Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day highway and interstate traffic volumes were down considerably compared to 2019 in southwest, south central and northern Idaho, according to Idaho Transportation Department data.

Despite a drop in confirmed COVID-19 cases across the Mountain West last week, public health officials are warning folks not to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Here [in Utah] a lot of the facilities that were doing testing were closed completely on Thanksgiving," said Utah Department of Health spokesperson Charla Haley. "I think that had a big impact on the smaller numbers of people testing positive as well as people just being tested in general."

Health professionals have begged people to stay home this Thanksgiving and celebrate only within your household. Recent surveys have shown around 30% of people plan to celebrate just within their family household, twice the number of an average year. Smaller gatherings can mean people are looking for smaller turkeys.

The holiday season usually brings an uptick in illness — but health officials say this is no normal year. The coronavirus pandemic is in its most dangerous phase yet, and if Thanksgiving gatherings and travel increase cases, hospitals say they could reach maximum capacity by the new year.

With Thanksgiving now just a couple of days away, we have something special for you: a visit inside one of the busiest bakeries in Idaho. George Prentice takes us along on a trip to the Boise Co-op where his tour guide was the head baker, who was preparing for the hundreds of pies the store would sell before the holiday feast.

On any given day, nearly 500 items come from the ovens of the Boise Co-op bakery. But it's all hands on deck when it comes to Thanksgiving — as Co-op bakers push out a steady stream of pies, cakes, cookies and much more, from well before sunrise to deep into the evening.

As Thanksgiving approaches, many people are packing their bags and hopping on a plane to get out of town for the holiday. Ahead of the Wednesday travel onslaught, we take a look at just what can – and can’t – fly.

It’s just three days until Thanksgiving and you may be getting ready to sit down with a loved one that you don’t get to talk to very often.

Storycorps is hoping you will see that as an opportunity to record an interview and create a bit of oral history in America.

Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away, meaning some people might already be packing their bags for the November 22 holiday. The Transportation Security Administration is bracing for one of the busiest Thanksgivings on record.

The fourth Thursday of November is almost here, meaning people across the nation are preparing to travel for Thanksgiving. In Idaho, the vast majority of those getting out of town for the holiday will be hitting the road.

The Saint Alphonsus Festival of Trees is one of the Treasure Valley’s most enduring holiday traditions. This is the 31st year of this celebration of all things Christmas. It’s open to the public from Wednesday through Sunday.

St. Al’s spokesman Josh Schlaich says 20,000 to 30,000 thousand people visit each year.

“It really is a generational thing,” Schlaich says. “We see grandparents, that have been coming for years, come with their grandchildren. We see great grandchildren. ”

For the past few years Brian Rich has been telling everyone who will listen not to go shopping on Thanksgiving. The credit union marketing coordinator from Boise started a social media campaign in 2011 called Boycott Black Thursday.

You’ll find menorahs all over Dorothy Geffon’s immaculate Boise home. These candelabras are the symbol of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Each night of the eight-day festival, Jews light one candle or oil-light. Some of Geffon’s menorahs are traditional. Others…not so much.

Take the wind-up one that hops around on little plastic legs. “This I have for the little kids,” she says. “It’s fun for the youngest grandchildren.”