Tala Turkey Trot 2025
This Thanksgiving marked our 5th annual Tala Turkey Trot, and a never-before-seen change of location! If you’re in the Chicagoland area, you experienced a chilly turkey day with us this year. While we historically host the trot at the Daniel Wright Woods near Vernon Hills, we decided that it was going to be simply too cold without a heated home base.
This year, we got to open up Highwood for the morning to have our coffee and doughnuts. A huge shoutout to Gurnee Donuts for providing us with an amazing and delicious assortment year after year. It was extremely cozy and a truly wonderful way to celebrate Thanksgiving morning together. I will say, it did make it more difficult to want to get bundled and go trotting, but once we got moving, it felt nice and energizing. The sun did come out too, greeting us with a winter morning that didn’t cause my family to resent them for the wake-up time.
It is always so exciting to see everyone that’s a part of the Tala team, both current and previous employees. Even with the busyness of the holiday season and lots of growing families, so many people still come out for the trot. Working for Tala and having a beautiful and welcoming space to enjoy with my family is truly something to be thankful for. The pivot to the Highwood Cafe ended up being the perfect addition to the turkey trot this year!
Mel Kreppein
Meet Mel, a Gurnee native who has a passion for people, planet, and coffee. Managing and crafting at the Libertyville cafe, she spends her free time going on walks, doing art, and hanging out with her cat Prudence.
