Here & There Column 11-24-09

An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving just doesn't seem to be anything like it use to be when we journeyed to grandma's house for that traditional family gathering and all the goodies one could think of to eat.
Memories bring back the time when Thanksgiving meant seeing all our relatives who lived within a 50-mile radius of the Townsend farm in White Sulphur Springs or the Wood household in Callicoon or Hortonville.
It seemed like it was designated something like a family reunion because it meant seeing all our cousins, aunts, uncles and of course grandma and grandpa.
Wow.....do I miss those great times and how close our family ties were.....seems today those values are missing in today's fast moving non-family orientated society.
The traditional Thanksgiving story tell us that the Pilgrims who sailed to this country aboard the Mayflower were originally members of the English Separatist Church ( a Puritan sect), and they had earlier fled their home in England and sailed to Holland (The Netherlands) to escape religious persecution.
In The Netherlands they enjoyed more religious tolerance, but, they eventually became disenchanted with the Dutch way of life, thinking it ungodly. Seeking a better life, the Separatists negotiated with a London stock company to finance a pilgrimage to America.
An interesting fact about this trip was that most of those making the trip aboard the Mayflower were non-Separatists, but were hire to protect the company's interest. Only about one-third of the original colonists were Separatists.
December 11, 1620 was the date the Pilgrims set ground at Plymouth Rock but there was not celebration because the first winter was devastating. At the beginning of the following fall, they had lost 46 of the original 102 and as a result of the bountiful harvest of 1621 the colonist celebrated with a feast with 91 Indians who had helped the Pilgrims survive their first year.
The official Thanksgiving date was not officially proclaimed until June of 1676 and in October of 1777 the 13 colonies joined in a Thanksgiving celebration. The date was changed a couple of times but Franklin Roosevelt set it up for one week to the next-to-last Thursday in order to create a longer Christmas shopping season but public uproar caused the president back to its original date as the fourth Thursday in November.
Today we still enjoy the turkey and pumpkin pie but some of the family togetherness has drifted away. Thanksgiving today reminds us that the American winter holiday season is here and Christmas shopping takes over the day after Thanksgiving.
Yes, its still fun to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade but the afternoon football games seem to take away from that family togetherness that was so evident in years past.
Bring back the old-fashioned family Thanksgiving .......and to everyone we truly wish a Happy Thanksgiving and thank God for all our blessings.