October 11th – Happy Thanksgiving!

by annemariedemyen, posted in News & Views - October 2021

Today it is officially Thanksgiving in Canada. (In our house we are celebrating with our Thanksgiving supper tomorrow night – at 7 pm, to be specific 😁).

I did not source out an actual news story about Thanksgiving in Canada but I have put together a few bits and pieces that I would consider newsworthy. Some were news to me. 😏

Matin Frobisher and his crew celebrated the first Thanksgiving in Canada in 1578 in honor of their safe return from a dangerous exploration of the Northwest Passage.

Thanksgiving was formally recognized as a holiday in Canada in 1879. It is celebrated on the second Monday of October, in recognition of the successful end of our annual harvest season. Since our harvest ends a month sooner than that of our neighbours to the south, our Thanksgiving is celebrated a month earlier than their November celebration. That makes sense!

One of our neighbourhood Bluejays, harvesting peanuts.

Thanksgiving in Canada is not the huge holiday that it is in the States. Families gather. Some watch a bit of sports. Most eat a lot of turkey, ham, cabbage rolls, mashed potatoes, stuffing and all the other foods fit for a traditional feast – up to, and including, pumpkin or apple pie. Many Canadians rally to serve a hot meal to the less fortunate. There are small local events put on across Canada, but nothing national or over the top. It is typically a relatively quiet family centred holiday.

Unlike our American neighbours, we do not round off our Thanksgiving weekend with a pre-Christmas shopping spree. Our retail outlets hold their biggest sales of the year on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) as a customer appreciation event. This is a throwback to a European tradition started by Lords and Ladies of great estates. On Boxing Day they would present gifts to their household staff to show appreciation for the extra services that they had provided over the Christmas season.

Let our lives be full of thanks & giving💞

Take care and have a great day! For all of those who are celebrating in Canada this weekend – Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃

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29 thoughts on “October 11th – Happy Thanksgiving!”

  22. Thank you, Frony! I just see the American Thanksgiving as it is shown on tv. Here it is pretty much the only holiday that hasn’t been totally commercialized, although I am sure there were a lot more Thanksgiving decorations in the stores this year.

    Liked by 1 person

  25. Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for sharing as I was wondering why your Thanksgiving is a month before ours here in the States. Makes perfect sense and I hope you had some yummy food!! 💞

    Liked by 1 person

  26. Just finished cleaning up from our supper with granddaughter Genie and her boyfriend Alex. We stuffed ourselves and had a load of laughs. 🤣. I had no idea why we had a different Thanksgiving either. 🤔

    Liked by 1 person

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