The Thanksgiving Feast: It Takes a Village

There are only a few things that really terrify me in this world, and shopping at Costco on the Saturday before Thanksgiving is one them. All I can think about is stressed out shoppers racing through the aisles with carts jammed packed with toilet paper and giant boxes of stovetop stuffing. When you sit as the Chair of the Thanksgiving Feast Committee here at NMS, fear is not an option. Have you ever wondered what the shopping list looks like in planning for a dinner of 300 of your closest friends? Wonder no more. This list was compiled by a third grader who serves as our intern in the Business Office. “Whoa, that can’t be right...how much turkey?” she asked. “It takes a village,” I answered with a smirk.

500 slices of turkey

Corn

Gravy

Potatoes

25 pie crusts

100 feet of tinfoil

500 spoons, forks, knives

16 pitchers

16 platters

50 trash bags

32 tablecloths

6 Gallons of milk

32 bags of apples

36 rolls of paper towels

Today the Parent Association hosted the 11th Annual NMS Thanksgiving Feast right here on campus. From the moment the first volunteer arrives until the last piece of corn is unstuck from the gym floor, the Feast feels like a food marathon. It’s not about the meal; to be honest, the toddlers don’t land most of it in their mouths, but I believe it’s bigger than that. What started out as a small gathering to celebrate the opening of school eleven years ago has transformed into an amazing display of what it truly means to be a community.