Happy Thanksgiving!
Gotta love Thanksgiving! Where else in the world would cranberry sauce that’s perfectly shaped like the can it came from combine with a deep-fried turkey to complete a holiday tradition? Then there’s family. Some of them you’ve been around all your life, others are flying in from Timbuktu, Walla Walla, Washington and other exotic locales. Like your immediate family, they’re a colorful cast of characters. Add in some great football, some strategic naps between helpings and you have all the makings of a great day.
Yes, things can get a little crazy on Thanksgiving, and everyone has their own unique way of celebrating.
For an instance, can you think of any good reason to throw a frozen turkey at a bunch of bowling pins? Well, the people of La Crosse can. This yearly event is known as turkey bowling, and in it participants pay to toss a frozen, oiled turkey down a grocery aisle toward a set of bowling pins. The event is used to raise funds to combat smoking.
Not to be outdone, folks in Indianapolis, Indiana gather for the annual Turkey Toss. As you might guess, the object of the Thanksgiving ritual is to see who can throw a frozen turkey the farthest. To spice things up (and possibly to get a jumpstart on the cooking), the turkeys are set on fire before being thrown.
Maybe it was to help work off some of the calories from Thanksgiving dinner, or maybe to get one more use out of the turkey costume they purchased for Halloween, but somebody somewhere along the line decided to combine Thanksgiving with marathon running, and thus the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot was born. In all seriousness, these races are almost always run for charity. Would be runners don their turkey suits and happily run or jog to raise money for their favorite causes. It’s a perfect combination of fitness, Thanksgiving pageantry and good citizenship that’s not to be missed.
Speaking of costumes, about a hundred years ago Thanksgiving used to look a lot more like Halloween. People young and old would dress up in costume and march up and down the streets. If it sounds a lot like trick-or-treat, that’s because it was. Hobo costumes were the most popular, and for a while Thanksgiving in New York was known as ‘Ragamuffin Day.’
Of course, no Thanksgiving would be complete without the annual Presidential turkey pardon. It was Abraham Lincoln who first made Thanksgiving a national holiday, so it should come as no surprise he was the first president to spare a turkey. Subsequent presidents weren’t quite so lenient (or perhaps they were a little hungrier), but George H.W. Bush made the tradition official once again with his 1989 pardon of ‘Tom Turkey.’
Thanksgiving is a day of food, fun and family, so whatever traditions you enjoy or whatever new traditions you start, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.