Tidewater students give back to community

At Thanksgiving feast, details on Angel Tree

Friday, Nov. 27, 2009

Forget Grandma slaving away in the kitchen; Tidewater School students made their own Thanksgiving dinner.

Granted, they weren't spending hours over a hot stove, but at the school's 23rd Annual Thanksgiving Feast, there were turkey sandwiches, cranberry-blueberry relish, fruits, vegetables and dips and hugely popular pumpkin bars.

The event was held Tuesday at Huntingtown United Methodist Church on what was the Tidewater students' last day before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Nancy Libertini, the founder and director of the Tidewater School in Huntingtown, said the students had a lesson on American Indians and pilgrims prior to the meal, which she explained was mainly to teach students "how important it is for Thanksgiving to be an opportunity for the community to come together and care for one another."

Libertini said that the school is doing just that by having a "The Nutcracker" themed tree in 21st Annual Festival of Trees celebration benefiting Calvert Hospice, in addition to an "Angel Tree" to collect winter clothes and supplies for American Indian elders.

"Our goal is to raise children as peace-seekers [who have] respect for all faiths and all people," she said, continuing, "The nice thing about Thanksgiving is the students get to count their blessings and give blessings as well."

The students also received a cooking lesson as they prepared for Tuesday's lunch, to which their families were also invited.

"The children prepare the feast themselves at school and at home," said Libertini, who added that some of the herbs used in the meal preparation came from a garden at the school.

She also said the students made bread for the lunch, which also became a lesson "because you have to measure."

Despite the educational aspect to the meal's preparation, most students enjoyed a more basic aspect the most.

"My favorite part is eating," said 7-year-old Caitlin Walling of Dunkirk, who jumped up and down while saying her favorite holiday food was "turkey, turkey, turkey."

Caitlin's first grade classmate Sophie Futchko, 7, of Prince Frederick said that her sweet tooth came out at the lunch.

"It was delicious, especially those pumpkin bars; those were so delicious," said Sophie, prompting Caitlin to add "I ate off my dad's plate."

Libertini said that as well as being a feast, the event also served as a talent show of sorts in which preschoolers and kindergartners sang songs about American Indians and elementary schoolers put on Thanksgiving-themed plays.

"Some of it was sung; some of it was dance; and some of it was spoken," she said of the plays.

Both Sophie and Caitlin were all too happy to share one of said songs with a reporter and first grader Ashley Abraham, 6, of Huntingtown and third grader Taylor Coleman, 8, of Huntingtown joined in as they were passing by.

Some of the students also used the event to reflect on what they're thankful for this year.

Third grader Charlie Weber, 9, of Owings said he was grateful "that they invented Legos," while his classmate Johan Amin, 9, of Prince Frederick was thankful "that the [Pittsburgh] Steelers won the Super Bowl."

lbuck@somdnews.com