The Kiesling family Thanksgiving shopping party - led by sisters Joyce Kiesling Lepper and Judy Kiesling Basinger, from the Brazito/Wardsville area - had cash, checks and credit cards in tow for their 15th year of Black Friday shopping.
Parked side-by-side on the far western edge of the Kmart parking lot just after 8 p.m. were their two full-size SUVs, rear doors open, packed floor to ceiling with merchandise. The loot, including a television and a man-size stuffed animal, was not all from KMart. The group had patronized Walmart, Sears, Target and Kohl's before Kmart, and were not stopping there. Other stores open Thanksgiving night were soon to feel the Kiesling kins' plastic cash.
In addition to the two ebullient sisters, relatives Jennifer Wolken, Kelly Basinger, Lindsey Lepper, Lucas (Taco) Luebbering and Kelsey Basinger were in tow for Thursday night's shopping spree. Kelsey and Taco will continue this family tradition in 2017 as husband and wife; they're getting married May 6. The seven represent a cross section of the Jefferson City workforce: registered nurse, transportation analyst, risk specialist, mechanic, insurance document processor, hospital professional and executive salesperson.
Fortified with a family dinner featuring chicken, not turkey, the group admitted to consuming a few adult beverages as they scanned the News Tribune's Wednesday edition's several pounds of advertisements. Individual shopping lists were prepared. Naps were perhaps taken.
At 5 p.m., the Kiesling family Thanksgiving shopping party launched its adventure into Jefferson City's shopping meccas. They had no concluding time in mind but agreed it would include food and beverage somewhere when the vehicles were as full as possible with all the Christmas gifts.
The seven reported and displayed all manner of gifts, including the fuzzy bear, the Samsung Smart TV, and a $1 bargain - a pair of especially fancy brown socks with silver snowflakes discovered by Kelly. It was Jennifer who had bought perhaps the most expensive of the party's prizes - the $188 TV. But the collection of treasures included a basketball goal, too.
After their first three hours on the hunt for bargains, the Kiesling family reported nothing but smooth shopping, friendly clerks, no shortages, no long lines, plenty of carts, and no aggressive or hostile competition among the crowds they encountered everywhere they took their business.
"We're not that kind of shopper; we're not fighters," they joked. And business, they said, was very brisk in each of the five stores they visited Thanksgiving night. They replied almost in unison when asked if things were good, economically speaking, in Jefferson City for Christmastime 2016.
They admitted, in addition to this 15th annual (at least) outing, several of them were also engaging in online shopping this year. Kelly said she had ordered a Kitchen Aid mixer online, partly because of price but also because of its availability locally.
And while these seven members of the Kiesling family were loading up two SUVs at business around town Thanksgiving night, there was another wing of the family off buying manly gifts, headed by Judy's husband, Don Basinger. Relative Cliff Lepper got a pass on joining the annual excursion into the thick of Jefferson City's Christmas shopping, party or not, by volunteering to stay home and babysit.
The Kieslings' glowing report on their shopping gig included at least a couple of freebies, too: water and muffins courtesy of Walmart.