Newsletter- November – Happy Thanksgiving
| 1) Thanksgiving History: In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, thanksgiving was celebrated by individual colonies and states. It was not until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of “Thanksgiving and Praise” to be held each November.
2) Venison (given to the colonist by the Indians), lobster, seal and swans were on the Pilgrims’ menu (not Turkey); Thanksgiving was originally a three-day festival. 3) In 1827 Sarah Josepha Buelle Hale started a 36-year campaign to annually; celebrate Thanksgiving. 4) In the 1920s, many of Macy’s department store employees were first-generation immigrants. Proud of their new American heritage, they wanted to celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving. The first Macy’s Thanksgiving parade was held in 1924. 5) The quirkiest of all Thanksgiving traditions began in 1989 when President George H.W. Bush granted the First Official Pardon to a turkey.
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| Mayflower history
1924 Macy’s First Thanksgiving Day Parade
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