Long Islanders anticipate bringing tradition back to Thanksgiving 2021
Tradition is on the menu for Thanksgiving dinner in many households this year. Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto/LightFieldStudios
Pass the cranberry sauce — Thanksgiving celebrations are back, and many Long Islanders say they’re expecting a joyous holiday.
"We’re having a big Thanksgiving this year," says Jennifer DeStefano, 45, a homemaker from West Babylon who plans to celebrate at her husband’s cousin’s house in Medford. Their family includes members from her 2-year-old daughter to a 98-year-old grandmother.
"We’re done with the separation thing from the last few holidays with COVID. It’s been rough, but I think things are getting back to normal. I just don’t feel like we need to stop our lives anymore. It’ll be a great holiday."
DeStefano’s sentiments were echoed by others who may have toned down their holiday in 2020 but are ready to get back to the way things used to be for 2021.
They were reflected by Long Islanders such as Sheetal Rishi, 43, of Woodbury, a partner in a computer tech company, whose family is celebrating a traditional American Thanksgiving for the first time. And by Tahasia Natara McCullough of Patchogue and Darlene White of Medford, who, spurred by the pandemic and the George Floyd protests, became founders of a charity called 4 Colored Girls in 2020 and distributed turkeys to Long Islanders in need; they plan to give out at least 60 this year.
Sheetal Rishi of Woodbury, with her husband, Arvind, and their children, Anoushka, Aryan and Ayaansh, are planning to celebrate a traditional Thanksgiving with friends. Credit: Rishi Family
'LOOKING FORWARD TO IT'
Tina Leonovich, 50, of Lindenhurst, a paraprofessional with Western Suffolk BOCES, hosted a scaled-back Thanksgiving last November. "We had 10 people per Gov. Cuomo. It was the running joke that if we had 11 they would have to sit on the patio," she says. This year, she and her husband, her two children and her father plan to go to her sister’s house in Wantagh and have Thanksgiving with her sister’s family. There will be 14 of them total; she says they plan to have Italian antipasto, pasta and then turkey and ham.
Rishi is another Long Islander mixing ethnic dishes with traditional Thanksgiving fare. She moved to Long Island from India 12 years ago and has three children, 16, 10 and 6. "I did not grow up celebrating Thanksgiving," she says, adding that her family is vegetarian. This year’s plan: a potluck Friendsgiving with families from her children’s elementary school who are of Chinese and Vietnamese backgrounds. "It’s like a mini U.N.," she says. "It will be an interesting display of nontraditional food. I’m really looking forward to it."
SOME STILL CAUTIOUS
But not everyone feels ready to put COVID on the back burner.
Teri Kroll, 62, of Lindenhurst, an executive assistant at a telecommunications company, says her family has a wonderful reason to keep their guard up. "We’re expecting a baby on Dec. 2," she says.
By "we" Kroll means her daughter and son-in-law, who are expecting a fourth child, a girl, to join their three boys, ages 11, 9 and 5. Kroll, her husband, Frank, 68, who is retired, and her daughter’s family agreed not to join extended family this year to protect mother and baby. "Not everybody is vaccinated," Kroll says of the extended family members. "We’ll call everybody and say Happy Thanksgiving."
The Krolls aren’t even sure they’ll have a turkey. "We’re totally winging it," Kroll says, no pun intended. "We’re kind of saying, ‘We’re just going to have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.’ Either my daughter will be relaxing, or she’ll be at the hospital in labor, or she’ll have a new baby. Our reasons are good reasons, so we’re thankful for that."
Ann Latner, 57, of Port Washington, a freelance writer and program manager for Long Island Traditions, says she’s also feeling some anxiety about Thanksgiving — but not because of the virus. "Typical holiday cooking anxiety," she says. Will the turkey be too small for her 11 guests?
"Every year, my mom and I stand over the frozen turkey in the supermarket and argue about what’s big enough," Latner says. Last year, Latner skipped Thanksgiving, which she often hosts on the day after the holiday so that all her family members don’t have to choose where to attend. But this year, she says she feels comfortable because all her guests, even the children, are vaccinated.
McCullough, who works for a mortgage bank, and White, who is in chiropractic school, are both 27, and say they are more focused on the weekend before Thanksgiving than they are on their plans for the actual day. The best friends, who graduated together from Copiague High School, have scheduled a turkey giveaway for Nov. 21 at the Wyandanch VFW.
Tahasia Natara McCullough, center, of Patchogue, says she and volunteers from 4 Colored Girls will be giving out turkeys to celebrate Thanksgiving. Credit: 4 Colored Girls
"Some people more than other people are left without any options. We wanted to see where we could interject ourselves," White says of explaining how they became involved 4 Colored Girls in the summer of 2020. Adds McCullough: "We grew up in families that were able to provide. I’ll be home with family after we give back."
Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.
