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A different Thanksgiving feast

Lisa Dobey

So we have about 25 people up for the Thanksgiving weekend. As a relative newcomer to the family, I only have 15 years of history rather than the decades and decades of history that many share. It’s not a shy group. Both newcomers to the family and those born to it are expected to have opinions and to vigorously debate and defend them. Choose your words carefully; you will be quoted.This feast of views and opinions is the best part of Thanksgiving.Sometimes you hear people say they want the spirit of Christmas to last year-round but how about the spirit of Thanksgiving? How can we create a bigger and longer feast throughout the community?

It is the eating season after all. Let’s start a campaign to make the spirit of Thanksgiving last all year long. People in our community are hungry to talk about issues. There are a few of us who only see one side of an issue, but the majority of us want to exchange ideas and thoughts – not convert you to a particular point of view. Just like the family Thanksgiving, everyone in the community – those new to the family and those born to it – gets to bring something to the table.One of the things Truckee Tahoe Community Foundation brings to the table is the collective responsibility of giving back. Truckee Tahoe Community Foundation is a place where your gifts of time, ideas and money can improve the lives of everyone in our community. It’s a feast not only of ideas but of practical solutions. Community philanthropy prevents, fixes, and builds.

But community philanthropy doesn’t exist in isolation. We look to community conversations to debate ways to improve the region. We appreciate differences in opinions because each viewpoint adds to the richness of the conversation and creates that common bond that defines a community.At a pre-Thanksgiving wine tasting Sunday night, we discussed how “unfair” it was to a wine to drink them with each other rather than allowing them to stand alone. I’m no connoisseur, but what I do know is that wine, like a conversation, grows in complexity and richness when paired with different foods or other wines. Each viewpoint and opinion adds to the richness of our community. How do we create a Thanksgiving feast that lasts all year? Use your passion and compassion as you debate. Reach out to others and value difference; respect viewpoints even when they aren’t your own. Understand that it is our collective responsibility to build a stronger community.Everything of consequence is built with passion, compassion, and commitment.



Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy your feast. I hope you overindulge in turkey and ideas.Lisa Dobey is CEO of Truckee Tahoe Community Foundation. She can be reached at 587-1776 or lisa@ttcf.net


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