Esta and Calvin Hall's list of Thanksgiving guests reads like a travel log.
The Halls have participated in the Kansas University Thanksgiving Homestay Program "off and on for probably 40 years," said Esta and have shared their Burns home with countless international students from all over the world.
The program actually began in Burns in 1954 when residents Betty Grimwood and Bonnie Lorentz conceived the idea of hosting international students who might otherwise not have a place to stay over the Thanksgiving break. They asked neighbors to share the Thanksgiving holiday with international guests, and 10 students participated the first year.
Over the years, the program has grown and expanded to towns across Kansas.
In 1959, the International Institute of Education recognized Betty and husband Ed's work with a Distinguished Service Award presented by Vice President Richard Nixon.
"Burns, Kansas, is the smallest U.S. community with the biggest foreign diplomatic service in the world," Nixon said.
The program was officially named the "Betty Grimwood Thanksgiving Homestay Program" in 1999 after Betty's death that year.
This year the program celebrates its 50th anniversary, and it's still going strong. Last year 28 families from Burns, Lawrence, Eudora, Kansas City, Leawood, Westwood and Topeka hosted 33 international students.
The program provides an opportunity for cultural exchange, said program coordinator Carol Dias da Silva with KU's office of International Students and Scholar Services.
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Dias da Silva said both the student and the family gain a lot from the program.
Esta Hall agreed.
"It's wonderful. It's like traveling," she said. "It's the best way in the world to get your children exposed to different cultures. They don't have to leave home and your learn about other countries."
The students often bring pictures and books from their home countries.
"And then a lot of times during that weekend, our guest will want to prepare some of their traditional food which is also a learning experience," Hall said.
Hall's guests enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving meal at either her house or her sister-in-law's home.
"Her family is there and our big family is there," Hall said. "We have five children, and all except one have families of their own. It's a big deal."
Hall said they ask the students if there is anything in particular they'd like to do during their stay.
"I remember one year, one of them wanted to ride a horse," she said. "They're very flexible. They're mostly interested in what life is like in a really small town."
"Sometimes they indicate they need to study. But hardly ever do they spend very much time studying," she added with a laugh.
Families participating in the program may choose to host students from Tuesday through Sunday or for Thanksgiving Day only.
"Usually we get them on Tuesday before Thanksgiving and they go home on Sunday," Hall said.
The host family picks up the students in Lawrence and takes them back to school when the visit is over, she said.
"I remember one time when we were coming home from KU with our new students. One of the young men, a Japanese boy, had gone to sleep shortly after we left Lawrence and woke up in the middle of the Flint Hills. He was just awed by the tremendous space," she said.
Families may host one or more international students, Hall said.
"The last two years we've had one, but we have had two. And one year we had three," she said. "Actually it's kind of nice to have two because they're company for each other and not so alien in our world."
Hall said the students' English is usually good enough that communication is not a problem.
She and her husband keep in touch with a few of the students who have come through their home over the years.
"Not nearly as many as I'd like to-and that's mostly my fault," she said.
Hall said new host families are needed to ensure that the tradition continues.
"It's a community project," she said. "In the old days when we first started, they used to have 10 or 12 (host families). Now we have dwindled and we don't have as many people participating. Some of us are getting old."
Families interested in hosting international students over Thanksgiving break should contact program coordinator Carol Dias da Silva at 785-864-3617.
Although the application deadline was Nov. 1, Dias da Silva said she would still like to hear from people interested in being hosts.
"If I have more students than families, I am still going to be accepting families until I can match them all," she said.
