Customer Service Retail Improvement Specialist Nicole Miller shares her family’s holiday tradition of spending Thanksgiving in a unique location with enough space and activities for their large family.

“Our family has always been close and has always made the holidays a time for each other. With my parents having five children who are grown with families of their own, we have all started taking turns hosting a holiday event. My parents’ holidays are Christmas Eve and Thanksgiving. Over the years, these holidays have become more hectic, more entertaining and a lot more people! They are filled with stories, remembrance and love, and they always create memories. With about 30 – 40 people coming to dinner, we eventually started outgrowing the house. Because of this, my parents took an interesting approach. Each year, they rent out Camp Winona in De Leon Springs, and our Thanksgiving dinner is held there. Everyone cooks their contributions at their houses and brings their food in crock pots along with serving utensils. While the adults set up, the kids run around the camp grounds and set their cabins up for the weekend. We set the tables with decorations the grandchildren have made over the years.

“You see, my parents turn this holiday into a weekend of memories for their grandchildren. They rent the campground for the entire weekend and line up multiple activities for everyone. The kids do archery, fishing and canoeing, roast marshmallows, tell stories, play and spend time with the two most loving and caring people I know. The weekend is wrapped up with a family game of paintball, including my parents. This event has made so many memories — as well as bumps and bruises — that everyone looks forward to it each year. As the younger kids grow up, they look forward to when they are old enough to play.

“We are a Publix family. We have a meat clerk, customer service team leader, assistant meat manager, deli manager, store manager, customer service RIS, stock clerk and a deli clerk whom all work for Publix. So, as you can guess, the days when the stores are closed are important days for us all to celebrate. I give the most thanks for what my parents have instilled in all of us. Family is more important than anything, and even though life is hectic, there is always time to stop and just ‘be.’ My two boys, ages 9 and 11, look forward to Thanksgiving more than any other holiday each year. Memories they make with their grandparents and their cousins will live with them forever, and those bonds can’t be broken. So while it might not be the fanciest of settings, it is the richest kind of Thanksgiving I can think of.”

— Customer Service Retail Improvement Specialist Nicole Miller

Associates share more family traditions.