Hey there! Are you getting excited and ready for Thanksgiving at your house?
Thanksgiving is a favorite in our family as, like so many others, we see extended family and friends that we might only see a couple other times in the year. We laugh, we share stories, we eat A LOT of amazing food (!), and then usually end up outdoors playing football or watching all the kids jump in huge leaf piles at my aunt’s house. It’s a special day.
I was watching Charlie Brown’s “The Mayflower Voyage” with my kids the other day. Do you remember that one? There was so much history shared in the little 30 minute program! It did a great job reminding me and teaching my kids what the first settlers of our country took on when they came to the New Land and how much they overcame! It reminded me how much we have to be thankful for just from that first Thanksgiving alone!
A few facts about the 1st Thanksgiving:
The pilgrims landed in Plymouth Rock almost a year before the first Thanksgiving.
Over half of the pilgrims died that first winter, mostly from sickness (there were 102 to cross the Atlantic).
In the early spring, the remaining pilgrims met Squanto, an English speaking Indian and one of the last eldest members of his tribe.
Squanto and his tribal members helped the pilgrims learn how to grow crops in the new country and taught them how to survive there, and that year they had a bountiful harvest.
The first Thanksgiving took place in November of 1621, a year after the pilgrims had come to the New Land. The pilgrims wanted to have a large feast to thank God for their harvest and the Indians for all their help.
In 1863, President Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday to celebrate the first Thanksgiving.
What are your Thanksgiving traditions or will this year bring something completely new? We at Riverbend Nurseries wish you a WONDERFUL sweet day of celebrating. We are thankful for you, and want to thank you for your support of local Tennessee farms and products! We love serving you and your family!