New Traditions: Thanksgiving
2018 has been the year of new for us at Pursell Farms: a new 40-room Inn, new restaurants with delicious, fresh food offerings, a plethora of new activities and amenities, new first-time clients, and nearly 140 new hires to staff our sprawling grounds. With all the newness surrounding us, we are paving the way for new traditions to unfold on The Farm, starting with America’s beloved autumnal holiday, Thanksgiving.
Last Thanksgiving, we recreated our traditional Thanksgiving dinner by hosting a large, family-style dinner in our newly completed Hamilton Place ballroom. Our hope was that families would forego their traditional Thanksgiving dinner around Nana’s dining room table and join us around our table. It was a tough sell (so we thought), but on Thanksgiving Day, The Farm looked like a quintessential Norman Rockwell painting. Generations of families gathered around our tables, enjoying savory turkey and gravy, hearty cornbread dressing, fluffy sweet potato casserole, and all the customary Thanksgiving trimmings. After gobbling down plates of seconds, we watched as families returned to their cozy accommodations for an afternoon nap, a competitive game of touch football, or a cup of apple cider on the back porch. And the best part, you ask? Nobody in the family had to wake up in the wee hours of the morning to baste the roasting turkey or clean up dozens of casserole dishes.
Asking people to break with holiday routines and create something new is not easy. Last year, however, we learned that people were willing to replace their years-old Thanksgiving traditions and trusted us to provide their families with an exceptional Thanksgiving experience (a responsibility we don’t take lightly). This year we have enhanced our Thanksgiving dinner menu at Hamilton Place, added Wednesday evening activities for families staying the night before Thanksgiving, created an easy ‘Meals To-Go’ package, and of course, expanded our lodging with the new Inn at Pursell Farms to accommodate more families.
During this season of newness around The Farm, we hope you might also consider creating some new traditions with a family-centered Thanksgiving at Pursell Farms.
