This week, our family and friends will gather around the dinner table as they have for generations to celebrate a holiday that is nearing its 400th anniversary.
As even some of our youngest students can tell us, what is widely considered to be America’s first Thanksgiving took place in 1621, when the Pilgrims and a tribe of Native Americans came together for a three-day feast to give thanks for a successful harvest.
A little more than a century-and-a-half later, President George Washington helped cement the holiday’s current place on the calendar, and President Abraham Lincoln went a step further by declaring it should be on the last Thursday of November. A tweak by Congress in the 1940s clarified that it would always be held on the fourth Thursday, where it remains today.
While the turkey will undoubtedly be the centerpiece of most meals on Thanksgiving, it might not have been if Benjamin Franklin had pushed for his suggestion to make that bird our national symbol rather than the eagle. He favored the idea in a letter to his daughter, writing that the turkey was “a bird of courage” and “a true original native of America.”
The presidential pardon of a turkey is one area where the history behind it seems longer than it actually is. Although President Lincoln supposedly gave a reprieve once at the request of his son, and President Truman has mistakenly been called the father of the practice, the poultry pardon did not actually become an annual event until President George H.W. Bush was in office a quarter-century ago.
A few years before then, the American Farm Bureau began another regular tradition tied to the holiday: Determining how much it costs to feed a family of 10. The price has predictably risen – it’s now near $50 – but when adjusted for inflation, the cost is about 20 percent lower now than when the survey began.
That’s a testament to the improved efficiency of today’s farmers, and it’s also a good place to point out that it is increasingly easy to buy the entire meal from local vendors, thanks to programs like Kentucky Proud.
For many Americans, a lot of time will be spent on the road before they can eat that meal, with AAA estimating that nearly 47 million will travel at least 50 miles. The good news is that, when compared to 12 months ago, gas prices are down 65 cents per gallon, air fares are 10 percent lower and hotel prices are largely holding steady.
As a nation, we have a lot to be thankful for. We are especially grateful for the courage of our men and women in uniform, both those serving now, those who were there for us in the past, and those who paid the ultimate price for freedom, including those listed as POW/MIA.
We also are thankful for those who protect and care for us here at home and those who serve others and make sure no one is hungry. More broadly, we can be thankful for our freedom, for our right to worship and for having been blessed so much as a nation.
From my family to yours, we hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and an enjoyable holiday season.
State Rep. Mike Denham is a Democrat from Maysville and has represented House District 70 (Bracken, Fleming and Mason counties) since 2001.