We’ve come a long way
The first American Thanksgiving feast was celebrated over a three-day
period in 1621 in Plymouth, Mass., with European settlers sitting
down with about 90 Native Americans to meals consisting mostly of
wild game and fish. The fact the settlers were eating anything at all
was probably the greatest cause to celebrate that year -- the first
winter in Massachusetts had wiped out fully half of the original
Plymouth colonists.
It was a far different time of thanks in America than we find
today. The gratitude expressed around the turkey in 1621 pretty much involved the very basics, such as “Boy, am I thankful I didn’t get
the smallpox this year,” and “Boy, am I glad I didn’t starve or
freeze to death last January,” and “Gee, am I grateful I ran faster
than Bob when that bear was chasing us.”
Times have changed considerably since then, as have the kinds of
fortunes for which Huntington Beach residents can count themselves
thankful. There are, for sure, more to be grateful for than the gift
of life.
We can be grateful for a vast network of volunteers who provide
goods and services for families and individuals who are faced with
low-income or who are homeless. Volunteers deliver lunches to senior
shut-ins, not just on holidays, but throughout the year. Other
volunteers coordinate fund-raisers that benefit their churches, the
YMCA and local schools to supplement educational materials and
equipment.
Year-round, volunteers help the Oak View Community Center,
Huntington Beach Community Clinic, Rogers Senior’s Center, the
Therapeutic Riding Center and Boys and Girls Club. At the holidays,
they add toys and gift certificates to the list.
Volunteers care for the Bolsa Chica and the Shipley Nature Center.
Local service groups raise funds so that local charities can
continue helping the homeless and less fortunate, putting together
literacy projects for young and old, alike, and running programs for
the developmentally disabled.
And we can be grateful that we live in a community that prides
itself on its commitment to maintaining its quality of life and
ensuring this is one of the best places to live
As we sit down to whatever feast we’ve prepared for ourselves,
let’s hold one another’s hands and say it like we mean it: “Today,
I’m glad to live in Huntington Beach.”
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.
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