Thanksgiving is upon us, and students have a lot to be thankful for. Among the most popular are food, friends and family. As students gear up to feast on homemade dishes at Thanksgiving dinner, they are missing one thing they are thankful for: friends.
Thanksgiving is primarily a family holiday; students gather with family members to give thanks. Kids rarely get the opportunity to sit down with their friends and show appreciation, so their gratitude is often expressed through a quick social media post or text.
A group of senior girls at Pleasant Valley decided that a simple text was not enough to show the appreciation they had for each other. The girls created their own Thanksgiving tradition, called Friendsgiving. Friendsgiving is a blend of ‘friend’ and ‘Thanksgiving’, and it is a feast the girls prepare and share with each other.
Kelsey Wood, Isabel Brimeyer, Maddie Meincke and Karah Erickson use Friendsgiving as an opportunity to celebrate the people they love like their own family. “Starting a friendsgiving is a way of getting close for the holiday and spending quality time together with people you love, some people might not have good family traditions and this might help get their mind off it,” said Wood.
The girls usually plan to host Friendsgiving at one person’s house the weekend prior to thanksgiving. For some, the gathering is even more enjoyable than their family thanksgiving. It’s a much more casual experience than Thanksgiving dinner, and it’s a great way to settle down and catch up.
Since the girls are only feeding a few instead of an entire family, they each bring small dishes of their favorite foods and nothing goes to waste. Everyone contributes, and it’s a great opportunity to learn how to cook some of the classic dishes one’s parents usually put together on Thanksgiving.
“It was cool how we were all able to come together and contribute. We each prepared a dish and it was really rewarding to sit down and know that we prepared all of the food in front of us ourselves,” added Meincke.
The girls began the tradition their junior year and hope to continue for many years to come. It is an opportunity for people who come from different families with varying customs to blend their traditions. The tradition has already grown this year and the group welcomed more of their close friends.
The girls have become closer because of the experience and encourage other people to start something similar with their friends. “It helps prepare you for the future. If you ever get to plan a Thanksgiving for your own family, you already know how to organize it and set it up,” stated Meincke.
As word of Friendsgiving spreads, others are inspired to have a similar get-together. “My friends and I have never done a friendsgiving, but I think it would be a lot of fun and we are talking about doing one this year,” said junior Julia Necker. The girls hope to spread a message about appreciating your friends and hope others will celebrate just like they do.
