ACS Dormitory Thanksgiving Dinner 1988-2014

Head Table, Thanksgiving 2013

‘We give thanks for our international family’.

In 1988 Ann and I had the privilege of starting the Dormitory program at ACS from scratch. We were mindful of the fact that we were not just housing students so that they could attend school, but we were adding to their boarding experience by giving them an all-round academic and cultural education.

In 1988 ACS was the American Community School and celebrating Thanksgiving gave us an excellent opportunity to give thanks for our families and friends at a formal dinner.

The students felt it was important to invite the headmaster Mr Jim Page and his wife Eira, the high school administration and some of their teachers. Jim Page made the cranberry sauce for our first Thanksgiving Dinner, and this started the annual tradition of providing the homemade sauce for the next 25 years!

It was important to Ann that everyone in the Dormitory helped with the set-up of the Thanksgiving festivities. Student volunteers were involved in making the table decorations, place names and decorating the dining hall with guidance from the house parents and especially from the talented Mrs Lynne Williams. The gardeners under Harry Edser and latterly Ray Frost provided the bundles of Holly and greenery to spruce up the dining hall. Corsages were made for the female guests and James White’s apple juice in glass bottles ordered for the tables. The Dormitory Student Council and the Senior Students who hosted the evening requested that those attending should wear formal or traditional dress.

The hosting students welcomed the guests to a pre-dinner drink in the front hall and then escorted their guests to the dining hall. At the same time, Rijn led the remaining students to the transformed dining hall lit by candles. The students stood at their allotted places, waiting for guests to arrive. Once assembled, Rijn said a Christian grace and students were encouraged to give thanks by prayer in their faith.

We sat down to a roast turkey dinner with all the trimmings. The kitchens went to an awful amount of trouble showcasing their culinary talents. After the meal, it was the turn of the Dormitory President to bring matters to order. The President gave thanks to the guests and proposed the toast: “To Our invited-guests, absent family and friends”. This part of the ceremony was always a poignant moment when we thought about our families who could not be with us.

An invited speaker would then address the students on the theme of Thanksgiving, and this was followed by Rijn’s speech which invariably was a rallying cry to do your best, to take advantage of what was available in the school and Dormitory, finishing with a feel-good message. Rijn always ended his speech with the traditional Dormitory saying which reminded everyone to:

“Remember Who You Are, Where you Come From and Do Not to Let Yourself Down.”

The Thanksgiving meal played into the ethos of what we were trying to achieve. It became a tradition, and like most traditions, they develop and become an integral part of life. In the Dormitory, our Thanksgiving became more international, reflecting the change in the student make-up. To acknowledge this difference Sahand Shabani, an Iranian student, suggested that we gave thanks for our international family in our native tongues. From then then on, Thanksgiving Dinner started with a line of students representing the different nationalities of our Dormitory family coming forward to say in their mother tongue: “we give thanks for our international family.”

The narration of these words in the various languages was an incredibly moving part of the Dormitory Thanksgiving. Thus, a new addition to the dormitory’s tradition developed from the initial eleven languages spoken 1988 to forty-three in 2014.

We should not lose sight of the fact that for many of the students’ Giving Thanks’ were learning in English, a medium which was not their first language, nor their second language; sometimes it was their third language. It was compelling and reminded us about how outstanding our boarding students were and how much they contributed to the quality of our life and the lives of everyone at ACS.

Reflecting on the Dormitory’s International Thanksgiving brings back many happy memories; it allowed us to educate the children on how to behave at a formal dinner. It was fun to see the youngsters dress up. There always was a palpable sense of excitement as everyone got ready for the event.

In our last Thanksgiving Dinner, as Heads of Boarding in 2014, we celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Dormitory. To mark the occasion, the ladies received a wrist bangle, and the gentleman received a tie. The gifts included a new Dormitory logo of a stylised D with an acorn in the centre. The design was inspired and designed by Anastasia Richardson and reflected the floorplan of the Dormitory surrounding the famous oak tree.

Rijn and Ann Brandse, November 2020