Not Your Mom’s Thanksgiving

On a balmy Thanksgiving Day, the shores of Southern California drew pilgrims (from Oaxaca), Indians (from Delhi) and lovers, along with overstuffed amblers and the usual roller-bladers.

They lured some who make it a habit to celebrate Thanksgiving in an unconventional way -- such as the Hagelbargers, who dined amid a backdrop of palm trees, the endless Pacific and a setting sun that lighted a Huntington Beach parking lot with warm gold.

Their turkey had been sizzling away since 6 a.m. in a roaster on the tiny counter of Gary and Jean Hagelbarger’s 34-foot motor home.

By the time dinner was served about 4 p.m., the couple had been joined by three of their six children, plus spouses and five grandchildren, who scooted up to a long plastic table in mismatched lawn chairs.

It was the 15th Thanksgiving on the road for the Hagelbargers. Apart from the three months a year they live in an RV park near Palm Springs, the couple spends their days traveling. “This is our home,” said Gary Hagelbarger, who ran an antiques store in Whittier until he retired in 1990.

The fare was epicurean. Hagelbarger ticked off the list of stuffing ingredients -- apricots, apple, cranberries, cornbread and Grand Marnier. There was cranberry fluff, hot spinach souffle and a pumpkin roll.

Later, more family was to arrive and congregate around the beach fire pits. Thanksgiving has become a can’t-miss holiday for the couple’s children, who live in Fountain Valley, Anaheim Hills, La Habra and Riverside. Another sibling lives in Boston and misses out.

The Hagelbargers were not alone in celebrating Thanksgiving by the beach this year. Marguerite MacIntyre and Steven Agila headed out to Venice Beach about 1 p.m., armed with a picnic basket filled with an artichoke dip, rolls, cucumber salad and tarts made of leeks, pears and cheese that MacIntyre had prepared. The couple chose to celebrate Thanksgiving on the beach because they wanted serenity, but Agila had another motive.

After staking out a quiet spot on the crowded beach and sipping champagne, Agila pulled out a ring with a yellow diamond set between two smaller white diamonds and proposed. “I thought, ‘What better time to do it than on Thanksgiving?’ ” Agila explained. “We are thankful for so many things.”

Down by the water’s edge, those less familiar with the holiday’s traditions found common ground with food and family. A dozen members of the Ortiz family and friends gathered over ham sandwiches, jalapenos and carrots pickled in vinegar, and apples. Recent pilgrims from Oaxaca, Mexico, five of the clan had found cleaning work at a tanning salon, and chose to spend a rare day off soaking up some rays of their own.

“We’re celebrating the day of the turkey,” said Natanal Ortiz in Spanish. He acknowledged he wasn’t quite sure how to go about it. “We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Mexico, and I don’t really know what it means. I think it’s like Christmas, but earlier.”

Just down the beach, Santinder Bhalla, a Loma Linda resident originally from Dehli, India, sat with his family. Bhalla, who arrived in Los Angeles five years ago, was also a bit hazy on the holiday’s origins, but embraced its spirit. “We understand it’s a family get-together where people come from far away to be together.”

In Malibu, Junaid Khan, 35, his wife, children and other relatives welcomed the new traditions. “You do the turkey thing because it’s part of the holiday, no matter what religion, country or culture you come from,” said Khan, who is from Pakistan but has lived in California the last two years. “I’ve lived in many places, but Thanksgiving is the only holiday for everybody.”

Times staff writers Erika Hayasaki, Andrew Blankstein, Zeke Minaya and Richard Winton contributed to this report.