Library to host diverse Thanksgiving event

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Strathmore Library will be hosting an event they are calling “A World of Gratitude,” Oct. 11, as a way to share Thanksgiving traditions amongst local residents. 

The event aims to explore how different families and cultures express gratitude in their homes, thematic to Thanksgiving. 

“What we want to do is sort of look at Thanksgiving in a refreshing kind of way. There is a lot of conversation around Thanksgiving these days and so we wanted to reframe it just a little bit and focus on the gratitude side of it,” said Laura Henderson, public services manager with the library. “We wanted to look at the side of sharing, and not just sharing food or time or that sort of thing, but also sharing your culture, sharing how you express gratitude and that sort of thing.”

Kicking the event into motion, Henderson explained diversity and inclusivity were important points amongst the library team. 

With Strathmore being the culturally diverse town it is attributed to be, the library wanted to give everyone the opportunity to share their family and cultural traditions and celebrations. 

“We always have a craft of some sort available, so we are going to be doing that – and then we are going to have a collaborative gratitude tree. Participants are invited to decorate a leaf and then write what they are grateful for, how they express gratitude, or something like that,” said Henderson. “That will be a collaborative project that we will display in the library, and we are inviting participants to bring a baked good or a recipe. Baked goods we know we can share safely, but other food items are sort of touch and go.”

This aspect of the event, she explained, will be focusing on the sharing aspect of the season and the holiday. 

With every family doing Thanksgiving very differently, Henderson said the library would love to hear about how that is expressed and hosted between homes and throughout the local community.

“We are not asking for a registration for this program; it is a completely drop-in program. Typically, we anticipate 40 to 50 participants, but you just never know. At our Back-to-School party we saw 75 participants,” she said. “We do like to change it up every year, but we hope this one is successful because we really like the angle of celebrating each other’s diversity.”

The “World of Gratitude” event will be hosted at the library from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. More information about the event is available through the library.