Recently, we blogged about how members of Team Snorble are scattered around the globe in multiple time zones. Now, during the week of the traditional American Thanksgiving holiday, we thought we’d share what those in the United States have planned for the annual celebration and recall some of their fondest Turkey Day memories.
Snorble CEO and Co-Founder Mike Rizkalla and his family travel regularly between the United States and his native Canada, and are heading north of the border for the holiday.
“This year we are traveling back to Nova Scotia to be with my mom,” explains Mike. “It is our first year without my dad, so my fondest Thanksgiving memories are of him and my kids primarily and we’ll be remembering him this week.”
Mike, whose family recently moved house to New Jersey after a nomadic few years between the Garden State, Staten Island, and Nova Scotia, added: “I am most thankful for our new home, my kids, and my family.”
Los Angeles-based Snorble Engineering and Manufacturing Lead Steve Hecker and his family are not traveling anywhere, but are collecting what he calls some ‘Misfitz’ from here and there that may not have a place to go for Thanksgiving and giving them a wonderful meal.
“Cooking an elaborate meal is one of our favorite things to do, especially if we have all the new friends to enjoy it,” says Steve. “In fact, it feels like something is missing if we don't spend all morning and all day constantly cooking and washing dirty dishes until the guests arrive.”
“A good memory is from back in the days when I used to visit my grandmother in New York City for Thanksgiving. I did this with my family every year until I was old enough to stay in my own hotel. When I woke up in the morning in the hotel, Sonic the Hedgehog was staring into my hotel room! I had no idea when I checked in that the hotel was on the street that was used by the balloon teams to fill up and assemble all the parade balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade!”
Snorble Executive Creative Director Brian Collins and his wife no longer spend Thanksgiving in the kitchen preparing a traditional meal since their kids are scattered around the country. As you might expect from the creative genius behind Lullaboo, he has come up with an alternative Turkey Day meal.
“Instead of a big Thanksgiving feast, which I’m sure will come back at some point in the future, these days we started a tradition a couple years ago of making homemade calzones,” explained Brian. “Delicious, and much easier to clean up.”
A Snorble transplant to the United States is our head of PR Michael Preston, who didn’t experience Thanksgiving until he was in his twenties. His first taste of Turkey Day was as traditional as it comes for Americans who enjoy watching professional sports on this holiday. The last Thursday in November had always been just like any other day of the week in his native England, but that all changed during a trip to Dallas in 1994.
Michael was at Texas Stadium to witness the Dallas Cowboys stage an unlikely comeback with their backup quarterback at the helm to defeat the Green Bay Packers in NFL action. Then it was off to a friend’s home for a southern style feast of turkey, sweet potatoes, cornbread, and pecan pie.
This Thanksgiving he can still be found catching the traditional NFL offerings and hoping for another Cowboys victory, but nowadays in Providence, Rhode Island, while sat digesting all the spoils in front of the television.
Snorble Head of Experience Patrick Wesonga plans to remain in New York City with friends and make food with them since the cost of flying home to California separately for Thanksgiving and Christmas is prohibitive.
“A Thanksgiving memory that comes to mind is from 2019, when my friends and I put the turkey in and then went ice skating for an hour,” recalled Patrick. “It was such a fun way to break up the day and involved many falls, almost falls, and laughs!”
Snorble Tech Lead Thomas Chan reminds us that Thanksgiving is a time to remember loved ones who are no longer with us and to recall fond personal memories.
“Over the last 15 years, each meal was memorable and always over the top,” says Thomas. “We have lost some older family members and gained some younger ones. An older gentleman of the name Thomas De Luca Sr, or Old Tom, had differing political views from the rest of the family. I would always take up his talking points with him, so he had some company and he always appreciated that over the years. We all miss him.”
What do you have planned for Thanksgiving and what are some of your fondest memories of the holiday? Share your memories with us through Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
