By Erika Kar
I must have missed the memo last week. I see that my lovely Winthrop and Twisp counterparts both wrote about gratitude and thankfulness, while I wrote about the Mazama Store. So, in order to keep that thankful Thanksgiving vibe going, let’s talk about Thanksgiving. What were Mazamans doing over this nice long Thanksgiving weekend? What are we thankful for? What traditions do we follow during this time of the year?
I put on my porkpie hat with my press badge in the brim, got out my trusty notebook and sharp pencil and hit the mean streets of Mazama to get some answers to these questions (read: I emailed some people from the comfort of my own home while wearing pajamas).
Midge Cross asks her Thanksgiving dinner guests to bring something to share, whether it is a poem, a quotation or even just a thought. She says that it is not obligatory and that some do it, while others hold back.
Bob Snickelfritz (not his real name) shared with me that he and his partner, Ken, have hosted Thanksgiving dinners at their Mazama home for 20 years and that they always have a talent show after the dinner has been eaten and the dishes have been washed. When the weather cooperates, they build a big bonfire and have the show around the fire while kids drink hot chocolate and adults drink hot toddies. The winner of the talent show gets to put a pie in the face of whomever he or she chooses.
For Missy LeDuc and family, it is all about the Brussels sprouts. Apparently they aren’t cooking them like my Uncle Frank and Auntie Babe did — by boiling the living daylights out of them. Because it would then definitely not be all about the Brussels sprouts. The Le Ducs also stumble through a Thanksgiving blessing of Missy’s grandmother, not really remembering all of the words, but remembering the sentiment.
The Wathens are the fortunate recipients of Bernard’s fantastic cooking and bartending skills. No Thanksgiving dinner is complete without his famous Bourbon Sweet Potatoes or a little aperitif of Wathen’s Kentucky Bourbon.
When asked what she is most thankful for this Thanksgiving, Desdemona Livingstone eagerly shared that she is thankful that her six adult children travel from all parts of the country to come together at the family’s cabin in Mazama for this special holiday. They enjoy having a cranberry sauce contest, where everyone prepares a version of the holiday favorite and then there is a blind taste test for the honor of best cranberry.
Desdemona’s neighbors, Mary and Dean, eat a Thanksgiving meal up at Sun Mountain Lodge and then take a hike with their dog, Charley. They are thankful to not have to cook or clean up and are extra grateful when it snows on Thanksgiving and their hike is taken under falling flakes of snow. They go on to say that they are thankful, not just on Thanksgiving, but every day, for living in the Methow Valley.
Me? I am most thankful for my family. Also thankful that this week’s column is now complete.
