Our Favorite Thanksgiving Traditions

Living in a country known as the melting pot, Americans celebrate an abundance of different holidays. However, there’s one holiday that we all have in common—yep, you guessed it—Thanksgiving.

Sure, tons of families and friends gorge on a big meal and watch football and the parade, but every family has different traditions that make their Thanksgiving unique and special! And that’s no exception for the McConnell Marketing team.

Check out some of the team’s favorite Thanksgiving traditions:

Mark

My favorite Thanksgiving tradition involves waking up way too early on Thanksgiving Day. I get the coffee going, then let the dog out while it’s brewing. I head back inside to savor the silence. With steaming cup in hand, I then head to the den. For one or two glorious hours, I surf the web without purpose, avoiding any site that has to do with news, my career or my commitments. Thankful.

Katie H.

When I was the producer on Sparkle Markets Great Groceries, host, Nancy showed these turkeys years ago, and I’ve been making them with the twins for the last few years. All you need is one potato, four toothpicks, paper and markers. They make simple and cute place settings that give the kids a way to contribute to Thanksgiving (and keeps them occupied while waiting to eat).

Megan

Every year on the day before Thanksgiving, I go over to my mom’s house, where we drink wine while I help her cook. The family favorite is my grandma’s stuffing recipe. After she passed away, I’d spent years perfecting it, trying to make it taste exactly like hers. There’s no exact recipe written down anywhere, so it’s completely done from memory…and I finally have it down.

Katie W.

I love waking up early on Thanksgiving morning to the smell of my mom’s cinnamon rolls. My family watches the Thanksgiving Day Parade while we all rip bread, cut celery and carrots and help make the famous stuffing that will later be devoured by the 30+ family members at our Thanksgiving feast!

Alexis

Since all of our extended family lives out of town, my parents, brother and I get celebrate Thanksgiving with our long-time family friends that live right down the street. We only see everyone once or twice a year, but every time we get together, it feels like we take off right where we left. We’ve been doing this ever since I was a little kid, and this time next year, a new generation will be taking part in our Thanksgiving tradition! *Note: I’m not the pregnant one.

Matthew

After a warm, luxurious feast with the family, all of the cousins gather around for a fierce game of everyone’s favorite board game—Monopoly. As dinner comes to an end, the cousins quickly turn on each other—for there can be only one winner of the game. With a handshake to the shark, we crown the winner Victor of Monopoly until the next year’s Thanksgiving.

Steve

Over the last few years my high school buddies and I meet at the 50 yard line, and we play in the Western Reserve Turkey Bowl. For a few hours, we relive the glory days of high school, and then soon after come to the realization of how hopelessly out of shape we’ve gotten.

Everyone at McConnell Marketing wishes you an amazing Thanksgiving with family and friends!