If you plan on sticking around Eugene during Thanksgiving break, there are many different and fun ways to spend the weekend. Many students leave to go home, but there are people who do stay in Eugene for the holiday due to only having two days off of school.

Get a group of friends together and cook a Thanksgiving meal. What is more fun than testing your skills cooking a turkey and other fun recipes with some of your friends? Make a recipe that your family makes every year and share it with your friends. Senior Kristin MacDougald explained, “I’ve stayed in Eugene for Thanksgiving for the past two years and it is a lot of fun. Whoever is staying goes to one of our houses to hang out and cook all day, then we eat altogether and hang out all night.”

Eugene is a great place to get out of the house and help others in need. On Thanksgiving Day, there are many different volunteer opportunities that anyone can sign up for. For example, in the Whiteaker community, there is a free Thanksgiving dinner where people are able to spend however many hours they want volunteering to feed people who need it most. Last year the Whiteaker neighborhood was able to serve over 2,000 men, women and children who were hungry on Thanksgiving. The community is able to volunteer before, during and after the event.

During the weekend, there are different activities for those staying in Eugene. The Civil War football game against Oregon State is on Friday, Nov. 29. The football game would be a great activity to go to during the weekend. Many students come back to Eugene from wherever they went during the holidays for the game. This game is a lot of fun and represents an age-old rivalry. There is also a men’s basketball game against Pacific at noon in Matthew Knight Arena.

Take the opportunities to make Thanksgiving break the best it can be even though you are staying in Eugene.