Participants and staff share cheer across all campuses
With Thanksgiving behind us and Christmas almost here, we wanted to take a moment and recap what Thanksgiving was like at BCC this year (we’ll do a full recap of Christmas at BCC in our January Keywords edition).
Many of BCC’s residents head home to their families or extended family for the actual Thanksgiving holiday, so BCC celebrates Thanksgiving in the two weeks leading up to the last Thursday of November.
First up was Falling Waters – BCC’s second largest residential campus – on Nov. 17. The program began with a lighting of the alter candles by one of the residents and continued with song and prayer, officiated by Rev. Randy Reid, BCC’s WV Spiritual Life Coordinator. A video of thanks produced by residents was a program highlight, generating roaring laughter from everyone assembled.
A feast was served in the Falling Waters dining hall, prepared by campus cook Ann Bennett, and served by staff. Residents ate multiple servings each (typical teenagers!) and voted the Pennsylvania Dutch cream corn and unique combination of pumpkin and apple pie dessert as meal highlights.
The next day, Nov. 18, Baltimore hosted approximately 120 staff and residents for their Thanksgiving celebration. Spiritual Life Coordinator, Shawn Elbert, designed and oversaw a program of reflection, prayer and song, which included several residents reading missives of thanks.
Following a blessing by Rev. Dr. Stacey Nickerson, staff served a spectacular spread on tie-dye placemats (thank you to our invaluable volunteers!). The meal this year was fruit, cheese, Caesar salad, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and of course, sliced turkey.
On Thursday, Nov. 19, the Denton campus on the Eastern Shore hosted their Turkey Day celebration. Several of the community-based group homes also hosted separate dinners throughout the week.
Special thanks to Marc LaRose, Ann Bennet, Debbie Kinna, and all of BCC’s kitchen staff who make the holiday meals so special for our residents and staff!