Thanksgiving a day of Thanks

When we talk about Thanksgiving the traditional celebration feast automatically comes to our mind, in its entire splendor and grandeur. The annual occasion of Thanksgiving is in fact considered as a day of feast, celebrate and give thanks. Contrary to the popular belief, pumpkin pie, cornbread, roast turkey and all the Thanksgiving paraphernalia we see on the Thanksgiving dinner table do not owe their roots to the original meal of the pilgrims.

In 1621 a harvest festival was celebrated by the colonist (or pilgrims) to thank God for saving their lives and guiding them through the journey on the Mayflower and the following years of drought at Plymouth. The harvest meal has become a symbol of cooperation and interaction between English colonist and Native Americans. Native American groups throughout the Americas, including the Pueblo, Cherokee, Creek and many others organized harvest festivals, ceremonial dances, and other celebrations of thanks for centuries before the arrival of Europeans in North America.

Historians believe that on that Thanksgiving day almost 400 years ago the menu consisted of venison, roasted not stuffed turkey, wild fowl including duck, geese and even swans, fish, lobsters, pumpkin in some form, squash, beans, dried fruits, some sort of cranberry sauce and dried Indian maize or corn. Their sugar supply, brought over from the Mayflower was nearly exhausted by the time the first Thanksgiving , so it is widely surmised that wheat pudding may have been one of the only sweet dishes served

The pilgrims used many spices, including, ginger, nutmeg, pepper, and dried fruit in the meat sauces they prepared. Many of the meats were put on a spit and turned over five or six hours at a time to ensure it was evenly cooked. They did not have ovens, so pies, cakes and breads most likely did not make it to the first Thanksgiving dinner table at Plymouth plantation.

Today we enjoy delicious meals served in a warm home, possibly a football game can be heard on a near by TV set. Although there are many differences between the first Thanksgiving in 1621 and the holiday we celebrate today, the one tradition that remains constant is the celebration of being thankful.

The date and location of the first Thanksgiving celebration is a topic of modest contention. Though the earliest attested Thanksgiving celebration was on September 8, 1565 in what is now Saint Augustine, Florida, the traditional "first Thanksgiving" is venerated as having occurred at the site of Plymouth Plantation, in 1621.

George Washington during his first year as President, issued this historic proclamation that Thursday, November 26 as "A day of public Thanksgiving and prayer, and signed by Washington on Oct. 3, 1789. The first recorded Thanksgiving observance was held on June 29, 1671 at Charlestown, Mass. by proclamation of the town's governing council. October 3, 1863, President Lincoln issued a proclamation for observing the fourth Tuesday of November as the national holiday. In 1939 President Roosevelt moved the holiday to the third Thursday of November (so the Christmas shopping season was extended). After a storm of protest in 1941, again the holiday returned to the fourth Thursday of November. Today, it is celebrated the second Monday of October in Canada and on fourth Thursday of Nov. in the United States.

Sorry this was so long, but I like to get all the facts I can in. I am wishing all my friends a Happy Thanksgiving. We do live in a country that lets each one of us observe this day as we wish, and I am glad I live here in the USA, God Bless each of us and this great country.