{"id":16680,"date":"2020-11-24T18:41:29","date_gmt":"2020-11-25T02:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/?p=16680"},"modified":"2020-12-03T21:28:26","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T05:28:26","slug":"six-ways-to-celebrate-thanksgiving-during-covid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/six-ways-to-celebrate-thanksgiving-during-covid\/","title":{"rendered":"Six ways to celebrate Thanksgiving during COVID"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Enjoy Thanksgiving together while social distancing<\/span><\/em>
<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Allison Vanderzanden<\/strong> | Lifestyle Editor<\/span><\/p>\r\n

COVID-19 has impacted nearly every aspect of our lives, including celebrating holidays. It\u2019s important to stay safe and protect loved ones by maintaining social distancing and adhering to state and national guidelines. Here are some new Thanksgiving traditions to try with family and friends this year.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

1) Virtual gathering: <\/b>With numerous communication options available \u23e4 such as FaceTime, Skype, Google Meet and Zoom \u23e4 scheduling a virtual meeting with family and friends can be a good replacement for in-person celebrations. Each family can prepare a feast at their own tables while enjoying the company of others through a computer screen. Set a laptop at one end of the table and chat away.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

2) Exchange Thanksgiving dishes: <\/b>If loved ones live nearby, consider swapping side dishes. Have each household make one side dish \u2014 mashed potatoes, a casserole or a salad to name a few \u2014 and leave a dish on one another\u2019s doorstep. If close relatives live some distance away, band together with neighbors to create a contactless potluck.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

3) Share recipes: <\/b>As opposed to cooking for one another, design and send loved ones recipe cards. Go old-fashioned and send a notecard in the mail, or simply text and email the recipes. Send them ahead of time so that everyone can make each other\u2019s favorite dishes on Thanksgiving Day.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

4) Movie marathon: <\/b>Enjoy some holiday classics with the household or watch one of each person\u2019s favorite. Use Teleparty \u23e4 a Google Chrome extension \u23e4 to watch along with friends and family, no matter how far they are. Leave movies playing all day, or begin the morning by watching the Macy\u2019s Thanksgiving Day Parade before jumping into movies.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

5) Outdoor games: <\/b>If the weather permits, try hosting some games outdoors. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gathering outdoors promotes social distancing and is better ventilated than indoors. Cornhole, soccer, bocce ball and Kan Jam are just a few games to be played outside, or simply toss around a football.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

6) Give back: <\/b>There are also many ways to help in the community this Thanksgiving. Collect canned foods and nonperishable goods to donate to a local food bank. The Food Pantry at Western is open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for two hours each day; check their website \u2014 wou.edu\/foodpantry \u2014 for updates. Alternatively, donate money to local organizations and charities, or cook a meal for a homebound neighbor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

No matter how Thanksgiving is celebrated this year, remember to maintain social distancing when possible and wash hands often.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

Contact the author at avanderzanden19@mail.wou.edu<\/a><\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Enjoy Thanksgiving together while social distancing<\/p>\n

Allison Vanderzanden | Lifestyle Editor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1094,"featured_media":16664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[156,155,202,374,375,370],"class_list":["post-16680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-allison","tag-allison-vanderzanden","tag-covid","tag-covid-19","tag-social-distancing","tag-thanksgiving"],"modified_by":"The Western Howl","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1094"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}