Thanksgiving---Seven decades of tradition for Natchitoches family

  • Madeline Conlay-Mayfield and her family join relatives at the Mixon Family Reunion in Winnfield, a Thanksgiving gathering that has been held for more than seven decades. On front row from left are Christian and Christina Kijanski. On back row are Scarlet Cobb, Dorothy Conlay, Mattie Lavasseur, Maddy Conlay-Mayfield and Jason Levasseur.
    Madeline Conlay-Mayfield and her family join relatives at the Mixon Family Reunion in Winnfield, a Thanksgiving gathering that has been held for more than seven decades. On front row from left are Christian and Christina Kijanski. On back row are Scarlet Cobb, Dorothy Conlay, Mattie Lavasseur, Maddy Conlay-Mayfield and Jason Levasseur.

    For Madeline Conlay- Mayfield, Thanksgiving has never been just a holiday — it’s a two-day homecoming built on more than seven decades of tradition.

    Her family’s annual gathering, known as the Mixon Family Reunion, began after her great-grandfather, Allen Conlay, married her great-grandmother, Joy Mixon. What started as two families coming together has grown into a longstanding Thanksgiving reunion…