Happy Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving, Andrea Kraynak, Senior Conference Director, RISE/FRA has kindly shared some great insights into what the holiday means and why it is celebrated by families across the United States.?

In particular, she was keen to highlight a poem that is recited by children to this day, having been originally written over 170 years ago:

“The fourth Thursday of November, Americans gather with their families to give thanks for the year’s harvest and express gratitude for the chance to bring people together—all while consuming as much roast turkey and pumpkin pie as humanly possible.

I share an excerpt from the 1844 poem “The New England Boy's Song about Thanksgiving Day,” by Lydia Maria Child, which has been used as lyrics for a song many Americans learn as children and have done for decades:

“Over the river and through the woods,

To Grandmother’s house we go;

The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh

Through white and drifted snow.

Over the river and through the woods,

Oh, how the wind does blow!

It stings the toes and bites the nose

As over the ground we go.

Over the river and through the woods,

Now Grandmother's cap I spy!

Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done?

Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!”

It represents, perhaps, more of the platonic ideal of Thanksgiving than any modern-day celebration, but its sweetness and simplicity still lingers alongside the aroma of roasting turkey in dining rooms across America to this day.”

Thanks Andrea for giving us a glimpse into the importance of Thanksgiving.

#WeAreWilmingtonPlc #Thanksgiving