By Kristen Taufer
For Sara Watson, nothing says Thanksgiving like throwing a Frisbee at her family.
“My dad came up with this crazy game and now we play it every year,” said Watson, 21, a senior from Orange, Calif., majoring in elementary education.
The game consists of standing in lines and throwing Frisbees at each other. When players get hit they are out of the game.
Watson”s Thanksgiving also includes turkey and stuffing, but she said it wouldn”t be the same without the Frisbee throwing.
Thanksgiving means something different to everyone and at BYU the holiday traditions range from the usual to the completely original.
Most students said their Turkey Day tradition is to just get together with family and eat a big dinner.
They list no school, going home and doing nothing as the perks of the Thanksgiving Holiday.
“It”s just nice to be with family and friends,” said TeriSue Smith, 21, a sophomore from Lehi, Utah County, majoring in dietetics.
Another common tradition at BYU is watching a movie. Since she was little, Jonelle Crane”s family has gone to the theater every year on Thanksgiving Day.
Crane, 19, a junior from Vasalia, Calif., majoring in human biology, said her father has always loved movies and it just became one of their traditions.
Crane”s family also participates in a “turkey bowl” where the priesthood holders in her home ward duke it out in a friendly football match.
Students aren”t the only ones who get into the Thanksgiving spirit with traditions.
Matthew Richardson, an assistant professor of Church History and Doctrine, starts his family”s Thanksgiving on Nov. 1 when he brings out the “”tude tank,” a jar where family members put notes to each other or notes saying what they are thankful for.
On Thanksgiving the jar is passed around the table and the notes are read giving everyone a chance to guess who wrote what and hear what everyone is thankful for.
To make Thanksgiving even more focused, Christmas music cannot be played at the Richardson home until after the Thanksgiving Holiday.
“You can”t celebrate Christmas if you don”t first celebrate Thanksgiving with the right spirit,” Richardson said.
