Serving a platterful of Thanksgiving traditions

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

Editor’s note: Thanksgiving may be the most tradition-laden of all holidays, but that doesn’t mean we all celebrate it in exactly the same way. The Courier-News asked around to find out how local residents mark the day and give thanks. Following are some of their stories.

Cooking for cops

Officers and staff with the Elgin Police Department working the afternoon shift Thanksgiving Day are grateful for a holiday meal that has become a local tradition, courtesy of some appreciative city residents.

Crime prevention specialist Christy Schmidt said that since 2006, the Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association has been preparing dinner for the afternoon shift.

The academy is a departmental effort in which residents learn about the various types of work that the police do. Four years ago, some graduates of the program wanted to find ways to continue their involvement and to show support for police, Schmidt said, which led to forming the group and putting together the meal.

Schmidt said that about 20 volunteers will feed 40 to 50 workers today. There’s a spreadsheet set up listing who is doing what, from cooking and bringing items to setting up the buffet in the roll call room and carving the birds. The meal is available from 4:15 to 7:15 p.m., Schmidt said.

Roasting one of the turkeys this year will be Bob Hartfiel. Hartfiel is on the board for the CPAAA, a group he joined about 18 months ago. Last year, he made rolls, and this year, in addition to the big bird, he will be making stuffing, too, then bringing the fixings over to the police station before heading to a family gathering in Huntley.

Jim Zaranti has a longer haul, up to northern Wisconsin to visit his mother. So Zaranti will hit Herb’s Bakery on the city’s west side to pick up pies to deliver to the PD before hitting the road.

Zaranti explained that group members foot the bill themselves for what each makes and/or buys. Some give money to those shopping or baking instead.

“It’s a way for people to say they are grateful for what police do, particularly on a holiday,” Schmidt said. “I like the relationship it builds between residents and the public.”

Parade-watching with Dad

“All of our kids would gather round with Dad and watch Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade while their Mom (my wife of 25 years) cooked dinner and fretted about mashed potatoes. One by one, the kids got old enough to graduate out of the parade and catch a few extra hours of sleep.”

— Sgt. Tom Linder, Elgin Police Department

The proper platter

“A very chipped turkey platter bought with S&H Green Stamps comes out once a year. When we first came to this country, we didn’t know what Thanksgiving was about, but my mother wanted us to become good Americans, so she saved enough stamps so the turkey could be served proudly. P.S. It’s funny how small that platter now looks — I think our turkeys have gotten bigger.”

— Sigi Psimenos of Elgin, who moved to the United States in 1960 from Frankfurt, Germany

Thanks born of disaster

“We have a large family, so our Thanksgiving dinners typically range from 25 to 50 people. One Thanksgiving about 15 years ago, we had a series of calamities that spawned a new tradition during a record 60-person dinner.

“First, after an aunt had shifted the turkey while checking her twice-baked potatoes, turkey fat spilled onto the electric element inside the oven. A backflash fire burned off my eyebrows and eyelashes when I opened the oven door. Then, as I was teaching an in-law how to make gravy on the stovetop, it bubbled over, making a huge hot brown gravy mess. An uncle’s help to do the dishes had wedged a naughty bit in the washer’s gasket. Shortly afterward, the dishwasher overflowed, flooding the kitchen floor.

“At that point, I was nearly beside myself, with the 15 children running wildly around the house, the noise level and pandemonium reaching unprecedented levels, the kitchen in a state of chaos.

“‘Stop! Let’s all hold hands in a big circle and each one say what they are grateful for in their life,’ I yelled out over the din that memorable Thanksgiving.

“Now every year, we still say grace before dinner, but the tradition of holding hands in a big circle before pumpkin pie to express gratitude has stuck to family ribs like turkey and mashed potatoes. The answers range from heart-wrenching to hysterical from Grandpa to 3-year-olds. It is a tradition born quite literally in fire and water.”

— Miriam Lytle, director of community services & program development for the Gail Borden Public Library District

Ornaments, hanging stars

“My favorite Thanksgiving tradition actually takes place on Black Friday, when the kids and I go ornament shopping. I have two favorite places I like to hit, and they can pick out any ornament they want for their collection. When they were younger, the anticipation was palatable. We then would spend the evening putting up the tree and watching some holiday movie on TV. A great family day!

“A more recent tradition has been my husband’s outside Christmas stars. He makes large stars from PVC piping. He adds white lights and hangs them from our mature oak trees. For him, the holiday season starts when he begins repairing or making the new stars. He may spend three to four weekends getting the stars ready and all the electrical set up. When they finally light up that Friday after Thanksgiving, it’s magical!”

— Monica Clark, Community Unit School District 300 Board of Education member

‘I am not a turkey...’

“(Every year) first-grade students at Neubert Elementary School read a story about a turkey who is worried about becoming Thanksgiving dinner, so the students want to rescue him. In the story, they hide him. A discussion follows about what else the students could do to save the turkey, and they decide that the turkey could be disguised! Students then create a turkey in disguise at home. They write a short paragraph using their Sound it Out strategies, with nouns and adjectives to describe their turkey and declare, ‘I am not a turkey, I am a ...’ See photos.”

— Allison Strupeck, Community Unit School District 300 Communication Services supervisor

A little too thankful?

“Coming from a family of eight kids — who’ve all grown up, started their own families and brought me 24 nieces and nephews — I can easily say my No. 1 memory is gathering around the kitchen — adults, kids, friends, relatives, ALL — and saying a combined thankful prayer with each person stating one comment to add ... . With over 40 people for dinner, that prayer can take a while, but it’s always a cherished memory to hear the individual thanks from each generation.

“No. 2 would be the fact someone always leaves the croissants and biscuits in the oven during the prayer and they end up black on the bottom.”

— Laurie Faith Gibson-Aiello, Elgin resident and Facebook fan of The Courier-News

The ‘new’ roast pan

“We have used our roast pan about 28 years. I had a niece and when she was little, her family lived around the corner from us. She used to come by, and for some reason one day, she headed right for under the counter on the right side of the kitchen where there were cabinets and where we kept our pots and pans. She was real little and she opened that up one day, and she saw all these pots and pans and started pulling them all out. For a few years, each time she would come over, she would pull all of those pots and pans out. Well, one day when my wife went to put them away, she said, ‘Oh, a few of these are really ugly and old. I need to get a new roast pan.’ Well she got a new roast pan, and we have been using that ‘new roaster’ for about 28 years now. Now little ‘Missy’ has three kids of her own and when she comes, sometimes she still goes over to that kitchen cabinet and will hold up that pan in the air and look at it.”

— Ernie Broadnax, longtime Elgin resident

TV trays saved the day

And another one from Ernie Broadnax:

“When I was younger, we had 14 in our family ... . Well, the family was so big we would eat in shifts. We didn’t have a table big enough to accommodate everybody, you see. One of the greatest things in the world became TV trays, we had all kinds of TV trays ... so then we didn’t have to eat in shifts, we could just spread out in the living room, out on the porch and all through the house.”

Poor turkey!

“This isn’t so much a tradition. It’s something I’ve noticed my mother does every Thanksgiving. She’ll cook a turkey as best she can. Then she pulls it out of the oven and picks a little off the side and says, ‘Poor turkey.’ She says that while relishing the small bit of turkey meat she’s eating. I laugh a little every time she does this. Ha ha! I love you, Mom!”

— Jose Alfonso Villalobos, Elgin resident and Facebook fan of The Courier-News

‘Grape’ juice memory

And while not a tradition as such, we thought this story was too good to leave out:

“When I was 8 years old, we had a huge family dinner. Someone brought some newcomers to America. They were from Italy. The scary-looking men had white suits and ties, with black shirts and hats, and spoke only Italian. I think I was looking for the ‘violin’ case, but all they had were some kind of bottles that everyone made a big fuss about. At dinner, the adults had fancy glasses of grape juice. Afterward, my father told us girls to clean up the tables. My mother, who was a nondrinker, had not touched her juice, so I drank it. It was very good. The next thing I knew, I was in bed. I felt so weak, the room was spinning, and distorted voices came from down the hall. I fell asleep until someone woke me, ‘It’s time for pie,’ they said. The pumpkin pie was so good, but it sent me running to the bathroom. I was a grown up before I realized that I had gotten drunk at Thanksgiving dinner on Italian wine!”

— Betty Skyles of Elgin