Aruba Today gives you the opportunity to express your gratitude to your blessings. Send us a small Thanksgiving message (maximum 10 words) with/without picture and we will publish it in our edition on Thanksgiving Day, November 28th. Please email to: news@arubatoday.com. Thank you for supporting our free newspaper, we strive to make you a happy reader every day.
Please do note: By submitting photos, text or any other materials, you give permission to The Aruba Today Newspaper, Caribbean Speed Printers and any of its affiliated companies to use said materials, as well as names, likeness, etc. for promotional purposes without compensation.
What Is It About?
Thanksgiving is on Thursday November 28th, the day before Black Friday. Thanksgiving Day traditionally kicks off the ‘holiday season’ in the United States. The day was set in stone by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 and approved by Congress in 1941. FDR changed it from Abraham Lincoln’s designation as the last Thursday in November (because there are sometimes five Thursdays in the month).
While Thanksgiving is one of the biggest events in the American calendar, for Europeans it’s always been a little bit of a mystery. What is it actually about? The most exposure many of us get to the holiday is by watching American television series’ Thanksgiving-themed episodes – and even those tend to leave us in the dark.
Many Americans think it of it as just as important as Christmas. In fact, more people in the US celebrate Thanksgiving than they do Christmas. Thanksgiving Day is a secular holiday in a country that officially separates church and state so this probably makes sense. Thanksgiving can be traced back to 1621 where refugees from England, known as Pilgrims, invited the local Native Americans to a harvest feast after they experienced a successful season of produce growth. But it wasn’t just the economic drive that allowed the Pilgrims to prosper. It was their devotion to God and His laws. And that’s what Thanksgiving is really all about. The Pilgrims recognized that everything we have is a gift from God – even our sorrows. Their Thanksgiving tradition was established to honor God and thank Him for His blessings and His grace.
Although the turkey is ‘the face’ of Thanksgiving nowadays, the first Thanksgiving did not even include turkey, but rather a three-day feast of goose, lobster, cod and deer. Besides turkey people love stuffing and pies – pumpkin, pecan, apple and sweet potato as the traditional desserts.
Why is American football relevant to Thanksgiving? In 1934, the University of Detroit hosted the first Thanksgiving Day football game between Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears. The game became the first-ever network broadcast event in the US and was so popular that a Thanksgiving Day football game continues today – and Detroit has played every year since.
Today people from Canada, the United States, some of the Caribbean islands, and Liberia continue the Thanksgiving tradition in their homes – or when on vacation in their holiday destination. Aruba Today wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving. Q
