Thanksgiving largely will be close to normal this year, the second year the holiday will be celebrated during the coronavirus pandemic.

Families are preparing feasts and there will be football, movies and the Macy’s parade. Perhaps a few political arguments amid another slice of pumpkin pie.

A year after families were urged to stay away from each other as the coronavirus surged, local people say they are ready to celebrate a holiday together and be thankful. Vaccines offer people some protections against the virus, and other precautions can be put in place so people can celebrate a healthy holiday.

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“I’m getting on with my life,” said Rosanne Bodziak, 70, of Latrobe. “I’m going to be careful to a point, but I’m not going to sit in my house.

“We’re ready to go and be around people again. Maybe not real big crowds, but we’re out and about.”

She expects 25 guests at her house for Thanksgiving, and a sister will host family members for Christmas Eve.

Bodziak said all members of her family are vaccinated against covid, though a few have suffered breakthrough infections. Still, she said she has no anxiety about covid going into the holiday season.

Others in Westmoreland County have similar plans.

Lee Immel, 70, of Hempfield will celebrate the holiday with family in Irwin.

“I’m going to my brother’s, like I do every year,” he said.

Family members have been vaccinated and Immel said he’s had his booster shot, so they feel safe gathering together without wearing masks. After Thanksgiving dinner, they’ll do another tradition — watch “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”

Next month they’ll gather again, this time at his daughter’s house to watch his grandchildren open their gifts on Christmas morning.

Richard and Jean Wagner of Scottdale are thankful this year’s family Thanksgiving celebration is planned for a daughter’s residence in Hillsville, Va., tucked in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Last year, the Thanksgiving get-together was held at the Wagners’ home.

Richard Wagner, 87, said about a dozen children, grandchildren and relatives from Seattle, California and Virginia will gather in Virginia.

“This year, we don’t have to take anything except ourselves, and that is really nice,” Wagner said, laughing.

Wagner said it also is a relief that with covid-19 vaccines and mitigation efforts, the holiday this year will be much more relaxed.

“It will be really nice to get together again. We’re looking forward to it,” he said.

Bill Steiner of Yukon was unloading his shopping cart outside the Shop’n Save in Youngwood, and it was brimming with the fixings for a big Thanksgiving dinner. Steiner, 72, had bags of stuffing mix, vegetables, two 10-pound bags of potatoes and a 20-plus-pound turkey.

He also had a get-together of family members filling his head with anticipation.

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. I always do,” Steiner said.

Steiner said this year’s gathering will be at his granddaughter’s house in Jeannette.

Steiner admitted the 2020 Thanksgiving celebration was a little reserved with concerns about covid, masking and social distancing constantly in the news.

“It will definitely be a lot less stressful this year,” Steiner said, because of vaccinations and other mitigation efforts.

“We’ll still be cautious as far as social distancing,” he said.

But Steiner eagerly returned to the topic of the Thanksgiving bounty.

“This buggy isn’t even all of it. We’ll be roasting the turkey at my house, but we’ll also have ham and duck, too. And my wife will be baking about 13 pies to take over,” Steiner said.

“It’s a lot of fun. But we’ll also be thankful we didn’t lose anyone in our family to covid, too,” Steiner said.

Some of Taina Negron’s out-of-town family won’t be coming because of the pandemic, but the 39-year-old Greensburg resident said she is planning a Thanksgiving dinner of pork shoulder and rice — an homage to her native Puerto Rico.

“My family doesn’t cook like I do,” she said.

They’re planning to play games after dinner. Negron, who has lived in the area for about 20 years, said Christmas likely will be more of the same as usual with family coming together. She typically has about 15 guests for the holidays, but some might not attend because of the pandemic.

Renatta Signorini, Jeff Himler and Paul Peirce contributed to this story.

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