AskBillFirst – Non-Tech Speak Technology Blog

I’d like to give thanks to all of you who have honored me by following my tips here on my blog. Today’s entry will be a little different…It’s all about Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Trivia

Here are some interesting facts about Thanksgiving that each of us should know about:

• The first Thanksgiving celebration can be traced back to the Plymouth Pilgrims in the fall of 1621.
• The first Thanksgiving feast was held to thank the Lord for sparing the lives of the survivors of the Mayflower, who landed at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. The survivors included four adult women and almost forty percent children.
• The Wampanoag chief Massasoit and ninety of his tribesmen were also invited to the first thanksgiving feast. Governor William Bradford invited them for helping the Pilgrims surviving and teaching them the skills of cultivating the land.
• The celebration in 1621 lasted for three days and included games and food.
• The president to proclaim the first ‘National Day of Thanksgiving’ in 1789 was George Washington.
• Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, campaigned to make Thanksgiving a National Holiday in 1827 and succeeded.
• Abraham Lincoln announced Thanksgiving to be national holiday in his proclamation on October 3, 1863.
• The ‘wishbone’ of the turkey is used in a good luck ritual on Thanksgiving Day.

The President’s Pardon

The animal lovers determined to counter the animal sacrifice introduced the custom of letting a turkey, pardoned by the President of the United States, free to live a natural life comfortably in a zoo at Herndon. This pardon is given at the last minute before the execution of the Turkey in a ceremony at the White House. Here we reiterate the words of the official pardon:

“By virtue of this pardon, (Turkey of the year’s name) is on her way not to the dinner table but to Kidwell Farm in Herndon, VA. There she’ll live out her days as safe and comfortable as she can be.”

It is said that this tradition was first observed in 1947 and was conceived by Harry Truman. After the Turkey gets the Presidential Pardon, it is transported to Kidwell Farm, a petting zoo at Frying Pan Park in Herndon, Virginia to be welcomed as the chief guest along with the President in a Turkey ‘Roast’ celebration. Here, the Turkey is not ‘roasted’ in the oven but through humor and turkey jokes.

And then, there’s the most important site of all on Thanksgiving – Butterball’s website – (http://www.butterball.com/tips-how-tos/tips/thanksgiving-guide), for when you need help with what’s going on.

However, when things go wrong with the food, you can find some quick fixes at http://www.chefrick.com/thanksgiving-food-first-aid/

Enjoy your Thanksgiving, and thank you…

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