A 'Friendsgiving' meal, and so much more for Freeport grade-schoolers

For Priscilla Quiroz, 9, Tuesday night's meal inside the gym of a Freeport grade school meant a rare chance to spend time with her best friend since first grade, Malia Clarke, 9, with whom she no longer shares a class.

"I can see all my friends cause I don’t really see them a lot," Priscilla said after a dinner of chicken wings, cornbread and other homemade fixings.

In the minds of organizers behind the "Friendsgiving" dinner at New Visions School, the event meant much more, including a meal ahead of Thanksgiving for students, some of whom might not otherwise have one, and sharing the meaning of the last Thursday in November.

"Friendsgiving highlights the importance of chosen family, the friends and connections we cherish as part of our extended support network," said Cherese Hackshaw, president of the New Visions School Parent Teacher Association, before a group of about 200 attendees.

"It’s a time to bring people together, friends, neighbors, community members," Hackshaw added, "to show gratitude, make memories and strengthen bonds."

The event also helped alleviate the financial stresses that can often arise during the holiday season, she said. In addition to a free meal, mostly cooked and donated by parents, plus pasta donated by Montana Brothers Pizzeria and Catering, the PTA raffled off 20 turkeys donated by Steve’s Prime Meats and set up a professional station for holiday photographs with a festive backdrop flanked by an inflatable snowman and wooden soldier.

"Thanksgiving can be a rough time for people," Hackshaw said as families arrived and before she had a pumpkin painted on her right cheek.

"We really wanted to cultivate a positive experience for the students because maybe there are students who don’t have family or they can’t afford a meal," she said, "but now they can."

Before dinner was served, boys and girls ran around tables, locked in balloon sword battles. Members of the Freeport High School Navy Junior ROTC then served the lined-up children and adults helpings of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese and other hot offerings.

Priscilla’s favorite food of the evening, the sweet potatoes, was made by PTA secretary Alkany Smith, who said she whips butter and cinnamon into her potatoes before topping them with marshmallows.

Priscilla approved.

"I like how the marshmallow stretches and it's nice and gooey and really sweet," the fourth-grader said.

Smith attended alongside her husband, Rodney Smith, her son and two daughters. The dinner meant "a way to give back to the community," Alkany Smith said.

"Look around, there’s a good mix of people; families are out; this is what it’s about," Rodney Smith added.

Families enjoyed their meals atop orange tablecloths, on which centerpieces held balloons of shimmering rose gold and magenta. Shortly after eating, and even between bites and sips, children danced and stomped throughout the gym as Sabrina Carpenter’s "Espresso" and Taylor Swift’s "Shake It Off" pulsed through a speaker with color-changing LEDs.

After dinner, children took turns grabbing the microphone and sharing the people, food and other things they are most thankful for this year. Among the most common answers were "mom and dad," dogs, toys and Tuesday's dinner.

While other schools in the Freeport district host Thanksgiving and holiday events for their communities, New Visions principal Jessica Romero said the school's PTA program will return next year.

"We want to continue this," Romero said. "This will be our new tradition moving forward for every Thanksgiving."