Thanksgiving through the eyes of children

Thanksgiving Day is many things to many people and no one explains it as honestly - or humorously - as a child.

So with pen in hand, The Daily Standard traveled to local schools asking children their thoughts on the upcoming holiday, and frankly, anything they felt like sharing about Thanksgiving Day.

Third-grader Cassie Germann, 8, of Celina, recalls one year when the holiday's main dish just didn't have that pilgrim party pizzazz.

"The turkey tasted like cauliflower," she says, contorting her face.

It's really not the food she's looking forward to on Thursday anyway, it's Aunt Kim from Cleveland.

"I don't get to see her very often and I really miss her. She gives me everything I want for Christmas," Germann says.

Four-year-old Mackenzie Gross, a student at Chapel Hill Preschool in Maria Stein, can't wait to enjoy her family's traditional chicken dinner, "or maybe it's turkey. It's some kind of animal with legs," she says.

"We have parties at my house. Daddy puts stuff in the oven and Mommy takes stuff out and then makes it ready. She also makes the plates ready," she says.

Other Maria Stein-area families apparently skip the traditional turkey in favor of a broader menu selection.

"Sometimes at Thanksgiving my dad eats chips and Mom will eat soup," says Brandon Fleck, 5.

Spencer Homan, 5, is a few holiday's too early - or too late, depending how you look at it. He's pretty sure he's going to draw hearts, color them and put them in a note for somebody for Thanksgiving Day. Later he'll eat mix and pretzels and top that off with birthday cake, he says.

"My family is unusual," says 12-year-old Jacob Barrett of St. Marys.

The McBroom Junior High student says his family has this quirky Thanksgiving Day tradition that involves riding the family go-cart. Well, it used to be their tradition, he adds.

"We can't now, my dumb brother ran it into a telephone pole and broke it," he says.

When asked if his brother was hurt, he rolls his eyes and says, "Oh no, he just broke the go-cart."

Barrett says he's thankful for his family - even his brother - and all of his friends. Oddly enough, he's also grateful for the good and bad things that happen to him each day.

"The bad things help me learn like never step in a hole in a hay mow," he says.

Thirteen-year-old Brandi McCollister of St. Marys says she's thankful she has family to get together with "because some people don't." She'll be even more thankful this year if her mom doesn't burn the stuffing again, she adds.

Celina West Elementary School student Zachary McNeilan says he's proud of the tradition his parents began years ago.

"We all hold hands and make a circle and tell what we're thankful for," he says.

Because Noah Gibson's grandparents live in Louisiana, too far to make it home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, the second-grader's family combines the holidays into one.

"After eating turkey and everything, we open our Christmas presents," says the Celina student. "We call the day Thankmas."

Thanks for ...

"I'm thankful for trophies, big trophies, like the one my dad won at the football game when he was one of those guys." - Clayton Eiffert, 5, of Chapel Hill Preschool, Maria Stein

"I'm really thankful for my teachers. They help me get smarter." - Braden Williams, a third-grader at Celina West Elementary School

"We go around and say what we're most thankful for. As soon as the first one says something, everyone else just says 'ditto.' " - Anthony Louis, 13, of McBroom Junior High, St. Marys

"This year we're serving food at the Giving Thanks dinner. It reminds me that there are people out there who don't have families around. I'm glad I have mine." - Amanda Imwalle, 13, of McBroom Junior High, St. Marys

"My mom makes the same thing every year, turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, corn. It's all good except those green beans. I just don't like 'em." - Dylan Koch, 13, of McBroom Junior High, St. Marys

"Grandma makes pies like apple and pumpkin and another kind I don't like. I don't know what it is because I've never tried it." - Jackie Geesman, 8, of Celina West Elementary School

"I remember one Thanksgiving when my mom was sitting at the computer eating pumpkin pie and it fell on her. It was pretty funny 'cause we're not supposed to eat at the computer." - Brandi McCollister, 13, of McBroom Junior High

- Shelley Grieshop