Sunday October 10th, 2010 Thanksgiving

According to the Thunder Bay Public Library’s Ebsco Host in the Virtual Collection, Edward Sandford Martin, Harvard University class of 1877, once wrote these words of wisdom: “Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow.” Thanksgiving Day (Jour de l’Action de Grace) was proclaimed by the Canadian Parliament on January 31, 1957 to be “A day of general thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed … to be observed on the second Monday in October.” Until then Thanksgiving Day had been held in some form every year, but on various days.

With your library card and pin you can go to www.tbpl.ca and access NetLibrary (My Giant Search) to find the book Thanksgiving by Julie Murray. Here you will discover that history is plum full of Thanksgiving celebrations. Thanksgiving's earliest beginnings were in Europe during the Middle Ages with the harvest festival. Bountiful cornucopias and wagons full of late fall vegetables originated there. In 1578, explorer Martin Frobisher, who was later knighted, is said to have held the first Thanksgiving feast in what is now Canada, specifically Newfoundland and Labrador. Although he failed to find a Northwest Passage through to the Pacific Ocean, Frobisher Bay, a large inlet off the Labrador Sea on the southeastern corner of Baffin Island, was named after him. Samuel de Champlain and the French settlers who accompanied him across the ocean apparently held huge feasts of Thanksgiving when they arrived safely on Canadian soil. After the Seven Year's War ended in 1763 the people of Halifax held a special day of Thanksgiving. And the first Thanksgiving Day after Canadian Confederation (1867) was observed as a civic holiday on April 5, 1872. This was to give thanks for the recovery of the Prince of Wales (King Edward VII) from a long illness.

Today Thanksgiving is often celebrated with dinner surrounded by family and friends. The Many Blessings Cookbook: A Celebration of Harvest, Home and Country Cooking by Jane Watson Hopping, author of The Lazy Days of Summer Cookbook, is a complete guide to making Thanksgiving delicious. Take a peek at Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, for funny and original cupcake designs. With some coloured frosting and a few candies you can whip up any holiday on icing, including the turkey cupcake place cards for Thanksgiving dinner. No higher level baking skills required.

So, whenever the calendar flips to October, it means Canada’s Thanksgiving Day is close. A holiday that revolves around family, friends, fun, food, football (the Canadian Football League holds a nationally televised doubleheader, called simply the Thanksgiving Day Classic), and any number of your favourite things. Whatever one ends up doing, Thanksgiving always serves as a reminder of the many things there are to be grateful for. Check on the shelf at TBPL for a great book entitled Chicken Soup for the Soul: Count Your Blessings; 101 Stories of Gratitude, Fortitude and Silver Linings by Jack Canfield. This book shows the reader the importance of being thankful for even the smallest things that are right there, all the time. Reminds me of a young teacher I know who was talking to her class recently about Thanksgiving and being thankful. When asked to share with the class what they were thankful for, one little boy eagerly put up his hand and said, “I am thankful for my teacher.” Perfect answer.

Caron E. Naysmith