Glasgow Daily Times, Glasgow, KY

Opinion

November 28, 2008

Thanksgiving is a great day

Recently I had the opportunity to speak to a group of ladies about Thanksgiving. That necessitated a visit to the worldwide Web to find out all I could about the holiday.

We know at the first Thanksgiving in America was in 1621 when the pilgrims of Plymouth Colony gathered to give thanks after the first harvest. They probably didn’t have turkey and dressing but with the help of some friendly Native Americans, they had enough food for a celebration.

The pilgrims had suffered terribly those first few years. There was a constant shortage of food and they fought the weather, hostiles and strange diseases they hadn’t known before. We’re told there were many more graves than new homes and when ships arrived from England they brought more mouths to feed and precious few provisions.

Nevertheless, Gov. William Bradford proclaimed the day of Nov. 29 as a day of thanksgiving.

The nation’s first president made it official in 1789 when he proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving on the last Thursday in November. Another president, Thomas Jefferson, abolished the holiday, declaring it a “kingly practice.”

President Abraham Lincoln reinstated Thanksgiving and designated the final Thursday of November as the day it should be observed.

In 1941, the day was finally set for the final Thursday of November after the nation observed two Thanksgiving days in 1939. When merchants complained that Nov. 30 was too late to celebrate because it shortened the shopping season, President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed that Thanksgiving be observed on Nov. 23 and that’s when he carved his turkey in Warm Springs, Ga. But much of the nation ignored FDR’s orders and waited to celebrate on Nov. 30.

Things have certainly changed since then. Halloween is barely over when the Christmas stuff starts coming out. Thanksgiving seems to just get in the way in recent years.

Growing up, Thanksgiving was a holiday celebrated separately. I don’t remember ever having turkey as a lad but we always had a fat hen with dressing and dumplings. We raised our own chickens on Cleveland Avenue and my mom would sacrifice one of her pets for the cause.

I always looked forward to the Thanksgiving meal at school where we did have the turkey and all the trimmings.

It was only after Thanksgiving that we started thinking about Christmas.

Later, after I started at the Glasgow Daily Times, I had the pleasure of chairing the Glasgow Christmas Parade for several years, following Hank Royse who had been the man for a dozen years or more. Our parade was always held on the Friday morning after Thanksgiving and formed at the Houchens-Methodist Church parking lot. Billy Huffman and I co-chaired the event for several years and the two of us were the committee. With some volunteer help that morning, mostly for guest high school band directors, we always seemed to get it started on time.

Schools had the most beautiful floats in those days and the competition was as hot as some crosstown rivalries in sports are today.

I trust you had a happy Thanksgiving and you are indeed thankful for all that God has provided. Now we can start looking forward to Christmas and to our bigger and better parade next Saturday.

Joel Wilson can be reached by e-mail at afwilson@glasgow-ky.com.

Text Only
Opinion
  • Americans need to change attitudes

    There’s something inherently wrong with this country’s societal standards when a mother is harassed and humiliated for breastfeeding her child in public, while any partial or complete display of the same woman’s breasts in the media or on the street for the purpose of sexual objectification would seem acceptable to many Americans, male and female alike.

    February 10, 2012

  • Near miss on super prediction

    Let’s take a step into the past my seven faithful readers and review some predictions made in this space in early September. (Too bad it wasn’t late September and we could borrow the line “should be back in school.”)

    February 4, 2012

  • Redistricting plans equally indefensible

    I don’t know how Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd will rule in the re-districting case. Nor am I a constitutional attorney, so I can’t say with any authority the maps drawn by the Democratic controlled House to benefit Democrats or the one drawn by the Republican Senate to benefit Republicans are constitutional.

    February 4, 2012

  • Comer sets good example

    Newly elected Ag Commissioner Jamie Comer, a Gamaliel Republican, requested an audit of the department upon his taking the position earlier this month.

    January 14, 2012

  • Fortis will be good partner

    I put shoulder to the wheel in search of photos Thursday morning. First, there was an ancient bread van parked amongst some saplings on the side of which there was a woman’s name painted in white, puffy letters. Whose van might that be and I wonder if it comes with the for sale property?

    January 7, 2012

  • Farewell to Gatewood

    As word spread of Gatewood Galbraith’s passing, the same phrase was heard repeatedly: “Gatewood was a colorful character.”

    January 7, 2012

  • Computers should make records easier to get

    The digital revolution was supposed to make record-keeping easier and less costly for companies. Therefore it should make things simpler for the public or news outlets seeking open records to find them.

    December 31, 2011

  • Resolutions for the new year

    New Year’s is the time for resolutions, a lot of which won’t last until spring.

    December 31, 2011

  • Things to rejoice this Christmas

    The year that will soon lapse has been tough. It has been a year of immovable politics; a year of contentious state elections; a year of absurd gesticulations by certain fiscal court members.

    December 24, 2011

  • YOUR VIEWS: Remember Christ’s birth

    December 23, 2011

AP Video
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs Expert: Removing LA School's Staff 'Appropriate' Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal $25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
Hyperlocal Search
Premier Guide
Find a business

Walking Fingers
Maps, Menus, Store hours, Coupons, and more...
Premier Guide
Popular Searches
Powered by Local.com
Community Calendar
Loading…
Events by eviesays.com
Seasonal Content
Twitter Updates
Follow us on twitter
Follow me on Twitter
Facebook