Are You Thankful?

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The changing of leaves has arrived and with it the season of Thankfulness.

Corn would have been served at the first Thanksgiving

We think of the Mayflower pilgrims as having the first Thanksgiving, however the very first North American Thanksgiving was held in 1541 between Coronado’s expedition and the Teya Indians.

In 1621, after a harsh winter that killed over half of those that travelled on the Mayflower, the new settlers were Thankful for their harvest.  However, the most likely called it a traditional English Harvest Festival.  Today, we refer to it as the First Thanksgiving.  As was tradition of their time and culture, men and women did not even share the same dinner table together.

Not until George Washington was President, was another Thanksgiving celebrated in 1779.

President Abraham Lincoln re-instituted the Thanksgiving holiday during the Civil War in 1863. Afterwards, the holiday was celebrated annually.

Yet, the holiday was not made a National Holiday until President Franklin D. Roosevelt passed the law in 1939, setting the celebration permanently on the 4th Thursday of November.

Today we celebrate Thanksgiving with the Macy’s Day parade, an afternoon of football and a table full of delicious goodies.

Thanksgiving Day is considered the official start of the Christmas Season and many kickoff the day with early bird shopping.

However, with all the busyness, one can’t help but ask.  “Do you take time to be thankful?”
