November is known for more than just our annual Veterans Day celebration. Beyond the history of the end of a great war that involved many countries around the globe is knowledge of other extreme tragedy such as the maritime event of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, a lake freighter that steamed through all of the great lakes carrying valuable cargo for supporting the country’s industry and even energy needs. The ship sank to the bottom of Lake Superior during a horrific storm, losing all of its crew.

November also brings us the traditions of Thanksgiving celebrated on the last Thursday of the month. This ushered in the morning parade in New York City that was created to open the Christmas holiday shopping time. Santa Claus was always the last and favored celebrity in the parade. In modern times the last week in November means Black Friday, a blitzkrieg of sales offered at almost every store.

This modern event had to have special rules created for its customers to preserve their safety and sanity. The last and most participated event on this exciting Thursday is football. Americans with their bellies full of decadent foods take a restful sit down in front of the TV to cheer on their favorite teams playing in the coveted Turkey Bowl.

In our American culture the day of thanksgiving is synonymous with the arrival of the pilgrims to the Americas. Their landing in what is now Plymouth, Mass., started some folk lore that has endured for centuries. As rumor has it, thanksgiving was a celebration of the survival of the following year after the settlers began to build their new lives after escaping religious persecution in England. Many of the pilgrims died during a harsh winter and a pandemic that seemed bent on the puritan demise. Local Native Americans came to their aid taught them how to grow food and after a successful crop harvest the next fall season the pilgrims threw the local tribe a grand party with a bountiful feast of every food imaginable. And this began a yearly tradition that united the Indians and the settlers in a harmony that is still celebrated to this day.

Well, like I stated it was lore. The great bounty of food is a little bit stretched. Back in those days the men who survived the plague were not cooks. They gathered and hunted the food they turned the soils to grow the food. The women cooked the food.

Only three women survived the first year in the new land. The group was small and the contingent of native Americans who came to meet with the pilgrims was also small, being a peace party style of group. The idea of turkey being the main staple of meat is also a misnomer. It is described by tribal historians that the food most likely would have been venison or other meats brought by the native Americans as an offering. The story of the planting of corn is true. It is also likely that the main characters involved in the first American thanksgiving were Squanto, an English-speaking Native American, and the Brewsters of the Mayflower Compact.

But delving into the history of our most cherished holiday meal, it is discovered that it was not truly invented by the pilgrims of Plymouth, and it wasn’t even called the thanksgiving. It was called the Harvest Celebration, and it lasted three days. The idea of a day of thanksgiving was not new even for the 1600s.

As early as 1520 records show that a meal of thanksgiving was held in St. Augustine, Fla., when the Spanish discovered the naturally protected port and eventually the Fountain of Youth. It seems that celebrations of thanksgiving were common among Europeans, and it seemed more aligned with religious ceremony and days of worship connected to Catholicism. The events were mired in deep prayer.

With all this information put behind us, no matter which story we decide to believe, the fact is still here that this day of Thanksgiving is a perfect time of needed relaxation from the toils of our jobs, school or chores. We have Sarah Josepha Hale to thank for the picture of what our Thanksgiving Day platter should look like, and her stubborn campaign to make this day a national holiday in 1863. It was acknowledged and put to proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln, as a way to unite the country during its Civil War.

Our holiday is one filled with many stories of times long gone. This now becomes the real spirit of a thanksgiving celebration. When those stories tell the tale of courageous people reveling in the fact they survived what many did not, and the thankfulness to their neighbors, and to their creator for protection and mercy. Not too shabby of a history lesson priming us all for that favored dessert. Happy Thanksgiving Day to all!

Kirk L. Miller, Past Commander, 2023-24 of the Chautauqua County American Legion, Eighth District Department of New York.