November Event Coverage

A Non-Traditional Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a time of year that many people consider to be a time to spend with your family and friends. Most people would consider Thanksgiving to be a time of thanks. That is exactly what Nicole Sisler believes. “Thanksgiving is time that people should be thankful of what they have, and open to sharing with others so that they have that type belief around Thanksgiving too,” says Sisler. This Thanksgiving, instead of spending it with her family and friends, Sisler spent it with one of her grandfather’s friends. Tyler Master is 84 years old and has no extended family. This year Sisler was proud to be considered his family during thanksgiving. When asked how Master’s felt about spending thanksgiving with Sisler, he responded “I have never felt such a sense of home. Nicole has done so much for me and others, and I know that it is truly from her heart.” Sisler spent the Thanksgiving weekend with Masters. Sisler states “He has had so many experiences that relate to my life. He is so insightful about everything that I am interested in.” Sisler was raised by her grandfather from age 4 to 18. When Sisler’s grandfather passed away when she was 18, she decided to start going to counseling. During her time with counseling she thought that she would reach out to people who don’t have families to be with on Thanksgiving and spend some of her time with them.

This is the third year that Sisler has dedicated her time on Thanksgiving to others. This year she decided to hold an event at her home in Berkley Springs, WV.  The event was open to the public and it consisted of a Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving Day. This year there was six people who showed up for the complimentary dinner at her house. When asked if she was happy with the amount of people who showed to the dinner, she responded “I am so happy. I couldn’t be happier with the turn out. My point of this dinner is not to have a lot of people show up, but more focused on giving someone a feeling of family on a day that family is needed the most.”

One of the six people who showed up to the dinner was Jon Greenstone. Greenstone has a family of many. However this year, similar to Sisler, he wanted to give some thanks back to the community. Greenstone states “Sisler’s idea is great. It’s bringing the older community together more than ever, especially when this community usually would spend the holiday alone. What Sisler did was inspiring and I hope that this tradition can continue.”

Sisler hopes that within the next couple years this event can continue and grow. “All I want is to give people hope and a chance to be happy during the holidays. Sisler hopes that next year she can have the event at a public building so that she can have more room and better access to cooking utilities. Sisler has plans to talk to her local churches in Berkley Springs and hopes to get support from them.

Above: Nicole Sisler speaking to one of her local churches about expanding her annual Thanksgiving dinner.