2019-11-01 Southern Living

NOVEMBER 2019 / SOUTHERNLIVING.COM

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The Lathams’ Midway, Kentucky, farm is idyllic

on all counts. Theirs is textbook horse country: rolling green hills dotted with

mature trees and crisscrossed by a spindly web of black wooden fences. The

1850s farmhouse, with wide porches and steep gables piped with gingerbread

trim, feels right at home in the bucolic landscape. It’s a friendly-looking house,

one that seems like it’s seen a fair share of celebrations, and it has. Since they

moved in six years ago, Shannon Latham and her husband, Davant, have hosted

some 20 family members for Thanksgiving nearly every year.

“It’s almost like being at camp,” says Shannon of the five-day celebration that

brings together relatives of all ages. “We’re singing songs that you sing when

you’re 5 because we have a 5-year-old here. And then the children get to

hear the grandparents’ favorites from their day, so it’s all just very endearing

and heartwarming.”

More treasured than the old campfire tunes, though, are the other rituals that

have been passed down over the years. “We’re trying to preserve the Southern

tradition of using our cherished heirlooms and teaching the next generation