Seemingly one of the most skipped over holidays, Thanksgiving seems to be ignored more and more every year within society.

An exception to this seems to be at Mercyhurst University where the annual Thanksgiving dinner is one of the most anticipated meals of the year.
According to most students, Thanksgiving dinner is traditionally one of the best tasting meals of the year, bringing students from all walks of life to the dining halls.

The annual feast has been a tradition since the beginning, or at least over the past 15 years since Parkhurst’s General Manager, Katie Boyd has been on campus. Before the majority of campus departs to go home for break, international students and other students who are not able to go home can have a delicious meal with friends.

On Nov. 21, the feast was held in two locations this year, one at The Grotto Commons and another in Ryan Hall’s 501 Grille.
“Our Annual Thanksgiving Dinner planning has become a fine oiled machine, but there is a lot of time put into the planning and execution,” said Boyd.

A few examples of this are the timing put into making the turkeys, breads and delicious pies.
“We shut down the Over and the Deli to transform them into a giant meat, cheese and dip board. And you can’t forget about all the decorating that we love to do!” Boyd said.
According to Boyd, Parkhurst prepared 48 turkeys, 150 pies and 950 pounds of hand peeled and cut mashed potatoes to feed everyone for both dining halls.
With a typical turnout of 1,400 guests between the two dining halls, both had great participation this year. More students tend to eat at The Grotto Commons due to the sole tradition of lining up at the buffets, but Ryan Hall also held record breaking attendance this year.

“My favorite part of the Thanksgiving feast would have to be a tie between the mashed potatoes and any kind of pie,” Boyd said.