On Sunday, November 13, Notre Dame students and faculty joined our exchange students for an early Thanksgiving celebration. Over in the convent, the students shared a typical American Thanksgiving dinner consisting of turkey, corn, potatoes, gravy, and pie. Following the feast, they played games and shared what they were each thankful for. The Notre Dame community is very thankful for our new friends over in the dorms, and we hope they enjoyed their Thanksgiving experience! 

This year, on November 24th, the 10th annual Bob Agan Memorial Turkey Day 5K was held here at Notre Dame. This race is held on the morning of Thanksgiving every year. It is a fundraiser that uses the comraderie of the Thanksgiving holiday to encourage families, friends, and groups of all types to gather and do something together. 

The name “Bob Agan” is one that is very familiar to me, as he was my grandfather. He is one of the kindest people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. He was always looking for ways to help those in need and was not afraid to take action. That, combined with his devotion to family, led him to come up with the idea of the “Turkey Day 5K." 

The Agan family is anything but small. Including those who married in, our numbers extend easily into the fifties, which means Grandpa’s house is full on Thanksgiving. He was a true patriarch, always looking out for us and contacting us regularly to make sure we didn’t need anything. When he came up with the idea for the 5K, he was thinking about how - like the Agans - households of families will come together and participate in an activity together. Hundreds of people, participating in this fundraiser that doesn’t even feel like work. Although I don’t have exact numbers, I can imagine the school has made a couple of thousand dollars from ten years of holding this fundraiser. The money made from the Turkey Day 5K goes towards the general fund for NDHS. 

Although this is a fundraising event, the driving force of it is togetherness. It’s a lot easier to endure 3.1 miles with someone you love by your side. Make a bet with your uncle on who can finish faster. Drag a reluctant cousin along. Or, if you’re not into running, you can volunteer to cheer people on from the sidelines or help with parking. If you ran this year, come back next year! And if you didn’t run this year, I would highly encourage you to give it a shot next Thanksgiving.