Author: Michelle Warren, Chronicle

Another year has passed, and Eastern Connecticut is preparing to celebrate another Thanksgiving Day under the cloud of the pandemic that begins in the spring of 2020.

But thanks to vaccines and more knowledge about how to deal with health crises, people are slowly but surely (and cautiously) planning Thursday’s Thanksgiving meal, which is more normal than it was a year ago.

But it will still not be like Thanksgiving in 2019, because the number of cases will increase due to cold weather, more indoor gatherings and unvaccinated by-products, and COVID-19 will still be an unwelcome guest at the regional table.

Amanda Sherman, administrative assistant at the Wyndham Senior Center, said that this year she will host a "traditional turkey dinner" at her home in Canterbury.

However, due to the pandemic, there will be fewer families there than usual.

"Usually, we have a grand Thanksgiving, but compared to previous years, this year will be very small," Sherman said.

Compared with the past few years, people attending the senior center activities this week revealed new plans.

For many years, Chaplin's resident Ann Sevigny (Ann Sevigny) has been at her house for Thanksgiving.

However, Sevigny will go to her niece's house this year.

"Now, I let young people do it," she said while playing cards at the Wyndham Senior Center.

Sevigny said that she usually brings shrimp cocktails to family gatherings, and they play Texas Hold'em and pass Ace.

Fewer than usual people at the Thanksgiving table this year will become the new normal, although this is seen as an improvement compared to the video screen dining a year ago.

Angela Fournier, director of the Wyndham Senior Center, said that there will be a “small group of people” of about 10 people in her home during Thanksgiving.

She said that women usually make crafts, and this year, they will make sparkling decorations while men are watching football games.

"I thank my family," Fournier said. "When we couldn't get together for Thanksgiving because of the new coronavirus, it made me realize how important it is to get together."

She said that she also thanked her "work family", she said they were "an amazing group of women."

"They are just responding to all changes through COVID," Fournier said. "They just make my job easier."

Fournier will have a special helper in the kitchen-her 5-year-old daughter.

"She likes to help me," Fournier said.

COVID has actually had some impact on Thanksgiving Day activities at the Senior Center this year, but unlike last year, at least, on-site activities did happen.

The Senior Center held a Thanksgiving lunch on November 17 this year one week in advance.

Sherman said that 26 people attended the luncheon, and the number was lower than normal due to the pandemic.

Under normal circumstances, the senior center will also send two vans to the donation day, which is a free Thanksgiving meal provided by Eastern Connecticut State University for community members.

However, due to COVID-19, the annual meal served the day before Thanksgiving will be held at Covenant Soup Kitchen, not at the restaurant.

Meals will be distributed in take-out containers.

Sherman said that 21 seniors have signed up for the donation day at Wyndham Senior Center, and Katie Cox, the event coordinator of Wyndham Senior Center, will receive it and send it to the Senior Center.

"The elderly expressed their appreciation and gratitude to China Eastern Airlines for its generosity to the community," she said. In the kitchen," she said.

At the same time, on the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs, some lagging students and their parents who have not left Storrs are looking forward to a more "normal" vacation.

While having lunch at the Dog Alley Cafe in downtown Storrs on Monday, Madison resident Bill Weiville and his daughter, University of Connecticut student Hollis Weiville, said they would celebrate at home with their immediate family members.

He said he was very grateful for his health.

"This is usually taken for granted, but if you don't have it, you can't take it for granted," Bill Weiville said.

Hollis Wivell is currently studying for a fifth-year certificate in leadership and public administration at the University of Connecticut, and she said she is looking forward to meeting her family and "taking a break from school."

She said she was grateful for her support system, namely her immediate family and the friends she made at the University of Connecticut.

“When you have people you care about doing these little things with you, it’s more fun to celebrate these little things,” Hollisweiville said.

Follow Michelle Warren on Twitter-@mwarrentc.

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