Summerdale, AL, Part V: A Lot to Be Thankful For

Thanksgiving is a day set aside to give thanks to God for all the blessings we enjoy. The holiday is celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. As believers, we try to thank God every day for his kindness and provision, but a formal holiday is a good reminder to all of us that there is much to be thankful for.

We live in a country where we have the freedom to thank and to worship God as we see fit. We are personally blessed with good health, with a loving family, with good friends (both old and new), and we have the wherewithal to travel this beautiful country of ours to see its natural wonders and to learn about its people and its history. We are so blessed to be able to enjoy this adventure.

Many Americans believe the first Thanksgiving in what was to become the United States was celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621 in Massachusetts, but there are records of celebrations of thanksgiving starting in 1619 in the Virginia colony at Berkeley Plantation near Jamestown. There is also a record of a thanksgiving celebration in 1565 by Spanish explorers in St. Augustine, FL. There is a 208-foot tall stainless steel cross at the site where Pedro Menendez is said to have landed in St. Augustine in 1565. As soon as the landing party was ashore, they celebrated a mass of thanksgiving. We visited the site of that cross when we were in St. Augustine back in November of 2007.

There is also a record of an even earlier thanksgiving by Spanish explorer Coronado. His party celebrated a mass of thanksgiving in Palo Duro Canyon in what would eventually become Texas in 1541.

Although the 1621 harvest celebration in Massachusetts wasn't the first thanksgiving, it is the origin of most of our modern Thanksgiving holiday traditions. While we don't know the exact menu, we know the Native Americans taught the Pilgrims to grow corn and squash. One written account said the Pilgrims went hunting before the feast and brought back enough fowl (probably turkey and geese) to feed the group for a week.

The first official nationwide Thanksgiving in the United States was established in 1789 by a proclamation from President George Washington. The proclamation began,

"Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor, and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness. Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be..."

The term "separation of church and state" had obviously not come into popular usage back then. That's probably because the phrase does not appear in the First Amendment or anywhere else the U. S. Constitution.

Thanksgiving is also a good day to spend time with family and friends. Since our family is back in our old hometown of Pittsburgh, spending the day with friends was our next best choice so we signed up for Thanksgiving dinner at Rainbow Plantation. For only $2 a person the Escapees provided the turkey and gravy, and each couple signed up to bring a dish to share with everyone at their table. The next photo shows us beginning to gather around the table.

There were over 200 people at the dinner.

We had a delicious meal and great fellowship with our fellow RVers, then headed back to the motor home to relax and doze off in front of the TV.

We're almost ready to leave Summerdale; but first, we finally got to take a day trip to Gulf Shores, AL, so look for our next post.

Comments

[Janice L. Evans]

Wow, those pics brought back memories of cooking 12 turkeys for the Thanksgiving Dinner at the RV Park in San Antonio last year. . .we were happy to enjoy a quiet family reunion this year. Travel safely!