiday more.

“I prefer the family-style traditional meal where everyone brings a dish when they come,” said Dahlinger, who added that this approach brings a variety of flavors to the meal. He also said he enjoys seeing the different dishes that people bring.

Skylar Booth, freshman, spends Thanksgiving at her grandma’s house with her entire family. They sit at a big table to talk and then all share the Thanksgiving dinner. Typically, their dinner consists of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and corn. Aside from the usual foods, Booth’s family likes to serve pasta at their dinner to incorporate their Italian roots.

“I enjoy the homemade Thanksgiving dinners over going out to a restaurant because going out isn’t the formal way to celebrate Thanksgiving. You have to make the dinner yourself and spend time with your family,” said Booth.

She said that spending time with family is the best part about Thanksgiving because her family loves sharing laughs together.

“After we eat dinner, we like to play karaoke and laugh at each other’s singing,” said Booth.

Kate Chuma, senior, has her entire family over at her house to eat dinner and catch up with each other. Typically, they eat turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetables and lots of desserts. Chuma said that her favorite component of the meal is her mom’s homemade stuffing and her grandma’s homemade apple pie because they are the best tasting of all of the foods, and they remind her of fall.

“A lot of people in my family like to cook, so we all like to help out and make the dinner together,” said Chuma.

Every year, Chuma and her sister go over to their grandparents’ house to make a “silly dessert” together and then bring them back to their house for the rest of the family to enjoy. In the past, they’ve made turkey-decorated cupcakes and cookies.

As each student shows, everyone’s Thanksgiving holiday has similarities but with a special twist.