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10 SOLERA DIAMOND VALLEY | NOVEMBER 2024 By Janet Boyce, Resident Thanksgiving is a holiday especially for family. I particularly look forward to this holiday because it is not as commercial as Christmas, Halloween, and Easter are. It's special to gather with loved ones who you may not have seen for quite some time. The first Thanksgiving took place in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1621. It was an autumn, harvest feast celebrated between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians. The foods they ate were very different from today: deer, wild fowl, cod, and bass. There were no potatoes or pumpkins, and no turkey! President Harry S. Truman made the turkey popular in 1948, although it was on the table before then. John F. Kennedy was the first president to pardon a turkey in a ceremony that has happened ever since. The Thanksgiving holiday has quite a long history with a series of events. President George Washington issued a proclamation in 1789 to celebrate Thanksgiving on November 26th. Then in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving to be celebrated on the last Thursday of November as a national holiday. After that, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Holidays Act into law in 1870, making Thanksgiving a federal holiday. Fifteen years later in 1885, Congress passed a law to make Thanksgiving a paid holiday for all federal workers in the USA. By 1941, Congress also passed a joint resolution to make the fourth Thursday in November the legal Thanksgiving Day, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed it into law. Thanksgiving can range from as early as November 22nd to as late as November 28th. For 2024, Thanksgiving falls on November 28th. Here is an interesting side note: President Thomas Jefferson didn't like Thanksgiving because he thought it was too religious. He refused to celebrate it! I have many, fond memories of Thanksgiving. My dad was a surgeon, so he meticulously carved the turkey each year. He did it at the table after everyone was seated and all side dishes were set. Our mouths watered as we watched him carve! The typical Thanksgiving meal now includes potatoes, green beans, Jello, fruit or tossed salad, and of course, the turkey with stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce. We like to add something different, such as creamed pearl onions. Yams or sweet potatoes are popular, but I'm surprised at how many people don't like them. When cooking the turkey in the past, you had to use a baster to keep it moist. Now, they have turkey bags to cook the turkey in. I heard about the bags last year, so I tried it, and it works great! I wish everyone a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving with your loved ones. Hopefully, you got to know some of your greater family relatives, such as cousins, like I did growing up. Don't forget to take photos and enjoy the feast. l l Thanksgiving: The Family Gathering Holiday