[Fredslist] FW: "THANKS - GIVING" - Read for your ENJOYMENT:

[Allen E. Kaye]

Happy Thanksgiving.

 

    Allen Kaye

 

 

 

A BRIEF HISTORY of our MOST INCLUSIVE HOLIDAY:

 

In the fall of 1620, a group of Puritans broke away from the Church of
England. On December 26, 1620,

after a 65 day voyage, their ship, the MAYFLOWER, landed with 102 passengers
on the rocky shores 

of PLYMOUTH, Massachusetts. Half of them would die in the next four months

 

The territory was inhabited by the Wampanoag Indians, a nomadic tribe that
moved along the coast 

from village to village, from Massachusetts through Rhode Island

 

Previously, in 1605, Squanto, a member of the tribe, had gone to England
with the English explorer

John Weymouth. There, Squanto learned to speak English, and met Samoset, an
Indian of 

the Wabanake tribe, who was also living in England. In 1620, both returned
to Massachusetts

 

One day while hunting, they came across a group of Pilgrims, whom they
approached with a loud “WELCOME”.

Needless to say, the Pilgrims were quite surprised to meet two Indians who
SPOKE ENGLISH!!!

 

Squanto decided to stay with the Pilgrims to teach them how to SURVIVE. The
Pilgrims’ living conditions

improved greatly, and they decided to have a feast to celebrate their good
fortune.

 

With the successful 1621 harvest season, Governor William Bradford
proclaimed the first day of Thanksgiving 

in the Plymouth Colony. He invited the Indian leaders and their immediate
families to join in a THREE DAY

celebration. The Indians had large families, and their numbers overwhelmed
the Pilgrims, who did not 

have enough food to feed all of the guests.

 

The Indian leader Massasoit sent his men back to their villages to bring
back more food. Thus, the Indian 

guests supplied most of the food for the three day feast.

 

It was a VERY SPECIAL TIME of peace and friendship between two very
different peoples.

 

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national
holiday, to be held on the last Thursday

of November. In 1941, Congress passed a law establishing the 4th Thursday in
November as the official Thanksgiving.

 

TURKEYS:

Approximately 300 million turkeys, worth about $3 billion, are consumed each
year, with 50 million

consumed at Thanksgiving.  Average annual consumption per person is 18 lbs.
44% of turkey is consumed 

in sandwiches. 88% of American families will eat turkey today. Turkeys are
indigenous to North America. 

Domesticated turkeys cannot fly, but wild turkeys can. They roost in trees
at night.

In 1947, President Truman was the first President to be presented with a
turkey, from the

National Turkey Foundation. The president “traditionally pardons” the
turkey.

 

MACY’S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE:

In NEW YORK CITY – Broadway’s LONGEST RUNNING SHOW.  

The first in NYC was in 1924. Gimbel’s held the first in 1921, in
Philadelphia.

Each marching band is selected about 1 ½ years ahead, to allow for fund
raising, 

because the bands have to pay their own way to NYC. There is a NYPD officer
with each 

helium balloon, plus an “Army of Volunteers”.  In 2006, a “Hot Air Balloon”
was added.

The parade was suspended from 1942 – 1944 for WW II.

In 1948, NBC broadcasts the parade for the first time.

An estimated 50 million people watch the parade on TV

An estimated 3.5 million people crowd the streets to watch it go by.

 

FOOTBALL:

College football has been played on Thanksgiving Day since the 1880’s. 

In 1934, the Detroit Lions played the first radio broadcast of a
professional game on Thanksgiving Day.

 

TRADITION:

This favorite of American holidays renews, year after year, the dream of
American abundance,

and our expressions of ”Thanks” for this abundance.

The holiday will continue to flourish because of our diversity. The
preparation of the turkey 

becomes a symbol for our multi – cultural interpretation of this unifying
event.

 

 

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS
NOT THE CALORIES.

 

             Allen Kaye

 

 

 

 

 

 

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