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NEW YORK, October 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has announced that two-time Grammy Award winner Kelly Clarkson will perform live during the Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving Day halftime show! The November 22 halftime concert will officially kick off the annual Salvation Army Red Kettle Christmas fundraiser, the nation's largest holiday charitable fundraising drive. The nationally televised live event at Texas Stadium will be broadcast during halftime of the Cowboys match-up against the New York Jets.
Each year the Dallas Cowboys and The Salvation Army encourage Americans to help those less fortunate by donating to The Salvation Army Red Kettles throughout the holiday season. As part of the 2007 celebration, Clarkson will perform songs from her latest album, My December, including the top-ten Billboard Hot 100 single, "Never Again", to help to raise money in the kettles for holiday toys, coats and many other Salvation Army social services. She will also serve as honorary chairperson of the campaign, which will run nationally from Friday, November 23rd through Christmas Eve, December 24th.
The Red Kettle Campaign has been one of the most recognizable and important charitable campaigns in the United States since its inception in 1891. Every holiday season, more than 25,000 Salvation Army volunteers fan out across the country to ring bells and solicit spare change donations to the iconic red kettles from holiday shoppers. For more information, please visit http://www.salvationarmyusa.org
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NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Grand Ole Opry, the U.S. Postal Service, and the U.S. Department of Defense's program "America Supports You" are teaming up to launch on Oct. 6 what is being billed as the "World's Largest Care Package."
Country music fans and top country artists, with the help of some of America's most recognized corporate brands, will show support for America's military overseas by contributing to the packages, which will be shipped by Veterans Day, Nov. 11, to arrive in time for Thanksgiving.
"Never before have so many people from all walks of life, including country music fans, U.S. Postal Service workers, platinum-selling music artists, and others come together to send packages to our troops overseas," said Pete Fisher, Opry vice president and general manager. "We hope that by including this project as part of our 82nd birthday activities throughout October, we can give something tangible back to those who defend our freedoms abroad every day. We're excited to give those who visit us the opportunity to participate in this endeavor."
The Postal Service is providing 1,000 Priority Mail Flat-Rate boxes for the troops, which will be sent to U.S. military bases around the world. Included in the packages will be letters written by fans visiting the Opry House throughout October, gifts from artists, greeting cards from Hallmark, GI Roses gift certificates --- which allow overseas military personnel to send a dozen roses to loved ones back home --- and country music CDs from Cracker Barrel Old Country Store. The Postal Service created the special boxes, which feature Grand Ole Opry and "America Supports You" logos. "Mail is a great morale-booster for our troops," said Postal Service Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications Joanne Giordano. "We're proud to be part of an effort to connect our brave men and women in uniform with their friends and families back home."
The giant package will be unveiled onstage at the Opry House during the evening's first performance. Funds for postage to ship the packages overseas were raised by the Opry through an online auction.
Items will be packaged by Tennessee Marine Family, an "America Supports You" group, whose founder is the mother of a Marine who has served three tours in Iraq.
"The partnership between the Grand Ole Opry, one of our earliest supporters, and the U.S. Postal Service, is an excellent example of how organizations can come together through the 'America Supports You' program," said Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Allison Barber. "We're grateful to the companies for the gifts. We know the cards, gift certificates and CDs will make Thanksgiving a little easier for our troops serving away from home. The way all these organizations have come together, I believe, is truly representative of the support of our nation for our military family, and we're grateful for their generosity."
The Grand Ole Opry is presented by Cracker Barrel Old Country Store. Opry performances are held every weekend of the year, and the "Tuesday Night Opry" continues through Dec. 18. To plan an Opry visit, call 800-SEE-OPRY or log on to opry.com. Opry performances can be seen and heard each week on the American Forces Network.
About the Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry presents the best in country music live every week from Nashville, TN. A uniquely American experience for more than 80 years, the Opry can be heard on 650 WSM-AM, wsmonline.com and www.opry.com. The syndicated weekly program, "America's Grand Ole Opry Weekend," airs on more than 200 country radio stations across the country and on the Armed Forces Radio Network, and "Opry Live" airs each weekend on Great American Country. The Opry will debut on XM Satellite Radio on Oct. 20. The Grand Ole Opry is owned by Gaylord Entertainment (NYSE:GET) , a Nashville-based hospitality and entertainment company that also owns and operates Gaylord Hotels. For more information, visit http://www.opry.com/ or http://www.gaylordentertainment.com/.
About the U.S. Postal Service
An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits every address in the nation, 146 million homes and businesses, six days a week. It has 37,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to cover its operating expenses, not tax dollars. The Postal Service has annual revenues of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world's mail. For more information, visit http://usps.com/.
About "America Supports You"
"America Supports You" is an ongoing, nationwide program organized by the Department of Defense to showcase Americans' support for the men and women of the armed forces and their families. Since its launch in November of 2004, "America Supports You" has welcomed nearly 300 home-front organizations and more than 35 corporations to the program. Many "America Supports You" home-front groups demonstrate their support for the troops through letter-writing, care packages, helping the wounded when they return home, assisting military families, sending e-mail, or making a kind gesture. To learn more about how you can support military personnel, please visit http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/.
Source: U.S. Postal Service
Web Site: http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/
http://www.gaylordentertainment.com/
http://www.opry.com/
http://www.usps.com/
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Introduction | The Pilgrims' Journey to America | The Long, Harsh Winter | A Feast | How Thanksgiving Came to Be a National Holiday | Spiritual Theme | Pilgrim Fashion
Introduction. In 1621, Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest which is considered the first Thanksgiving in American history. Contrary to the stories that have been passed down in American culture, the first Thanksgiving was not considered a tradition by the Pilgrims. The colonists considered a "thanksgiving" a religious holiday that included going to church and thanking God for a specified event. The kinds of recreational activities that they participated in on that day in 1621 would have been considered secular, and not allowed, like dancing, singing secular songs, and playing games.
The original harvest feast of 1621 took place over a three-day period between September 21 and November 11. It was based on traditional English harvest festivals.
The Pilgrims' Journey to America. The Pilgrims, who were originally members of the English Separatist Church (Puritan), were fleeing religious persecution from their native England. In 1609, they fled to Holland (The Netherlands). After a few years, their children were speaking Dutch and had become attached to a way of life that the Pilgrims considered frivolous and immoral. They traveled to the New World, financed by a London stock company. On September 6, 1920, they sailed on the Mayflower from Plymouth, England. There were 44 Pilgrims aboard that called themselves the "Saints," and 66 who called themselves the "Strangers." The long, damp and cold trip took 65 days. When land was sighted on November 10, the two sects agreed to the Mayflower Compact, which guaranteed equality and unity - together they called themselves the "Pilgrims." The Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620.
The Long, Harsh Winter. Of the original 100-plus Pilgrims and crew, less than 50 survived their first harsh winter. On March 16, 1621, a Native American walked into the Plymouth settlement causing fear among the Pilgrims. Samoset, an Abnaki Indian, could speak English that he had learned from the captains of fishing boats off the coast. He greeted them with "Welcome," in English, stayed the night, and returned the next day with another Native American, Squanto. Squanto had been on many voyages across the sea and visited England and Spain. He was a huge help to the Pilgrims, by helping them survive. He taught them how to tap maple tree sap, which plants were poisonous and which had medicinal powers, how to plant Indian corn and other crops. The October harvest was fruitful, so the Pilgrims stored food for the winter. They had corn, fruits, and vegetables, fish packed in salt, and fire cured meat.
A Feast. They had much to be thankful for. They had built homes in the wilderness, raised food for the long winter, and made peace with the Native Americans. A celebration was in order. William Bradford, the Pilgrim Governor, proclaimed a day of thanks for the colonists to share with their Native American neighbors. The next year was harsh and the Pilgrims ran short on food; a "thanksgiving" feast was not repeated. In 1623, the third year, there was a severe drought. The governor ordered a day of fasting and prayer. A long, steady rain followed shortly after. On November 29, a day of Thanksgiving was proclaimed and the Pilgrims again feasted with the Native Americans. Another Thanksgiving Day was not proclaimed until June 1676.
Accounts by Colonists. A first-hand account by a leader of the colony, Edward Winslow, as it appears in Mourt's Relation:
"Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, Many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest King Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty."
How Thanksgiving Came to Be a National Holiday. On June 20, 1676, the governing council of Charlestown, Massachusetts, discussed ways to best express their thanks for the good fortune that had helped establish their community. Unanimously, they voted to proclaim June 29 as a day of thanksgiving.
On October, 1777, for the first time, all 13 colonies joined in a thanksgiving celebration that commemorated the patriotic victory over the British at Saratoga.
In 1789, President George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving despite opposition in honor of the new United States Constitution. Many colonists did not feel the hardships of a few Pilgrims warranted a national holiday. Later, President Thomas Jefferson, the third president, scoffed at the idea of having a Thanksgiving Day and discontinued it, calling it "a kingly practice."
It was the efforts of a magazine editor that led to the recognition of Thanksgiving as a national holiday. Sarah Josepha Hale, the author of the poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb," wrote many editorials in Boston Ladies' Magazine and Godey's Lady's Book. It took 40 years of writing editorials and letters to governors and presidents for her efforts to produce the desired results. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving. Every president after Lincoln has proclaimed Thanksgiving. The date changed a few times, including the controversial move by President Franklin Roosevelt, who set it up one week to the next-to-last Thursday in order to create a longer Christmas shopping season. Two years later it was moved back to its original date because of public uproar.
In 1941, Congress sanctioned Thanksgiving as a legal holiday to be held on the fourth Thursday in November.
Spiritual Theme. All of the early celebrations had one common theme -- God. Thanksgiving was directed toward Him, their Creator and Provider. They believed that all good things ultimately came from Him and His word (The Bible).
--1 Chronicles 16:8. Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
-- Psalm 100:4. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
--Psalm 105:1. Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
--Romans 14:6. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.
-- 1 Corinthian 15:57. Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
--Colossians 3:17. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
--1 Thessalonians 5:18. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
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Wouldn’t you just know it, muttered my husband, Randy. We had already been driving for a couple of hours in a pickup truck that we had borrowed from a friend, and now it was completely dark. What’s wrong? I asked sleepily. I had dozed off only a few minutes ago. It’s starting to rain, Randy replied, as he reached over to turn on the windshield wipers. Rain? In a few seconds, I came fully awake. If it was raining, that meant Mom and Dad’s furniture was getting wet. So far, it had been my worst Thanksgiving ever. Dad had passed away a month ago. My mother had died seven years earlier. When I was a kid, we always celebrated Thanksgiving at home. All four of my grandparents had died before I was born, and to me, Thanksgiving meant celebrating the holiday with Mom and Dad. But now, for the very first time in my whole life, all thirty-four years of it, there had been no one to spend Thanksgiving with at my parents’ place. Randy and I did, however, have plenty of work to do at Mom and Dad's house. A family wanted to rent it, and we needed to have it cleaned out by Christmas. Randy and I had been married for a little less than six months, and this was hardly the way that I had wanted us to spend our first Thanksgiving as a married couple. And yet, I knew it was no use waiting. That if we waited it wouldn’t bring either of my parents back. But cleaning out the house seemed so final. The end of a lifetime. The end of two lifetimes. I simply wasn’t ready. Although, if I were going to be honest with myself, I knew I probably never would be ready. We had decided to take some of Mom and Dad’s furniture home with us. My parents' house was in west central Wisconsin, and my husband I lived two-hundred-and-fifty miles away in the southern part of the state. After we had loaded the first piece of furniture into the pickup truck we had borrowed, Mom and Dad's bedroom looked very empty without the dresser that they’d had for as long as I could remember. In the top dresser drawer, my mother had kept some of her keepsakes, including a strand of blond hair. When I was a kid and had gotten my hair cut short, Mom wanted to save some of it. Dad’s drawer held a few keepsakes too. His old pocket watch, for one thing. Dad always carried a pocket watch. He had been a farmer, and he said a wristwatch would never survive the hardships of farm work (dust and water, grease and oil). In addition to the dresser, we had taken Mom’s cherry wood buffet. My mother had stored her tablecloths and what she referred to as her good dishes" in the buffet. Randy and I were also bringing home the chest-of-drawers that I’d had since I was a little girl. Although the middle drawer looks like two separate drawers, it is actually one big drawer. When I was growing up, I had been fascinated by the design and had used the big drawer for storing my sweaters. But now, after we had so carefully loaded the furniture and strapped it into the back of the truck, it was raining, which meant everything was all going to end up ruined. No, wait a minute. The furniture was not going to get wet. We had put a tarp over the load. Well, at least we’ve got a tarp, I said to my husband. By this time, it was raining so hard the windshield wipers couldn’t keep up, even on high. Randy shook his head. The tarp won’t help much unless we tie it down better. A few minutes later, my husband pulled off at a gas station. But what are we going to tie it down WITH? I asked, as the truck swayed in a gust of wind that hit it broadside. We hadn’t counted on wind and rain or that we would need more rope. Randy smiled. These, he said, bending down to pull the laces out of his work boots. If I cut them into pieces, I should have enough to go around. It was still raining when we arrived home several hours later, so Randy put the truck in the garage. The next day I could hardly believe my eyes when we discovered that the furniture had suffered only a few wet spots here and there, but that nothing had gotten completely soaked. What would I do without you? I said to my husband as I ran my hand over Mom and Dad's dresser. I never would have thought of shoelaces. Not in a million years. Randy shrugged. I couldn’t let your mom and dad’s furniture get ruined, could I? What kind of a person would I be if I let that happen? And just then it dawned on me that even though it had seemed like my worst Thanksgiving ever, I actually had quite a few things to be thankful for. And my husband was right at the top of the list. ##################### LeAnn Ralph may be contacted at http://ruralroute2.com bigpines@ruralroute2.com. Click here to view more of their articles. |
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It's a beautiful Fall day - you head out to your local pumpkin patch in the hope of finding that one and only orange globe that will captivate the youngsters, and bring some chuckles and giggles from young and old alike. Of course, your pumpkin is totally free of any bruises or blemishes and is definitely in the shape of that idea that keeps popping up in your head of the kind of face you want to carve this year. A smooth and evenly colored one is absolutely perfect. It should have a flat bottom and should be able to sit upright. If you have very small children who want to lend a hand this year in carving, pick a lighter-colored and softer pumpkin to make their first attempts a bit easier. With handy marker in hand, you lightly trace your design or run one off on the computer as a pattern. You could also play "connect the dots" and then cut. Then the fun begins - you cut, saw, and push and pull and there you have it - the perfect "this year's" sensational pumpkin. (You should really scrape away the pulp until the area you plan to carve is 1" thick. Hold your saw like a pencil and saw steadily up and down, just like a sewing machine. Don't use saws to cut the lid, or twist, bend or jab.) Two things happen to pumpkins once you cut them. They dry out and shrivel or they mold. Not good! To protect, cover the carved areas with plastic wrap, if not using a candle, or with vaseline. Should the worse happen andthat pumpkin shrivels, don't despair. Soak it in water for 6-8 hours. Use a bucket or bathtub. Let it drain and then dry it very carefully. Come Halloween night your pumpkin will be the highlight of your outdoor decor and your artistic talent will shine! For easier lighting, cut the "lid" from the bottom and fit the pumpkin over the light, instead of reaching in. A whole lot easier and safer - The Great Pumpkin will be watching so do yourself proud! ENJOY! ©Arleen M. Kaptur 2003 October Arleen Kaptur may be contacted at http://www.arleenssite.com akaptur@centurytel.net. Click here to view more of their articles. |
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Every year when November arrived, I started to wonder when it would snow. And this year was no exception. Thanksgiving was only a week and a half away, and we still didn't have any snow on the ground yet. Mom and Dad had arrived home from grocery shopping a few minutes ago. Since my mother couldn't drive because of the polio, Dad would take her into town and help her with the shopping. Although today happened to be Saturday, a trip to town for groceries could occur on any day of the week (except Sunday), all depending upon the farm work. During the summer, Mom and Dad went to town on rainy days when Dad couldn't be out in the field cutting, raking or baling hay. During the winter, their trips to town were on days when it wasn't snowing and when it wasn't below zero. My mother didn't like to go outside when it was below zero. She said the polio paralysis caused her to have poor circulation and that she was afraid she would get frostbite. On my way across the yard, I zipped up the lined denim jacket that I wore for helping Dad with the chores. I had remembered to grab my stocking cap before leaving the house, but I had neglected to take my mittens. A cold east wind quickly turned my hands into what felt like little blocks of ice. Yesterday morning the sky had been bright and sunny, but by afternoon, a thin layer of hazy clouds made the sun look like someone had covered it with gauze. Today, the sky was filled with low gray clouds that seemed as if they were only a few feet above the treetops on the hill behind our barn. "Think you can carry this?" Dad asked when I reached the car. He held out a brown paper bag. "What's in it? "Oh," he said, lifting the bag up, as if to test the weight, "about twenty pounds, I guess." "Twenty pounds?" "That's our turkey," Mom explained. "For Thanksgiving. Take it out to the freezer, please." The air felt so cold that I was pretty sure we could leave the turkey outside on the porch and it would stay frozen. But I also knew that if we left the turkey outside, our dog, Needles -- or the barn cats -- would have a grand time feasting on frozen turkey. Or least they would try to have a grand time feasting on frozen turkey. No one had to tell me that tooth marks in our turkey wouldn't make my mother very happy. I grabbed the grocery bag that Dad held, hoping the handles wouldn't break. No one had to tell me that dropping the turkey in the dirt wouldn't sit too well with Mom, either. Before I reached the machine shed where we kept the chest freezer, something cold and wet landed on my cheek and then on my nose and lips. I could hardly believe my eyes. It was a snowing! By the time I had rearranged some packages of green beans and sweetcorn to make room in the freezer for the turkey and had carefully shut, and latched the door of the little room Dad had built around the freezer to keep out the dust and dirt, the ground was already covered with a thin layer of white. On my way back to the car, I glanced across the yard and noticed it was so snowing so hard I could barely see the woods across the road at the back of our neighbor's farm. Last year we had gotten a snowstorm before Thanksgiving too. And then I remembered something else. Every year, Dad and I went to one of our pine plantations to cut a Christmas tree. The trees had been planted on dry, sandy slopes to stop soil erosion. A few times when we went on our annual Christmas tree expedition, there was no snow at all, but more often than not, we had at least a few inches. Last year, it had started snowing before Thanksgiving, and by the middle of December, we had more snow on the ground than we sometimes got all year, making it almost impossible to drive through our fields to reach the pine plantation. 'What if we get that much snow again this year?' I wondered as I lifted the trunk lid and took out the last two bags of groceries. I shut the trunk, and then I turned and headed toward the house. Mom was putting away groceries and Dad was changing into his work shoes when I walked into the kitchen. "Dad, when can we get a Christmas tree?" I asked, as I closed the door behind me. My hands still felt like little blocks of ice, although I figured they would be warm again soon now that I was back in the house. Before my father could reply, Mom spoke up. She was holding a can of cranberry sauce that she had intended to put in the cupboard. Instead, she set it down on the counter with a firm thump. "Christmas tree?" she said. "It's not even Thanksgiving!" "But --" "I WON'T have a Christmas tree before the middle of December," she continued, warming to the subject. "But --" "Christmas tree! The very idea. Turkey's not even thawed and she's talking about a Christmas tree." As I set the two bags of groceries on the table, Dad and I exchanged glances. For as long as I could remember, I had known that my mother did not believe it was proper to put up a Christmas tree until well into December. I hadn't realized she would react this way, though. "But Mom --" "Don't you 'but Mom' me. If I had my way, we wouldn't decorate our tree until Christmas Eve. It's ridiculous the way they keep trying to stretch out the Christmas season. The next thing you know, we'll be starting our Christmas shopping before Halloween. A tree! In November!" "Ma," Dad said quietly. "Don't you want to hear what she has to say?" "Christmas tree! I haven't hardly had time to think about Thanksgiving, much less Christmas! Which reminds me. We forgot to buy sweet potatoes. If we're going to have sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving, someone is going to have to make another trip to the store. Unless we want to skip them for Thanksgiving and have them at Christmas instead. Although, come to think of it, I don't know why I should even bother with Thanksgiving. A Christmas tree! In November!" Dad looked at me and sighed. "Getting a Christmas tree now is almost as bad as those guys who bought trees from us one year so they could sell them at Christmas!" Mom exclaimed as she made her way over to the table to sit down. "Said they had to cut them early. I'll say it was early. September, no less. I've always pitied the poor people who bought those trees. Must have been all dried out and absolutely good for nothing by Christmas." Dad cleared his throat. As Mom drew another deep breath, she glanced at me. "Oh, all right. I suppose I should let you get a word in edgewise. What about a Christmas tree?" "I just thought," I said meekly, "that if we get our tree right after Thanksgiving this year, we probably won't have so much snow." "That's right," Dad added. "Last year, we waited until the middle of December and we couldn't take the pickup. Even had trouble getting the tractor back in the field. We almost got stuck." "Hmmphhh! A Christmas tree!" Mom grumbled. "The very idea. In November!" "But Mom," I said, "look at how hard it's snowing." "A Christmas tree," she muttered. "The next thing you know, she'll be pestering me about decorating it the day after Thanksgiving!" After a while, my mother finally calmed down. Dad and I didn't dare mention cutting a tree again until December, and by that time there was so much snow, it wasn't a matter of 'almost' getting stuck with the tractor, we did get stuck, even with chains on the tires. Dad was pretty upset about it, too. It was one thing to get stuck with the pickup because you could always pull the truck out with the tractor. But what do you do when the tractor is stuck? You shovel an awful lot of snow away from the tires, that's what ************ From the book: Christmas In Dairyland (True Stories From a Wisconsin Farm) LeAnn Ralph may be contacted at http://ruralroute2.com bigpines@ruralroute2.com. Click here to view more of their articles. |
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