Thanksgiving Facts:  Did you know...

• The Pilgrims were a group of Puritans that landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. 
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• In 1621 the Governor of New England proclaimed a day of "thanksgiving" to celebrate after the Pilgrims' first harvest in America.
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• In 1623 a day of fasting and prayer
  during a period of drought was changed to one of thanksgiving because the rain came during the prayers. Gradually the custom prevailed in New England of annually celebrating thanksgiving after the harvest.
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• Thanksgiving is not a national holiday.  (Actually the U.S. has no national holidays--days set aside by official government proclamation. Instead, we have "legal holidays"--days on which public institutions and most places of business are closed--which are designated by legislative enactment or by executive proclamation.
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• Holidays are observed on a national scale as a result of action by the states. In the case of Thanksgiving Day the president proclaims the calendar date and requests national observance, and the states then usually enact the necessary legislation.
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• President Abraham Lincoln designated the first national Thanksgiving Day in 1863, and since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, generally designating the fourth Thursday of November as a holiday.
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• During the American Revolution a yearly day of national thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental Congress.
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• Although our Thanksgiving Day falls annually on the fourth Thursday of November, days of thanksgiving are celebrated in many lands and at various times of the year. For example: The Virgin Islands observe Thanksgiving Day on October 25 to celebrate the end of the hurricane season. Thanksgiving has been a statutory holiday in Canada since 1879.  Although it was originally observed on October 12, Canada has celebrated Thanksgiving Day on the second Monday in October since 1957.

Upcoming Issues

Don't forget to submit items for our next issue.  I'd love to receive recipes, patterns, quick tips & hints, upcoming classes, special events, even full length articles!  Also, if there's a topic you'd like to see covered, just  let me know.  (See the return address for how to reach me).
I'd love your input on any of the following ideas:

• Start With a Box and Go--for those of us who use prepackaged cake mixes, but add our own little something extra--what creative things do you do with a cake mix?
  
• What's Left When It's Over?--besides snacking on it for breakfast, what do you do with leftover cake trimmings?
  
• Everybody Love's a Good Egg--for the Easter issue--how do you use all those Easter eggs once Easter is over?
  
• Decorating on a Shoestring--time to share those cost-cutting, money-saving ideas with the rest of us.  What steps do you take in order to keep the costs of your hobby in control?