The Feast Begins

Story by Catherine Grosdidier »

Gobble, gobble, gobble! Whether you are gobbling down pumpkin pie or shoveling in a second helping of green-bean casserole, it seems like everyone loves Thanksgiving. Many families celebrate Thanksgiving in different ways, but the constant in almost every household is the food. Whether there be turkey and stuffing on the table or not, there seems to always be a plethora of food in American households.

A fun fact regarding turkey day: according to CBS.com, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day in 1863, but it wasn’t until the 1900s that the holiday became popular across the country. Many of the popular foods that Americans typically see on Thanksgiving Day, including turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, etc., were not eaten on as part of the holiday traditions until the early 20th century.

Many students and teachers throughout EHS spend their Thanksgiving Break travelling to other family members homes to spend time with loved ones while others will host their family gathering to keep up with fun family traditions.

“My entire family flies to a cabin in Missouri,” said Lindsey Fry, Sr., “We rent the same cabin, Rock Castle, every year. My family spends the entire week together. We have an annual ‘Turkey Bowl’ on Thanksgiving Day and play football. We split into different teams of family members, and siblings can’t be together. We also have a turkey bowl trophy. It’s a football in the shape of a turkey and it has duct tape legs.”

Health Careers teacher Andrea Pyle reflects on all she and her family have to be thankful for during the Thanksgiving holiday.

“We have the traditional meal and sometimes go see a movie,” Pyle said. “We’re in a transition period where the grandparents are getting older or have sadly passed and our families are getting bigger, so we are now having to host everyone. The holiday, to me, means being thankful for all of our blessings and having the family.”

While Americans celebrate Thanksgiving on one day during the month of November, the original colonists, otherwise known as the pilgrims, celebrated with Native Americans from the Wampanoag tribe. The celebration lasted for three days, with meals that included deer from the Wampanoag tribe, lobster, seal, and swan. Until President Lincoln proclaimed it as a national holiday, U.S. Presidents would proclaim days of thanksgiving during different days in November.

Family traditions with Thanksgiving can vary between American households. One of America’s Thanksgiving traditions since 1924 is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. As technology has grown, so has the parade and the size of the balloons featured.

Another tradition is the annual turkey pardon by the President of the United States. The President pardons one or two turkeys each Thanksgiving to spare them from being put on the table as a meal. These two major American traditions are likely to continue for many years to come.

While you look forward to Thanksgiving break in a couple of weeks, spend some quality time with your family. Talk about food and think about the good things in your life that you can be thankful for this year.