What does Thanksgiving mean to you?
Area residents speak out on holiday

By JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Tuesday, November 24, 2009 10:25 AM PST

ONTARIO — According to the Encyclopedia Smithsonian, people have long held Thanksgiving-type celebrations sporadically throughout American history to give thanks for a number of reasons.

Many were autumn harvest celebrations, but others were organized for specific purposes. According to the Encyclopedia Smithsonian, Jamestown colonists had a day of thanksgiving in 1607 in celebration of their safe arrival. One of the most familiar to Americans is the Pilgrim’s Thanksgiving feast of 1621 in which a non-religious celebration was held over three days for “feasting, playing games, and even drinking liquor.”

According to the Encyclopedia Smithsonian, in 1789, Elias Boudinot, a member of the House or Representatives from Massachusetts, moved that a day of giving thanks be recognized to thank God for giving the American people the chance to create a new form of government with a Constitution to preserve their freedoms. A Congressional Joint Committee approved the idea, and on Oct. 3, 1789, President George Washington proclaimed that the people of the United States observe ‘a day of public thanksgiving and prayer’ on Thursday, the 26th of November. Thanksgiving was officially established as a national holiday to be celebrated the fourth Thursday of November in 1941 by a Congressional Joint Resolution.

In this area, Thanksgiving is just as important to residents as some of the other Thanksgiving celebrations in history and one they are looking forward to Thursday. The Argus Observer asked area residents what Thanksgiving meant to them:

TVCC student Cheyenne Hackney, 20, Wilder, said Thanksgiving means being able to spend time with family.

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“(Thanksgiving means) I get to be with people who I don’t normally see,” she said. “And, of course, all the shopping the next day.”

Gracie Hollandsworth, Ontario, who celebrated her 91st birthday Sunday, said Thanksgiving has always been a special day to celebrate what she has.

“It’s real good. They’ve always been real good,” she said, adding she has lost a lot of family and friends through the years, but she always looks forward to going on each year. Her friend Susan Chandler, 69, Vale, said Thanksgiving means being thankful for family and friends, being able to get together with them in celebration and thanking God for all the blessings bestowed.

“I guess we should be thankful every day, though,” she said.

Thanksgiving is also about family and friends to Terri Day, 43, Cambridge.

“Just being thankful for the things that have been given to you in your life,” she said.

“(Thanksgiving means) a day off from work, and you get to spend time with your family, I guess,” Dave Walters, 42, Payette, said. Steve Kemble, 61, Weiser, summed up Thanksgiving in one sentence.

“Thanksgiving is a day to be thankful for all that you have, all that God’s given us, and, for me, that means my family and friends and the country we live in.”