Midge Edwards said that her family lived for a long time in west central Minnesota. She was a Geyer and her father passed away when she was very young so her mother, who knew that there were relatives in the Big Sandy area, decided to move to Montana. A tornado tore through their home place in Minnesota so they moved to the Big Sandy area in 1946. Midge was in high school and had her mother, a brother and three sisters living with her. Before they knew it they were living with a bachelor uncle out on the Montana prairie.
Midge married Keith Edwards in 1950. They had three children, Diana, Locky and Craig. Midge have three children and six grandchildren.
Midge said that she has cooked so many Thanksgiving dinners that she can't remember her first one.
She does remember that there was never a bad Thanksgiving dinner.
Pumpkin pie was always the favorite pie at Midge's table.
Dressing is cooked both in and out of the bird to satisfy many different appetites.
And always there has been the famous green bean casserole.
As to a favorite side, everyone loves a good sweet potato casserole.
When the family was altogether on the farm, Midge said it was not unusual to cook for ten for Thanksgiving.
Were there any really memorable Thanksgiving celebrations?
Midge said that they all sort of run together in her mind but the best thing of all was that they were altogether and that is the way it will be this Thanksgiving as well.
The only difference for Midge Edwards is that Thanksgiving this week is a pot luck and she is responsible for mince pie and salad.
"I don't know what anyone else is bringing and that is the fun of it." said Midge Edwards.
Across the Big Dry from Midge Edwards at the Quinn Farm Ann Quinn is looking forward to having seventeen people at her table for Thanksgiving dinner.
The Quinn family has learned like the Edwards family to divide up the responsibility and all bring something to the feast.
Ann and Bob Quinn married in 1971. They have five children, seventeen grandchildren and another on the way.
Ann is cooking the turkey and it will be a big one. She figures about 17 pounds ought to feed her family.
A favorite is the dressing which is always cooked out of the turkey.
One favorite Thanksgiving memory is the year that Bob and Ann, her sister and her family and the parents on both sides of the family said no more turkey and had Chinese food for Thanksgiving.
"That was different," Ann said.
The favorite pie at the Quinn house is an apple pie which Bob makes from his own apples.
There is always a squash dish, also made from squash grown on the farm. That is a favorite.
"Don't forget the homemade rolls. They are always a favorite," said Ann.
Best of all, it is a time for a large family to get together.
"There is usually someone who is far away and they always try to come home for Thanksgiving and that makes it a very good meal and a very good day," continued Ann Quinn.
Hattie Thackeray married Lou Lucke at the turn of the century. They had five children and many grandchildren.
Grandma Lucke used to always cook a large Thanksgiving dinner. In fact she was so old school that she went to the Hotel in Havre and invited anyone there that did not have a good meal, to come to her house.
As the grandchild who lived closest to Grandma Lucke, it was my job to get the table out on the day before Thanksgiving and taste the dressing which she seemed to think always needed something more. I soon learned to say it needed more sage and that seemed to satisfy her as she cut up more sage.
Dressing was always dry and wet meaning it was both cooked in the turkey and outside too depending on various appetites.
There was always sweet potatoes but the favorite of all the Lucke family was the turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and lots of wonderful turkey gravy.
Before dinner the women of the family helped each other in Grandma Lucke's big kitchen while the men gathered in front of the living room fireplace and watched football.
The favorite pie of the season was always mincemeat with real deer meat mincemeat made by the Presbyterian women. And always there was an apple and a pumpkin pie as well.
One of my aunts made wonderful hot garlic dill pickles. She always brought a big bottle of them and they were surely a treat.
My Uncle Al, being the oldest boy always carved the turkey and we kids gathered around him like lemmings waiting for him to cut some skin off we could gobble down.
There were green beans usually with ham and always there was a salad of some kind but we were meat and potatoes people as long as that turkey gravy didn't run out.
With the Lucke family, Thanksgiving was the beginning of the Christmas season and we owned a store that did seventy percent of its business from Thanksgiving to Christmas. So, that dinner meant that we would be very busy for a long month but like the other families in this trilogy, best of all was getting together.
If it was a warm Thanksgiving with no snow, we kids would go out a second floor window of Grandma Lucke's house and toss water balloons at people walking by on the sidewalk.
That was fun too but not as much fun and that turkey, gravy, dressing and mashed potatoes!
