By Alana Smith Contributing writer Each year on the fourth Thursday in November, Americans gather for a day of feasting, football and family. While today's Thanksgiving celebrations would likely be unrecognizable to attendees of the original 1621 harvest meal, it continues to be a day for Americans to come together around the table. Keeping within this tradition, Youth Connection, a community organization based in Eatonville, shows it gratitude to the community each year by providing a free Thanksgiving meal. Last Friday night, a long line of over 100 people enjoyed a traditional turkey dinner at Eatonville Community Center. The meal was prepared from three turkeys, one ham, 50 pounds of potatoes, three gallons of gravy, two gallons of corn, four gallons of cranberry, and 20 pounds of stuffing. Back in the day, giving thanks for the Creator's gifts had always been a part of Wampanoag daily life. From ancient times, native people of North America have held ceremonies to give thanks for successful harvests, for the hope of a good growing season in the early spring, and for other good fortune such as the birth of a child. Giving thanks was, and still is, the primary reason for ceremonies or celebrations. Native traditions in America, celebrations complete with merrymaking and feasting in England and throughout Europe after a successful crop are as ancient as the harvest time itself. In 1621, when their labors were rewarded with a bountiful harvest after a year of sickness and scarcity, the pilgrims gave thanks to God and celebrated his bounty in the Harvest Home tradition with feasting. To these people of strong Christian faith, this was also a joyous outpouring of gratitude. The arrival of the pilgrims and Puritans brought new Thanksgiving traditions to the American scene. Today's national Thanksgiving celebration is a blend of two traditions GÇô the New England custom of rejoicing after a successful harvest, based on ancient English harvest festivals; and the Puritan Thanksgiving, a solemn religious observance combining prayer and feasting. Presidents Washington, Adams and Monroe proclaimed national Thanksgivings, but the custom fell out of use by 1815, after which the celebration of the holiday was limited to individual state observances. By the 1850s, almost every state and territory celebrated Thanksgiving. Many people felt that this family holiday should be a national celebration, especially Sarah Josepha Hale, a writer known for campaigning for an official date for 40 years through letters to political leaders. She finally succeeded in 1863, when she was able to convince President Lincoln that a national Thanksgiving might serve to unite a war-torn country. The president declared two national Thanksgivings that year, one for Aug. 6 celebrating the Union's victory at Gettysburg, and a second for the last Thursday in November. Neither Lincoln nor his successors made the holiday a fixed annual event. A president still had to proclaim Thanksgiving each year, and the last Thursday in November became the customary date. In 1941, Congress responded by permanently establishing the holiday as the fourth Thursday in the month. By the beginning of the 20th century, the pilgrims and the Thanksgiving holiday were used to teach children about American freedom and how to be good citizens. Each November, in classrooms across the country, students participated in Thanksgiving pageants, sang songs about Thanksgiving, and built log cabins to represent the homes of the Pilgrims. Immigrant children also learned that all Americans ate turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. The classic Thanksgiving menu of turkey, cranberries, pumpkin pie, and root vegetables is based on New England fall harvests. In the 19th century, as the holiday spread across the country, local cooks modified the menu both by choice ("This is what we like to eatGÇ¥) and by necessity ("This is what we have to eatGÇ¥). If there is one day each year when food and family take center stage, it is Thanksgiving. It is a holiday about "going homeGÇ¥ with all the emotional content those two words imply. The Sunday following Thanksgiving is always the busiest travel day of the year in the United States. Despite modern-age turmoil GÇô and perhaps even more so because of it GÇô gathering together in grateful appreciation for a Thanksgiving celebration with friends and family is a deeply meaningful and comforting annual ritual to most Americans. The need to connect with loved ones and to express our gratitude is at the heart of all this feasting, prayerful thanks, recreation and nostalgia for a simpler time. And somewhere in the bustling activity of every November's Thanksgiving is the abiding national memory of a moment in Plymouth, nearly 400 years ago, when two distinct cultures, on the brink of profound and irrevocable change, shared an autumn feast. Happy Thanksgiving!
Alana Smith is executive director of Youth Connection, an Eatonville-based non-profit organization that provides youth and family-oriented community programs.
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