Thanksgiving is a national holiday across the United States. It is a day that family and friends get together to give thanks for things in their life. One of the main activities is having a huge feast and people love food. Thus why Thanksgiving is one of the most favorite holidays nationwide and in Solon High School (SHS).

Many SHS students plan to spend their Thanksgiving break planning fun activities like preparing the food for the Thanksgiving feast.

“I spend the whole day helping my mom make, prepare the food and spending time with my family,” said junior Orli Peleg who says this is the most memorable and exciting part of her holiday.

Another exciting aspect of preparing the food is eating the delicious food itself. A lot of families eat common traditional Thanksgiving food such as turkey, stuffing, ham, green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy and pumpkin pie. However, a lot of families have a different twist or recipes on the Thanksgiving food they eat.

Senior Jordan Johnson’s family makes a special family recipe for potato salad.

“My personal favorite is the potato salad because it is a family special recipe and it tastes really good,” said Johnson.

Peleg also has a special family recipe, and it’s one of the foods she looks most forward to.

“We make the basics: turkey, chicken, greens, macaroni and potato salad,” Peleg said. “My favorite is the mashed potatoes because we make them with spices and garlic.”

Junior Haley Sanchez shares  that she makes homemade rolls for her Thanksgiving dinner, but her favorite food is the macaroni and cheese.

Another student, senior Neveah Blythwood agrees.

“I eat turkey, chicken breast, corn bread, corn, macaroni & cheese, greens and yams on Thanksgiving,” she said. “But my favorite is the macaroni my family makes.”

With the large amounts of Thanksgiving food on the table, it’s a common tradition to share and eat the food together. It is tradition to invite family or friends to enjoy the prepared food.

“I have a cousin from New York who comes [over for] Thanksgiving, and we travel over to my grandparents house,” said junior Coen Fuller.

However, some students do not travel far because they have family nearby to celebrate Thanksgiving with them.

“We don’t have relatives over, only close, immediate family,” said Blythwood. “We call and chat with our relatives on Thanksgiving though.”

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, a lot of families were not able to see each other last Thanksgiving.

“Last year, unfortunately, I did not have a lot of family over because there was a lot going on with the pandemic,” Johnson said.

Jordan tells us specific family members who came over on Thanksgiving before the pandemic.

“Usually it’s me, my immediate family, some uncles [and] aunts, and my cousins.”

A lot of families decide to dedicate their traditions and activities to the Thanksgiving moral of being thankful.

“Before our Thanksgiving dinner, we pray and hold hands,” said Johnson. “Then we go around and say one thing we are thankful for from the year.”

Another popular activity that people partake in is the National Dog Show. The show is showcased every year on Thanksgiving.

“We also have the National Dog Show on the TV, and [we] bet on which dog will win,” Blythwood said.

Many students in SHS enjoy the wonderful activities and fun that Thanksgiving gives. Students were then asked what was their favorite part of Thanksgiving.

“My favorite part of Thanksgiving is having fun in downtown Cleveland and eating the food,” said senior Hayley Hunter.

Another student agreed and shared another favorite aspect of Thanksgiving.

“Spending time with my family and having a fun time. But mainly I get a couple days off school,” said Peleg.