Mashed potatoes, green beans, pumpkin pie and more filled the table on Thursday night as two weeks before the holiday, the orchestra officer council gathered for its annual officer Thanksgiving.  

Planned months in advance, assistant orchestra director Victoria Lien explains the logistics that went into the feast.

“A week ago, we did a signup for the foods that everyone was going to bring in so that there was enough desserts and side dishes and main courses,” Lien said. “I think that’s always interesting, especially if people cook themselves and I can see how good they are, probably better than me.”

Orchestra senior representative, senior Caroline Attmore hosted the dinner.

“Everyone came over to my house after pit orchestra rehearsal ended at six,” Attmore said. “I loved having everyone over and it was great to see everyone outside of school. We spend a lot of time working together so I liked being able to take a step back and share all this food with each other.”

Creating a closer officer community made this event special for orchestra officer president, senior Christine Le.

“This has always been one of my favorite socials as an officer,” Le said. “I’m sad that this is the last officer Thanksgiving I’ll get to go to, but I had an amazing time. I loved trying the sweet potato casserole and quinoa salad people brought and I feel like we all got to know each other more.”

As officers plan socials for the orchestra as a whole, Lien sees value in planning events for the council as well.

“I think it’s important for the leadership team to make sure that they get along with each other and have fun with each other because we spend so much time preparing and making sure that the whole school year goes well,” Lien said. “It’s a little bit of the pressure destress-er, but also like just a fun thing everyone.”