Thanksgiving Day

A thanks giving is one of the most celebrated festivals of Canada and United States. This is the festival in which people convey their regards and thank God for the year's harvest. They express their gratitude towards the Almighty for being with them and helping them produce grains and other farm items. The origin of Thanks Giving goes back to the history, when this day was celebrated with huge pomp and show.



Till today, Thanks Giving is celebrated as a grand day not only by farmers who work hard whole year round to harvest but also by others. This day is now considered as a secular holiday.

History attached to Thanks Giving:

The festival of Thanks Giving was first observed in Plymouth Rock where the colonists of Plymouth had their harvest. In 1621, Governor William Bradford declared a day to be observed for the festival of Thanks Giving. The colonists of Plymouth had a three day affair in celebrating this great harvest festival. In the year 1789, the first president of United States, George Washington declared November 26 as the Thanks Giving Day for United States. But it went on to be celebrated on different days, till a day was fixed again and declared as National Holiday for people in United States.

Traditions and Customs of Thanksgiving Day

The Thanksgiving Day is the celebration of joy and reunion. Families arrange for a grand meal and invite all their close friends and loved one to share the happiness of life. The main ingredient of the meal is Turkey. Often it is stuffed with spices and then cooked with of potatoes, cranberry sauce, maize and various seasonal vegetables available in the market. The dish may vary from hot spicy gravy to be served with rice to dry to be either served as a starter or eaten with bread. Another important part of the Thanksgiving meal is pumpkin pie. All the food that is served during a Thanksgiving Party is symbolic. It poses a way of paying one's gratitude towards the farmers for a good harvest season.

Thanksgiving Day parades also take place in several parts of United States throughout the day. Is some parts of the country these parades also mark the opening of the shopping season for the forthcoming Christmas. Football, rugby and baseball games are also organized at some places and people from all parts of the country gather to cheer their favorite teams.

Famous Thanks Giving Quotes:

Some of the excellent Thanks Giving Quotes which can be used in Greetings and as messages on this day are:

• "The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving."-H.U. Westermayer
• "If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice."-Meister Eckhart
• "Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude."-E.P. Powell
• "So once in every year we throng
  Upon a day apart,
  To praise the Lord with feast and song
  In thankfulness of heart."-Arthur Guiterman
• "Our rural ancestors, with little blest,
  Patient of labour when the end was rest,
  Indulged the day that housed their annual grain,
  With feasts, and off'rings, and a thankful strain." ~Alexander Pope
• Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action. ~W.J. Cameron

Prayers for Thanks Giving:

A thanks giving is the day when you show your gratitude for food and everything else to God. Some of the prayers by which you can convey your feelings to God are:

• "Heavenly Father, on Thanksgiving Day
  We bow our hearts to You and pray.
  We give You thanks for all You've done
  Especially for the gift of Jesus, Your Son.
  
  For beauty in nature, Your glory we see
  For joy and health, friends and family,
  For daily provision, Your mercy and care
  These are the blessings You graciously share.
  So today we offer this response of praise
  With a promise to follow You all of our days."-Mary Fairchild
• "We Give Thanks
  Our Father in Heaven,
  We give thanks for the pleasure
  Of gathering together for this occasion.
  We give thanks for this food
  Prepared by loving hands.
  We give thanks for life,
  The freedom to enjoy it all
  And all other blessings.
  As we partake of this food,
  We pray for health and strength
  To carry on and try to live as You would have us.
  This we ask in the name of Christ,
  Our Heavenly Father."-Harry Jewell

Thanks giving are one of the most awaited festivals of United States which is welcomed and celebrated whole heartedly by the people.

Thanksgiving Day Vacation

Thanksgiving in USA and in some parts of Europe is a 4 day weekend. So many people also plan for short trips to nearby regions or pay a visit to faraway friends and relatives.

Most of the government as well as private offices, schools and colleges remain close during this time. So, Thanksgiving Day is the most perfect time to plan a short trip. This is the busiest time for travel and therefore it's advisable to book your air tickets and hotels from months before. In the busier parts of USA the traffic also gets halted and the city malls, pubs and restaurants get overtly crowded. Hence it's ideal to go for a short break and take your family for a small vacation.

Not everywhere the Thanksgiving Day is regarded as a reason for celebration. The European colonizers had an immense destructive result on the Native American peoples and their culture. Since 1970, every year, a selective group of Native Americans gather on this day to stage a protest for a National Day of Mourning at Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts on Thanksgiving Day.

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