CCBS Teacher Nick Linscott teaches students how to prepare the fire in the pit.

A bird in a hole is worth two in the oven…

Every Thanksgiving at Cherokee Creek Boys School the turkey is cooked in a hole in the ground. It is the juiciest, most tender, delicious turkey I’ve ever had!

Roasting 120 pounds of turkey in a hole in the ground involves many steps. First, dig a big hole…in the hard, red clay soil! Next, move and stack about 500 pounds of firewood (a full cord). A bonfire must be lit by 10pm, because it takes until 5 am to make enough coals to roast the turkeys. The foil-wrapped turkeys are then placed on the coals and covered with dirt. They bake for the next 8 hours and come out a perfectly tender, moist, golden brown. If you ever have the chance to cook like this, I promise it will be the best turkey you could ever taste!

This year's "Pit Crew". It's 4:30 AM, do you know where your turkey is?

Every year we ask middle school boys to volunteer to cook the Thanksgiving turkeys. Yes, we ask middle school boys to volunteer to dig a very large hole in the ground, stay up all night performing menial, repetitive tasks and subject themselves to whatever the weather has decided to do. Every year, every student begs to be a part of this experience, and we face the tough task of choosing 5 or 6 of them. Their enthusiasm might surprise you, but when you were that age you probably would have volunteered, too.

Here are some highlights from the evening:

• While digging the hole, the guys looked for arrowheads and pottery shards.
• More than one student learned how to use a shovel!
• The turkey team realized that working together made the task easier
• They made a direct connection between sweat effort and food
• As the night wore on, the students and teachers began telling stories. Some were funny and superficial, others quite deep. They all felt they had made an authentic connection that night

Seems to me, these young guys have learned the value of spending time outdoors with their friends. They would say to those reading this right now, “Any time you can sit out in nature around a fire all night telling stories, jump to it!” As the father of three boys, and mentor to a school full of boys, I know the value of spending time outdoors with kids. It may not always result in a roasted turkey, but the reward is just as fulfilling. Author and founder of the Children and Nature Network, Richard Louv, says,” Use nature as a partner to strengthen family bonds. When reminiscing about childhood, grown children often mention outdoors adventures as their best memories-even if they complained about them at the time!”

So here’s the challenge: At your earliest opportunity – (like this weekend), go outdoors and take a walk, a bike, a climb, or cook turkeys in a hole in the ground with your kids and tell stories. You’ll be building the all important relationship with them, and doing it in an environment where you both will be happier.

Second Challenge: Add a comment sharing ideas of things you have done in the outdoors with your child. We would love to hear your ideas!