Mount Pleasant Magazine Nov/Dec 2017

61 www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com | www.BestofMP.com feature (Valentine’s Day, for instance) and others that may try but fail (St. Patrick’s Day) or sort of succeed (Halloween). Other holidays seem a bit more elastic – you can celebrate Christmas anytime between Dec. 15 and Dec. 30 and no one will bat an eye. Thanksgiving falls somewhere toward the high end of this spectrum, which is why the Saturday following Thanksgiving matters. It can be a second Thanksgiving, perhaps a larger one. You can extend an invitation to your extended family and maybe even your extended family’s extended family. Together, en masse, eating and drinking and watching football means Thanksgiving is just one large tailgate party, which is why we wanted to hear from local residents about their favorite Thanksgiving memories and what role the Tigers and Gamecocks played in the festivities. “In my younger days, although many of us lived on the Isle of Palms, our extended family of over 25 members and a few guests gathered for Thanksgiving dinner at my Uncle Vincent’s house on Montague Avenue in downtown Charleston,” said Mount Pleasant resident Nick Sottile. In the kitchen was a smorgasbord of dishes that harkened back to his family’s roots in Sicily, including stuffed artichokes, eggplant parmesan and Sicilian turkey dressing, alongside more traditional Thanksgiving mainstays such as sliced turkey, rice and gravy and Southern cornbread. “Most of the family were – and still are – staunch Clemson supporters, but we have a few Gamecocks in the fold,” said Sottile. With a house divided, antics are sure to ensue. “Before a game in the 70s, with Clemson having won the prior year, some Clemson students had distributed bumper stickers that read M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-C,” as Sottile tells it. “At Thanksgiving that year, we had several of these stickers and had the bright idea to put them on the Gamecock fans’ cars as a practical joke.” However, karma came back to kick the pranksters. “That taught me a great lesson about practical jokes [because] Clemson lost that game,” said Sottile. Jack Little, also of Mount Pleasant, celebrates Thanksgiving with, “Twenty-some-odd adults, children and grandchildren each year ... a blended family from two different marriages coming together as one.” Plans for the big game unfold during the big meal. “Normally, we pile into the man cave,” said Little. The man cave is a well-kept shrine to Gamecock sports. A large, flat-screen TV is the centerpiece, with a commemorative Gamecock football to the right, basketball to the left. Above the screen are South Carolina pennants from throughout the years. The far wall boasts the Gamecock’s recent Division I baseball championships. It is truly an ideal hideaway for any sports fan. As for fond Thanksgiving memories, Little remembered a time when turkey duties were handed off from his son – a New York City chef – after three consecutive years of being at the helm. Little recounted the story of his devoted wife, meticulously preparing the turkey, starting on Monday of that week. “Chopping up stuff, preparing the baste and doing things I don’t have a clue in describing,” Little said, adding Nick Sottile and his wife Val enjoy tailgating at a Clemson game. Photo courtesy of Nick Sottile. Jack Little’s man cave is a well-kept shrine to Gamecock sports. Photo courtesy of Jack Little.