Next week, November 25, people will be sitting with their families eating together in celebration of Thanksgiving Day. All kinds of different people will be feasting on turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and of course pie. Everyone has their own Thanksgiving traditions and specialty food they make, which makes the holiday so special.

Thanksgiving began in 1621 when the pilgrims went to Plymouth on the Mayflower and attended an autumn feast with the Wampanoag. After that, Thanksgiving was celebrated by a few individual colonies and states, but it was not a nationally recognized holiday. Then, in the middle of the Civil War, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln declared that Thanksgiving be a national holiday celebrated each year in November.

Thanksgiving is always a very real holiday with genuine giving thanks and time well spent with family and friends. Next week we are released early from school on Wednesday and are excused from school on Thursday and Friday in celebration and recognition of Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!