1. Alaskan Woman Drops Thanksgiving Turkeys from Plane to Help Feed Off-Grid Neighbors
When she heard that some of her neighbors were eating squirrels for Thanksgiving, a local pilot thought she’d lend a helping wing. Esther Sanderlin lives in rural Skwentna and West Susitna Valley Alaska, where flying small single-engine or prop planes is a common mode of personal transportation.
“I was visiting our newest neighbor and they were talking about splitting a squirrel three ways for dinner, and how that didn’t really go very far,” Sanderlin told Alaska’s NBC affiliate KTUU on the Monday in advance of Turkey Day.
“And I just had a thought at that moment, ‘You know what, I’m going to airdrop them a turkey for Thanksgiving,’ because I recently rebuilt my first airplane with my dad and so I can do that really easily.”
Sanderlin grew up occasionally receiving turkeys at her home via air-drop after the roads froze over in late autumn. She combined these wild childhood memories with the news of the squirrel dinner and decided she ought to pay it forward.
This year she’s dropping 30 to 40 turkeys to ensure her neighbors have as much to eat as they like on the day to be thankful for friends and family.
2. Pet Pig Lights Up Kansas Old Folks Home with Cuddly Demeanor and Love for Cereal
A maintenance worker at a care home has begun bringing his pet pig to work, putting smiles on the faces of many of the residents.
Brett Martin, from the Good Samaritan Society in Olathe, Kansas, first got the idea over the summer, 10 years or so after his children surprised him on his birthday with a pet house pig the size of a tennis ball tube.
After that pig passed away, Martin was smitten, and went to a licensed breeder of Juliana pigs, one of the smallest pet pig breeds, for a new family member.
He asked the nursing home’s administrator Fred Pitzl, who was hesitant at first, but his misgivings were mainly down to misconceptions about what kind of pig it was. Though bearing a fierce name, Odin the pig is as gentle as a lamb.
“I gave him some Cap’n Crunch cereal and he really seemed to enjoy it,” Mindy Howell, a 62-year-old resident, told the Washington Post. “I’d never fed a pig before, and I’d never petted one either. But he loved it, and he gave me a good oink.”
Pitzl reckoned that many of the residents grew up on farms and would probably really appreciate taking an unexpected trip down memory lane.
“He’s an instant stress reliever for everyone who interacts with him,” Martin said. “A few of the nurses will come and get him from the office and take him to our memory care center, where he really brightens the day.”
3. Massachusetts Cafe Offers Free Coffee if You Come in Dancing
“Walk in and give us your BEST dance moves for 5 seconds,” read a sign displayed on the entrance door of a coffee shop in Massachusetts.
In our world, as it exists today, social media virality ensued.
Coffee Milano Cafe in Middleborough got the idea from a pizza shop that pulled off a similar promotion—to help get people through the door and see the lovely, comfortable interior and great coffee.
But they never imagined it would go viral, with 7.6 million views on TikTok alone.
“We just thought it was going to be a small thing for the people that come in every day,” Olivia Svenson, barista and social media director of Coffee Milano Cafe, told ABC News.
“Everybody likes to see people happy,” she continued. “It wasn’t that (the coffee) was free. It is that people were able to express themselves.”
They’re now planning a similar event for Black Friday, brainstorming various ideas, including a “dance with your dog” version.
