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Community Corner

Words From Woodbury: Thanksgiving Traditions

Locals share their traditions, stories and favorite dishes.

Thanksgiving at our house is all about traditions, food and family fun.

In Woodbury this week, Patch chatted with a few people about how they celebrate Thanksgiving.  

Linda Miller

Optician, Woodbury Mead Eyecare and Eyewear 

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“We have a very large family so when just half of the family gets together, it’’s about 50 people,” says Linda Miller, an optician at Woodbury's . 

Miller said her sister-in-law in Afton is hosting this year’s Thanksgiving dinner. Due to the large amount of people, dinner is set up buffet style upstairs.

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“The host family is responsible for providing the meat and everyone else is assigned a dish to bring, though we usually get to choose between two different items,” Miller said.

Besides the standard turkey, Miller said the men in the family also prepare meats they’ve hunted during the season, usually venison. 

Joyce Eicher

Saint Ambrose of Woodbury faith formation preschool coordinator

For Joyce Eicher, Saint Ambrose of Woodbury faith formation preschool coordinator, a big part of their family tradition is getting up early on Black Friday to shop.

Another traditional highlight after shopping (besides the nap), is heading over to a Christmas tree farm in Prescott, WI.

“Every year our family meets up with family friends at the tree farm. We get our Christmas trees, munch on hot roasted peanuts, sip on hot cider and then we have dinner out together afterwards,” Eicher said. 

A comical highlight: Her mom decided to thaw the turkey in the garage one year. They left to run an errand and came back to see the neighborhood dogs having a tug of war in their driveway with the turkey.

Yulanda Britt

Nurse and Woodbury resident

The Britts are a military family.

“We create our own family traditions depending on where we live at the time,” said Yulanda Britt, a nurse from Woodbury. Their extended family lives in the northeast and Britt says it’s hard not to be near their families during the holidays. 

These days, the Britt family traditions include the traditional things like preparing and eating foods and watching football, but also looking at the newspaper circulars.

One of the family staples at the holiday table is her homemade sweet potato pie. 

“When we first got married, I started making sweet potato pie. Unfortunately, the first year I made it, I decided to leave out some of the sugar from the recipe and it didn’t taste so good,” joked Britt. 

Things are looking up. “After 14 years of tweaking it, my sweet potato pie gets better tasting every year,” she said. 

Britt said she is thankful for her husband and family’s health, and grateful to those who choose to serve the country.

Kelly Lavers

Advocate of Tyler’s Law and Woodbury resident

At the Lavers house, it’s all about the turkey.

“We have turkey just once a year and that’s on Thanksgiving Day. It’s family tradition that we cook up the largest one we can find to maximize the leftovers,” Lavers said.  

Another fun tradition stems around the wishbone. “It’s fun to break the wishbone to see who gets the special Thanksgiving wish that will most certainly come true if it’s kept secret,” said Lavers.  

Having just lost their son, , Lavers left me with the true meaning of Thanksgiving.

“It’s a good time to remind ourselves the treasure we have in the relationships and interactions we share with each other," she said. "Each relationship and interaction is precious in its own rite. The value and the gift of gratitude should never be underestimated.”

Alisa Rabin Bell

Executive director,   

Alisa Rabin Bell said this year she’ll be sharing Thanksgiving Day with her husband and daughter. 

“We’re from California, so all of our family is out there,” said Bell. 

She said she spends most of the day preparing the big meal. 

“I spend all day cooking and then everyone eats within minutes. Somehow the balance is off there," Bell said.

One traditional dish she makes is stuffing.

“Every year I make a really yummy stuffing that is baked, and not stuffed in the bird,” said Bell.

A great memory for Bell is last Thanksgiving she and her family went to California. 

“We took our daughter to Disneyland for the first time. It was really crowded, but she had a great time!” said Bell.

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