Enjoy Celebrating Thanksgiving

Celebrate Thanksgiving with Family, Friends, Acquaintances, and Loved Ones

Celebrate Thanksgiving with family, friends, acquaintances, and loved ones. Thanksgiving is a time for getting together with people that are special in your life, people that are thankful, or friends that you enjoy spending time with. Thanksgiving gatherings, whether in a party type atmosphere or dinning atmosphere can be a joyous event.

From what we know of the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth we know that it was a great and joyous event where the Indians and the Pilgrims congregated with each other. William Brewster invited Squanto to a great feast and a good many of Indians and Pilgrims showed up. It was a great feast filled with much meat, fruit, vegetables, and seafood. From what we know it was a friendly event and there was a great deal of games and muses.

Celebrate Thanksgiving, more than just eating

Celebrate Thanksgiving: Participate in a Parade

Thanksgiving is a feast day, but people often do more than eat. Many enjoy watching Thanksgiving Day parades. Some of the larger parades are in New York City, Detroit, Houston, and Philadelphia.

The best-known parade is in New York City. It is Macy’s annual Thanksgiving Day parade. Millions of Americans watch it on television each year. The parade has marching bands and clowns. There are also huge balloons filled with helium, a gas that is lighter than air. It allows the giant balloons to float high above the crowds. The balloons are shape like well-known cartoon and storybook characters. Favorites include Snoopy and Felix the cat.

For some people who live nearby, there is a special treat. The fun starts the night before the parade. They can watch the Thanksgiving Day balloons being filled with helium. It is exciting to see the different characters take shape.

Celebrate Thanksgiving: Participate in Races and Games

The Pilgrims and American Indians ran races at their Thanksgiving feast. There were games, too. Sports are still an important part of Thanksgiving Day today. Football games are especially popular. High school teams play against one another. Some families like playing touch football in their yards.

Americans also watch football on television on Thanksgiving Day. Two National Football League (NFL) teams host holiday games. They are the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys. Many people eagerly look forward to these games. They have become a part of an American Thanksgiving.

But not everyone watches or plays football on Thanksgiving. Footraces are fun, too. That is how many Texans in Dallas begin the holiday. They take part in the YMCA’s Turkey Trot. More than twenty thousand people run in the race. Then they head home for Thanksgiving dinner.

The Run for Diamonds is held every Thanksgiving as well. It is a nine-mile race in Berwick, Pennsylvania. There are many wonderful prizes. The top seven male runners get diamond rings. The top seven female runners get diamond pendants. Other races are held in many towns and cities. The prizes vary. Sometimes winners get dessert. They can take home a pumpkin or a pecan pie.

Celebrate Thanksgiving: Help those in need

One Thanksgiving Day race held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has a special twist. The Northwest Athletic Club’s run helps the whole community. Runners enjoy the holiday race, but something more important also goes on. Throughout the whole month of November, club members bring food to ten places throughout the city. On Thanksgiving morning, the food is loaded onto trucks and taken to a food bank. A food bank is a place where food is collected and stored. From there, it is given out to people who need it. Others have also tried to make a difference on Thanksgiving. In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, community groups work together to give turkeys to hundreds of needy families. Similar projects take place in other areas.

Soup kitchens feed the homeless and hungry all year, but they are especially busy on Thanksgiving Day. Many host special holiday dinners. Usually volunteers spend the day helping. They cook and serve the food and clean up afterward. Often the volunteers are students. They help give others a reason to be thankful and experience the true meaning of this holiday.

Other Thanksgiving Events…

Everyone deserves a wonderful Thanksgiving. But the holiday is never much fun for turkeys. That is why every Thanksgiving Eve the president of the United States pardons one very lucky turkey. This fortunate bird never reaches a dinner table. Instead, it goes to a Virginia petting farm. It remains there for the rest of its life. This custom began over fifty years ago. President Harry Truman started it. The presidents who came after him have continued to follow this custom.

The turkey that is saved leaves town. Many people also go away for Thanksgiving. Some people visit family and friends, others go to different places. On the day before Thanksgiving, airports and highways are often crowded. It is the busiest travel day of the year.

Thanksgiving: Go Back in Time

There are many interesting Thanksgiving vacation spots. One is the Ozark Folk Center in Mountainview, Arkansas. There, you can see how mountain people once lived. It is fun to watch a blacksmith work or learn how cider is made from apples. On Thanksgiving Day a special meal is served. Then, there is a Thanksgiving Gospel Concert.

Another great Thanksgiving stop is Plimoth Plantation near Plymouth, Massachusetts. The plantation looks just like the Pilgrims’ village. Actors dress and act as the early settlers and Indians did.

It is good to step back into history. We can learn how Thanksgiving Day was once celebrated. But trying new things is important, too. Thanksgiving Day is about being grateful. It is also about caring. Challenge yourself this Thanksgiving. See how many ways you can show these feelings. You will be creating your own Thanksgiving traditions.

I’ve Added Some Warm Thanksgiving Ambience – for those who like the “sounds” of Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Celebration Ambience

Thanksgiving – Wikipedia

To Return to the Celebrate Thanksgiving Page, follow this link…

The Thanksgiving Site – Everything About the Thanksgiving Holiday – (celebratethanksgiving.net)