Thanksgiving Day this Thursday

Thanksgiving Day in the United States started as a way of giving thanks to God for a good harvest. It originated in 1621 and was a religious festival, as pilgrims shared their harvest with the Indians.

Now the holiday is largely secular, and is held on the fourth Thursday of November.

It is traditional for families and groups of friends to get together for a large meal. This often consists of a turkey, different types of potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy and maize and other seasonal vegetables. The meal also includes pumpkin pie.

Many of these foods are native to the Americans and were not available in Europe at the time of the first settlers. This adds to their symbolism of giving thanks for a good harvest in a new country.

Most government offices, businesses, schools and other organizations are closed on Thanksgiving Day. Many businesses allow their employees to have a four-day weekend.

Locally, all state and federal offices and most municipal offices will be closed for the four-day weekend. Several businesses will also be closed for an extended holiday, as well as schools in the parish are closed all week.

Many families and groups of friends get together for Thanksgiving so it is one of the busiest periods of travel, which causes congestion and overcrowding.

There are claims that the first Thanksgiving Day was held in the city of El Paso, Texas in 1598. Another early observance was held in 1619 in the Virginia Colony. Many people trace the origins of the modern Thanksgiving Day to the harvest celebration that the Pilgrims held in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621.

However, their first true thanksgiving was in 1623, when they gave thanks for rain that ended a drought. These early thanksgivings took the form of a spiritual service, rather than a feast as is common today.

In the second half of the 1600s, thanksgiving after the harvest became more common and started to become a regular event. However, it was celebrated on different days in different communities and in some places there were more than one thanksgiving each year. The celebrations often included prayer and fasting and so were quite different than the modern holiday.

George Washington, the first president of the United States, proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving Day in 1789.

This is part of the November 25, 2009 online edition of The Jena Times.

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