For 16 years running, Buffalonian Geoff Schutte has co-orchestrated a Thanksgiving toast that sums up the true meaning of the holidays. The tradition started when he found himself far from home one Thanksgiving day, 16 years ago. He was overwhelmed with a feeling that he wanted to be back home, with his friends and family, to celebrate the holidays. Therefore, he devised a plan to gather together the people around him, at a designated time, raise a glass for a toast, take a photo, and share the occurrence with others.
The yearly tradition began to pick up steam, with more and more people joining together to participate in the toast of all toasts, which is why Geoff decided to start a Facebook group page where anyone, from anywhere in the world, could share in the familial toast. If you combine the photos from group page, and the photos of the individual event pages, there are heck of a lot of friends and family participating in this collective toast, from all over the world.
The point of this fun undertaking is to come together as a unified world, bonded by peace and respect for others. If we can all take a quick time out today, to raise a glass and toast to all of our interlinked friends and family, all over the world, then we have created a special unified bond.
In a world that has been divided by war, political beliefs, etc., it’s more important than ever to think about ways that we can share these types of rare and special moments with friends, family, and anyone else that is willing to be open to the idea of commonality via inclusiveness.
Friends and Family:
It’s Thanksgiving time again, and that means gathering together across our various homes in our various places for the annual International Thanksgiving Toast. A tradition since Peace Corps Thailand Group 114 started it during our first year away from home, we are now toasting for the 16th straight year! Each year, friends from over 25 countries and all across the US raise their glasses in unison.
The job is simple: gather together with whomever you are with, raise your glass, and toast to everyone there–and everyone you can’t be with.
And don’t forget to take a picture and sent it my way or post it on the 2018 Facebook event page!
The toast this year will take place at on Thanksgiving Day at 7pm EST (4pm on the West Coast; 5:45am on Friday in Kathmandu, Nepal; 6am in Almaty, Kazakstan; 7am in Bangkok, Thailand).
Cheers! and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
You can join the Facebook group to see all the pictures, or follow the 2018 event page to see the photos as they roll in.
– Geoff Schutte