The Lost Holiday

The Lost Holiday

By Sandra Sylvester

Christmas poems abound in newspapers, children’s books, and pageants.

Christmas tales are told again and again

Through words and music and TV networks.

…but wait just a communications minute

What happened to THANKSGIVING!

Maybe it’s the time of year that interferes

We count our blessings as we sit down to eat.

But when we get up from our feast … HO HO HO

It’s Christmas already.

I doubt if our Pilgrim fathers were thinking

Of what to get Auntie Sue for Christmas

As they struggled to put food on their tables

And wrapped furs around themselves to keep warm.

Today we are wrapped up in ourselves.

The turkey soup and sandwiches don’t

Last long enough.

As we scurry from one party to another.

As we run from one store to the next.

The Thanksgiving table can’t get cleared soon enough

So that we can decorate for Christmas.

Thanksgiving blessings forgotten

We rush to make December 25 perfect

For our families and our friends.

What would happen if say

There was one less present under the tree

And we gave it to someone in need instead?

Can we pause just a second or two

To thank our founding fathers

For making it possible

To have holidays at all?

Think about those Indians long ago

Who didn’t necessarily want us around.

We gave them a lot to grieve about.

Including measles, chicken pox and the flu.

Pray for their ancestors who tell a different tale.

Keep them in your hearts as you celebrate

THANKSGIVING!

Thanksgiving Poems

Thanksgiving, the fourth Thursday of November, is when families come together for a big dinner, football, and fun.

There are many “harvest festivals” included in the history of man. Many of these festivals had religious connections. Where different cultures celebrated the harvest and the land, we have come away from that. Our Thanksgiving has evolved from a “harvest festival” to a day of feasting and family gatherings. We celebrate the many “abundant” harvests we have been blessed with, including our families.

We should give “Thanksgiving” every day. Even if you don't believe in a "higher power" you can think of the many farmers and farm workers that labor so that we always have something for our tables. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Please enjoy these Thanksgiving Day poems.

Day Of Rejoicing

Oh, how sweet to be together
When Thanksgiving Day is here;
Kinfolk come and cousins gather
Filling every nook with cheer;
When Turkey has been roasting
Since before the dawn of day
And the dinner time is scheduled
Many slow-paced hours away.
Older cousins carry dishes
As excitement builds and grows,
Everybody, even youngsters,
To the very minute knows
When the call will come to dinner
And they'll line up, hushed, to stand
As Father asks a blessing
On the goodness of the land,
Blessing on the home's provider,
And the gentle one whose art
Served such a sumptuous banquet
From the goodness of her heart.

Don Hoover

Have a happy thanksgiving 2011!

As you join with your family and friends on this day,
Please include the less fortunate in your thoughts as you pray!

There are many among us who have no holiday fare,
In every corner of the world, there are homeless out there!

Perhaps, due to circumstances and through no fault of their own,
They now find themselves hungry, destitute and oh so alone!

In whatever prayer of thanks you offer; no matter what words you say,
Please add this simple verse - help someone else find their way!

"Lord, help me to help those who have nothing to celebrate today;
To make their lives better, please show me the way!"

If you put "self" aside each day for a moment or two,
Show compassion for others, you'll be amazed at the good you can do!

And, next year when you gather to give thanks once again,
You can say...

"Thanks for helping me make a difference Lord......
thank you Amen!"

By Rita

The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers

Felicia Hemans

The breaking waves dashed high
On a stern and rock-bound coast,
And the woods, against a stormy sky,
Their giant branches tossed;

And the heavy night hung dark
The hills and waters o’er,
When a band of exiles moored their bark
On the wild New England shore.

Not as the conqueror comes,
They, the true-hearted, came;
Nor with the roll of stirring drums,
And the trumpet that sings of fame;

Not as the flying come
In silence and in fear,
They shook the depths of the desert’s gloom
With their hymns of lofty cheer.

Amidst the storm they sang,
And the stars heard, and the sea;
And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang
To the anthem of the free!

A History of Thanksgiving

I received this view of the Thanksgiving holiday from a newsletter I get regularly.

A History of Thanksgiving
How Early Settlers, Explorers Celebrated

At the University of Florida, historians argue that the earliest attested thanksgiving celebration, in what became the U.S., was celebrated by the Spanish on Sept. 8, 1565 in what is now St. Augustine, Fla.

Some historians say the first celebration in the U.S. was in Virginia. Thanksgiving services were held there as early as 1607.

A day of thanksgiving was codified in the founding charter of Berkeley Hundred Plantation in Charles City County, Virginia in 1619. Others say the first Thanksgiving was on Berkeley Plantation on the James River in 1609.

According to the History Network, the first celebration in the New World may have been at San Elizario, near the present-day city of El Paso. In 1598, it was celebrated by a weary group of Spanish explorers, led by Juan de Onate, who had just completed a long trek across the Mexican desert to the banks of the Rio Grande River.

The traditional story of Thanksgiving focuses on the Pilgrims at Plymouth in their first small harvest in the autumn of 1621. Their numbers diminished by half, 53 Pilgrims celebrated their modest harvest with a company of 90 Indians. Both Pilgrims and Indians had suffered mightily during the previous winter of disease and starvation.

At the end of the day the idea is still the same. Giving thanks for our bountiful harvest, our health and each other.

Stuffing Recipes

Thanksgiving stuffing recipe suggestions from the Food Network

How to make stuffing:

1. Cook vegetables, fruits, herbs and/or meat in butter, then add broth.

 2. Toss with beaten eggs and cubed bread.

3. Transfer to a buttered baking dish and dot with butter or drippings. Bake, covered, at 375 degrees F, 30 minutes; uncover and bake until golden, about 30 more minutes (or cook the cooled stuffing in the turkey).

Yield: Each recipe serves 8 and is enough to fill a 12-14 pound turkey.

1. Classic Melt 1 stick butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 cups each diced onions and celery and 1 tablespoon each minced sage and thyme; add salt and pepper and cook 5 minutes. Add 3 cups turkey or chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Beat 2 eggs with 1/4 cup chopped parsley in a large bowl; add 16 cups cubed stale white bread, then pour in the vegetable-broth mixture and toss. Transfer to a buttered baking dish and dot with butter. Cover and bake 30 minutes at 375 degrees F; uncover and bake until golden, 30 more minutes. (Or stuff in your turkey and bake.)

2. Apple-Herb Make Classic Stuffing (No. 1), cooking 2 chopped apples with the onions.

3. Cranberry-Apple Make Classic Stuffing (No. 1), cooking 2 chopped apples and 1 cup dried cranberries with the onions.

4. Cranberry-Nut Make Classic Stuffing (No. 1), cooking 2 chopped pears and 1 cup dried cranberries with the onions. Toss in 1 cup chopped toasted walnuts or pecans with the bread.

5. Apricot-Hazelnut Make Classic Stuffing (No. 1) with chopped leeks instead of onions. Toss in 1 1/2 cups diced dried apricots and 1 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts with the bread.

6. Caramelized Onion Make Classic Stuffing (No. 1), tossing in 2 cups caramelized onions and 3/4 cup grated parmesan with the bread. Top with more parmesan before baking.

7. Bourbon-Pecan Make Classic Stuffing (No. 1), adding 2 chopped pears, 1 cup chopped pecans and 1/2 cup bourbon to the cooked vegetables; simmer 2 minutes before adding the broth.

8. Potato Bread Make Classic Stuffing (No. 1) with cubed potato bread instead of white bread.

9. Apple-Fennel Make Classic Stuffing (No. 1) with potato bread. Use diced fennel bulb instead of celery. Cook 1 cup each chopped apples and dried cranberries with the onions and fennel.

10. Oyster Make Classic Stuffing (No. 1) with potato bread. Add 1 tablespoon Old Bay instead of sage; add 1/4 cup dry vermouth and 1/2 cup oyster juice with the broth. Toss in 1 pound shucked oysters with the bread.