Every year after Halloween, adults and children are surrounded with an aura of holiday items and accessories in department stores, on television, in catalogues, on the internet, in magazines, in our mail boxes, etc. getting people ready for the Christmas season. Many of us are overwhelmed with the magnificent displays and holiday shows which preempt this holy and blessed event.

I would like to take time out to call attention to another holiday that somehow gets lost in the middle and doesn’t receive enough credit for the true value of its name.

Thanksgiving is a special holiday especially because of its name. Many times people go through the ritual of celebrating this holiday but without acknowledging its true purpose.

Everyone is aware of the story of the first Thanksgiving which was celebrated in 1621 when the Pilgrims invited their Indian friends to give thanks for the bountiful harvest God had provided them with and for the help their Indian friends provided.

The idea of “giving thanks” became a real American Thanksgiving when it was first celebrated by the entire country after the Revolutionary War. In 1789 George Washington wrote a Thanksgiving Proclamation, upon the request of both Houses of Congress. He recommended that the people of the United States observe a day of public prayer and thanksgiving for the many favors that God had provided them and for being fortunate enough to be able to establish their own form of government for their own safety and happiness. It is sad to say that shortly after this Proclamation was written it was lost for almost 130 years when the US Capitol moved from New York to Washington D.C. It wasn’t recovered until a member of the Library of Congress found the Proclamation at an auction sale being held at an art gallery in New York. This document was the first official presidential proclamation issued in the United States.

Even though George Washington issued this proclamation it still wasn’t a national holiday.

During the Civil War in 1863 President Abraham Lincoln declared, through his own Thanksgiving Proclamation, that the last Thursday in November should be set aside to give thanks to the Almighty above for the gracious and bountiful gifts He had bestowed upon them, even though the country was suffering with the repercussions of a war that was bringing sorrow and grief to many families on both sides of battle. President Lincoln declared it to be a national holiday but it wasn’t till many years later that it became permanently celebrated on the fourth Thursday of each November.

In 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed the fourth Thursday of each November to be an official day for giving thanks (Congress approved it in l941).

I believe it is important that every child understands why the Pilgrims came to America — for religious freedom, to pray to God in their own church and manner. They didn’t come here for monetary or business purposes.

Children should be aware of the gifts we all have been blessed with—being alive; their family; the air we breathe; water to drink, cook, clean and bathe in; the foods we have available at our fingertips; the beauties of nature and the wonders of the world for everyone to see and marvel at; the surroundings of nature and her sounds and colors; rainbows, etc.

Every Thanksgiving my preschoolers take time to see, hear, taste and touch the gifts that God has provided for all of us. This is when they come to the conclusion that they are truly blessed and rich with an abundance of God’s precious gifts. Each year when we celebrate our Thanksgiving feast in school each Little Explorer will tell us what he/she is thankful for during our Thanksgiving prayer. I hope you can do the same at home.

I hope you and your family have a blessed and bountiful Thanksgiving filled with joy and happiness. Buon Appetite!!!!!!

GOBBLE GOBBLE