When you have employees who have been with the company for 30 years, you start to develop some traditions. One tradition that has become our most favored event, is known as Practice Thanksgiving. Each year, on the Thursday before Thanksgiving, we get out the crock pots and tablecloths, dust off the decor, and open up the cookbooks so that we can do a practice run of all of our favorite Thanksgiving recipes before the big day arrives. Thanksgiving dinner for 75 people is a big event – Food starts arriving at 7:30 am and the halls, offices and stairways are filled with the heavenly aroma of turkey, dressing and all the accouterments one could imagine. Pots are stirred and temperatures checked, spoons are placed and about 30 minutes before we say grace the first folks start sneaking in to peek and to pretend to be helping, in order to sneak a nibble.

Finally the time is here- the food is blessed, we look around the room and realize the good fortune we have and the friends and colleagues who surround us – and we dig in. Laughter is a common theme, as are the quiet moments with nobody speaking because the food is so good!

At the end- there are always some new recipes exchanged, there are the multiple trips through the food line and of course the desserts.Plans get made for the menus for everyone’s “official” Thanksgivings with family the following week. Now – who is in charge of cleanup?