As friends and family gather around the table today, the La Jolla Village News peeks into a few homes to hear from a politician, policeman, scientist, business owner and resident about their holiday plans and Thanksgiving celebrations. Sherri Lightner, District 1 council representative for La Jolla, will lay down her stack of budget reports and put on her apron for Thanksgiving to prepare a meal for eight or more guests. Her family will continue its tradition of barbecuing the turkey, which evolved out of her family’s past tradition of camping in the desert during the holiday. Lightner rattled off a list of ambitious trimmings to accompany the bird: stuffing, red potatoes, sweet potatoes, bean casserole, Brussels sprouts, cranberry sauce, corn and giblet gravy. The fabulous smells emitting from the kitchen delight Lightner, as does spending the day with her family. On Friday, Lightner will be back to the office reading budget reports for 2011. Lightner said she is thankful to live in La Jolla Shores and to serve the people in her district. “I work for very reasonable individuals who are very active and compassionate,” Lightner said. “They usually do share their concerns before something happens rather than after something happens, which is very helpful.” Scripps oceanographer Peter Franks has an exciting new project ahead of him, and nearly $1 million to accomplish it. Franks and colleague Jules Jaffe are spearheading an effort to better understand localized oceanic climates — such as currents and salinity — that affect tiny marine creatures. To do this, the scientists are designing small autonomous underwater explorers (AUEs) to collect data from the watery world. During the holiday weekend, however, Franks plans to dabble in beloved projects at home. He and his wife Sharon, also an oceanographer at Scripps (co-author of the children’s book “You Can Be a Woman Oceanographer”) and their 11-year-old daughter have cooked up half of the feast — including the turkey — to take over to their neighbor’s house to share a meal. Self-described “foodies,” the Franks have rubbed the turkey with a garlic butter sauce, hand-mashed the potatoes and cooked the stuffing on the side to avoid salmonella. Residents of southeast University City, the Franks met their neighbors and Thanksgiving hosts while walking their therapy dog, Dashi. Franks also plans to use the weekend to get started on his new woodworking project to build a coffee table for his friends. He just completed a cherry wood bench inspired by woodworker Sam Maloof. Franks said he is “extraordinarily” thankful for his family and friends, as well as to the men and women who serve in the armed forces to protect the country’s freedom. He is also thankful for the students he works with at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, whom he describes as “super bright, very cheery and energetic.” “They make my life so easy, enriched and full in so many ways,” Franks said. Jay and Lael Kovtun are familiar faces around the village known for the charitable work they began 53 years ago upon arriving in La Jolla from Seattle. They met each other while studying to become optometrists at Pacific University in Oregon. Lael ticks off the names of organizations they’ve supported: the La Jolla Music Society, San Diego Symphony, Mama’s Kitchen, Vista Hill and SummerFest. The Kovtuns are spending Thanksgiving at their home on Skylark Drive with their two children and three grandchildren. “Thanksgiving is always the same,” Lael said. “We’re a very traditional family. We have all the stuff your grandparents probably had: mashed potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, beets, buttered carrots. Jay bastes the turkey every 20 minutes right by the clock. We cook it at 275 degrees and serve it with traditional cornbread stuffing. It’s so boring and we all look forward to it so much. It’s the same every year.” Lael is thankful for “all the little things and all the big things. “Every night when I go to bed, I think how lucky I am,” she said. Police officer Allen Alvarez has patrolled the neighborhoods of La Jolla and University City since 2000, and has 25 years under his belt since he entered the San Diego Police Department at the age of 21. Alvarez’s mother and brother are heading to Las Vegas this year, but Alvarez will be visiting his father, who had a stroke last year, at a nursing home. Alvarez said he looks forward to watching the Denver Broncos lose. He said he’s most thankful for his friends. “They’re the most valued treasure you have,” Alvarez said. “It’s really important to have really good friendships around you — to have people who really support you and really care about you.” Porschia Talbot is probably not feasting on turkey today since her family is Australian, but she’s been rather thankful of late. Talbot realized a lifelong dream on Nov. 2 when she opened My Art Shed, which doubles as a teaching studio for children and adults and an art gallery, at 7426 Girard Ave. She originally moved to La Jolla when she was 13. Talbot has spent the past five years studying architecture, teaching art and being a nanny. She volunteered at the Monarch School downtown, taught at private art schools in Portland and San Francisco, and has now returned home to take advantage of the retail space that opened for her studio on Girard Avenue. “I’m thankful to be able to do what I love to do right now, and to be able to finally be in a position where I can give back a little,” Talbot said. “That’s a lifelong dream so I’m really excited.” Turkey Trot: La Jolla women who celebrate their birthdays in November are gathering for their annual Turkey Trot from My Art Shed to La Jolla Cove and back for coffee and tea from 8 to 10 a.m. Participants should bring a sack of canned goods to donate to military families. Bob Meanley is in the process of refurbishing his hardware store and he’s created quite the mess. He ripped out counters and demolished display fixtures, and now he’s scrambling to clean up debris to make space to put down a new floor. But today, Meanley joins his brother, sister and mother for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at his mother’s house in Rancho Bernardo. Tomorrow, Meanley will sit down to discuss the family dynasty — Meanley & Son Ace Hardware Store at 7756 Girard Ave. — that has been passed down through the family since 1948. After Bob’s father died, his mother stepped in to run the business for 10 years, his older brother then took over and Bob took the helm in 1986. The Meanley family holds its annual board meeting on the Friday after Thanksgiving. “Sometimes it’s real stormy and sometimes it’s a real smooth ride,” Meanley said of the meetings. Meanley expressed thanks for a few cornerstones of life. “I’m thankful for my family, that the country managed to escape a second Great Depression — and I hope we’ll continue to escape it — and thankful for the principles this country was founded on,” Meanley said.