Thanksgiving and How it Started...

As we bow our heads this Thanksgiving to thank God for all His blessings, let us remember how this tradition started. The Pilgrims arrived in America in December 1620 and experienced a harsh winter of extreme hunger and starvation in which half of them died. Also remember what drove the Pilgrims to this land was a desire to exercise their religious freedom, to chose how to worship based on their beliefs and not the whims of a king of a country.

The following summer, the Pilgrims reaped a bountiful harvest. As Pilgrim Edward Winslow (who later became their governor) affirmed, "God be praised, we had a good increase of corn. . . . [and] by the goodness of God, we are far from want." The grateful Pilgrims therefore declared a three-day feast in December 1621 to thank God and to celebrate with their friends.

Ninety Indians joined the fifty Pilgrims for three days of food (which included shellfish, lobsters, turkey, corn bread, berries, deer, and other foods), of (the young Pilgrim and Wampanoag men engaged in races, wrestling matches, and other athletic events), and of prayer. This celebration – America's first Thanksgiving Festival – was the origin of the holiday that Americans now celebrate each November.

Happy Thanksgiving – don’t eat too much!!!