Have a Teamsters' Thanksgiving!

Be thankful for Teamster-affiliated products like these.

Thanksgiving is a day to spend with family and friends and to reflect on all the good things one has in life. Many people enjoy a feast and football. It's hard to imagine anything better.

Of course, there is a little way to make the holiday brighter for your fellow union members -- buy Teamster-made products! That way, you get quality goods and help keep your fellow brothers and sisters working!

Teamster members proudly manufacture butter and other dairy products with Land O'Lakes and Tillamook companies. Teamsters also craft jams, preserves and jellies at Smuckers. Use those ingredients to help prepare your Turkey Day staples.

But beverages also play an important role in any celebration. And here, the Teamsters really shine! On the beer front, the Teamsters make or cart all the Anheuser-Busch brands, as well as MillerCoors, all the Dundee brands and all the Genesee ales. The Teamsters also brew Blue Moon and have workers affiliated with Mendocino Brewing. And if you're craving an import, don't forget Becks or Molson.

For wine, the cellar operation workers at Woodbridge Winery are Teamsters. They produce some of the finest wines in California, including Ravens Wood, Toasted Head and Robert Mondavi wines.

So raise a glass to our great nation with great Teamster products. You'll be glad you did!

• Press Associates, Inc., contributed to this report.

Celebrate the Teamster way on the Fourth!

On Saturday, Americans will celebrate our nation's independence. And it only makes sense to do so with products that are not only made in America, but made by Teamsters.

Need to fill the fridge for a barbecue? Support your brothers and sisters who work at Costco if there's one near you. Many Costcos are represented by Teamsters. The company pays all of its employees an average of $17 an hour; CEO Jim Sinegal believes paying workers well is good business.

The summer's top cookout event demands beer, and Teamsters make (and deliver) a lot of it. Teamsters make such refreshing brews as Labatt's Blue, Beck's, Coors Light, Molson Ice, Miller Lite and the King of Beers, Budweiser. Our brothers and sisters also brew up tasty beverages at smaller breweries, Dundee Craft Beer and Genesee Brewery.

Is wine more your thing? If so, take a sip from a Woodbridge Winery offering, which employs workers who recently joined the Teamster family earlier this year.

Ice cream is another requirement for the Fourth of July, and tens of thousands of Teamsters work for American dairies. If you live on the West Coast, look for Darigold dairy products or Tillamook cheese and ice cream for that July 4th picnic. Alta Dena is another Teamster-represented dairy in California and Arizona that makes about a dozen different ice cream products.

Teamsters who live along the East Coast from Pennsylvania to Florida are probably more familiar with WAWA, a convenience store chain that started as a dairy and is a Teamster-represented employer.  WAWA makes premier ice cream from classic vanilla or chocolate to chocolate peanut butter cup or mint chocolate chip.

Another Teamster employer, Dean Foods, has more than 50 brands, including Country Fresh ice cream in Wisconsin and Michigan; Berkeley Farms ice cream in California; Country Love, Broughton and Ben and Jerry's in Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia. Click here to find out what Dean products are near you.

Teamster employer Prairie Farms sells dairy products in 14 Midwestern states, including Prairie Farms ice cream, sherbet and frozen yogurt.  Kemps Dairy in Wisconsin and Minnesota makes a wide variety of ice cream, including Green Bay Packer Salted Caramel Frozen Tundra Twist!

Not every Teamster-represented product is mentioned here. But buy union and supporter workers on this most American of holidays.