Happy (?) Thanksgiving

The "First" Thanksgiving was hardly the first Thanksgiving, at least as far as we know it today. In fact, the subject remains controversial.

Who were the Pilgrims?

The Pilgrims were originally members of the English Separatist Church (a Puritan sect). Their ship, the Mayflower, landed at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. What followed was a devastating winter, where almost half of the settlers died from exposure to the cold and starvation. The wheat the puritans brought with them wouldn't thrive in the rocky New England soil. But seeing the condition of the Pilgrims, the Wampanoag (Native Americans) took pity on them and taught them how to survive.

But by the fall of 1621, things were looking up, and the Pilgrims decided to celebrate with a three-day feast, which was more of a traditional English harvest festival than a true "Thanksgiving" celebration.

The Pilgrims invited the Native Americans, who most likely provided most of the food, and for three days two different cultures joined together in peace. Unfortunately, this peace did not last. As more settlers arrived, they did not need the help of the Native Americans, and forgot the help the Indians had provided. Things deteriorated, and eventually led to King Phillip's War, decimating the native people through war and disease.

The next "Thanksgiving Day" did not come until June 29, 1676, but that, unfortunately, represented a "celebration" of the colonists' "victory" over the natives.

A one-time "Thanksgiving"a hundred years later in October 1777 celebrated the colonists' victory, this time over the British at Saratoga.

George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789, but it took the efforts of Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, to make Thanksgiving, as we know it, a national holiday. Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of Thanksgiving. In 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.

In 1941, Congress finally declared Thanksgiving Day a legal holiday.

Thanksgiving represents enjoying--and being thankful for--the fruits of a bountiful harvest and hard work throughout the year. However, for many (especially the Native Americans), it is a day of great sorrow.

Today, Thanksgiving is a day of eating :) and so hearkens back, in essence, to the numerous harvest festivals celebrated by virtually every culture in every age, which proves just how similar all the cultures of the world really are.

Of course, it is also the "official" start of the holiday shopping season. :) But I think it is notable that the main symbol of Thanksgiving--the cornucopia, or horn of plenty--which symbolizes abundance, originated in ancient Greece. It was a curved goat's horn filled to overflowing with fruit and grain. It symbolizes the horn possessed by Zeus's nurse, the Greek nymph Amalthaea, which could be filled with whatever the owner wished.

What do you want to fill your horn with this holiday season?

Links:


"The First Thanksgiving"--a balanced account of what really happened (from the Native American point of view)

History of Thanksgiving

KidsDomain Thanksgiving History sites

Scholastic Thanksgiving Student Activities

Thanksgiving Crafts for kids

More Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids

Thanksgiving Coloring Pages

Thanksgiving Puzzles, Wordfinds, Coloring Pages

Print and Color Thanksgiving Cards from Fisher-Price

Thanksgiving Word Search from Kidprintables

Thanksgiving Maze from Kidprintables

On Santa, Believing, and The Christmas Countdown has begun!

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus . . .

It seems the holiday season starts earlier and earlier every year, but in some ways, that’s not such a bad thing.

I’m the type who likes to think every day should be Christmas, and we can all play “Santa.” Okay, not as well as The Jolly One himself, but we can at least try.

And with An Enchanted Letter TM, I’m kind of in Christmas mode all year long. And I shop--always on sale!--all year long for the holidays. (You should see the closet in the “junk” room. Although it pretty well clears out by this time every year.)

Lots of other organizations are playing “Santa” too, and Macy’s is one of them. Bring your stamped letter to Santa to any Macy’s, addressed to Santa at the North Pole (where else would Santa be?), and drop your letter into their special Santa letterbox. For every letter, Macy’s will donate $1 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation up to 1 million. Then they’ll deliver them to the Post Office for mailing to Santa. At the North Pole.

And in the spirit of giving, An Enchanted Letter TM just delivered to a local drop-off 5 shoeboxes, filled with shoes, tees, socks, toys, and toiletries, for Operation Christmas Child, which in turn delivers them to needy kids all over the world. (Thanks to all the volunteers at the church--and all the churches across the country!)

And special thanks to all of my customers, because a portion of profits from the personalized letters I sell all year long goes to fund the shoeboxes and toys for local charities at Christmas.

Which makes us all “Santa’s Elves.” :)

For more info on Macy’s letter drive, go to macys.com/believe

Oh, and while you're there, enter their contest to win a trip to the 2010 (next year!) Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Wanna see pics of the shoeboxes?











I have a blast putting the shoeboxes together, wrapping them in Christmas paper. Playing Santa. (Warm fuzzies.) And new this year, Operation Christmas Child has a tracking system that will (hopefully) let me know which countries the shoeboxes go to. (How cool is that?) Of course, when I find out, I'll share. :)

And in the meantime, I'm sharing my annual Countdown to Christmas Contest with you! Okay, so it's not as grand as the Macy's prize ;) but I love playing "Santa." So here's "Elf Donna's" turn.

The Countdown to Christmas Contest has begun!
An Enchanted Letter TM is giving away a prize pack of children’s holiday books-- including a beautiful hardcover edition of the children’s classic The Velveteen Rabbit--holiday pencils and stickers, and a cute “Santa on his sleigh“ Christmas stocking.

All you have to do to enter is send an email to gtbaskets (at) yahoo.com with “Christmas Countdown” in the subject line. Only winner will be contacted by email for mailing address. (All other emails will be discarded after contest.)

Contest ends December 10th.

(Sorry, can only ship within US.)

Here are the book titles:

The Velveteen Rabbit
The Nutcracker (hardcover Golden Books edition)
Teddy’s Christmas Cut-out (activity book)
Story of the Christmas Rose
The Tiny Christmas Elf
Sesame Street coloring/activity book
Travels with Santa sticker book
3 holiday pencils
4 holiday sticker sheets
“Santa on his sleigh” stocking

Here’s the photo:



Good Luck, and Happy Holidays!

Now back to your regular programming. Pass the pumpkin pie!

Electronic Greeting Card Day

Do you recycle?

November 15th is America Recycles Day.

Yes, there really is a "holiday" dedicated to recycling.

America Recycles Day (ARD) is the only nationally recognized day dedicated to encouraging Americans to recycle and to buy recycled products. Millions of Americans have pledged to increase their recycling and to buy products made with recycled materials. Through America Recycles Day, Keep America Beautiful, Inc. (KAB) and the National Recycling Coalition (NRC) support local communities and raise awareness by educating people about the benefits of recycling.

November 17th is Electronic Greeting Card Day, which sorta ties into America recycles day. E-cards are great because there is no paper to recycle, and that means they're good for the environment.

Below are links to a few FREE e-card sites. I thought this would be fun, especially with all the holidays coming. But who doesn't love to send and receive e-cards? Especially the animated ones. :)

Links:

America Recycles Day

America Recycles Day --"official" website

Planet Pals --lots of fun printables and activities for kids for Amwerica Recycles Day, even free recycling clipart!

RecycleSpot --how to get involved, events

RecycleSpot Kids' Activity "Kit" --free downloadable, printable PDF activity "kit" with acticities for all grades, plus a crossword puzzle

Electronic Greeting Card Day

Free E-cards Sites

Dover Publications FREE e-cards

E-greetings

123 Greetings

Free E-cards Online

Greetings Island

Regards.com

E-cards

Funny-Ecards

Ecardfunny.com

Christian ecards

National Young Readers Day

National Young Readers Week runs from November 9-13. Co-founded in 1989 by Pizza Hut and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, it is a day to recognize the joys and benefits of reading.

Young Readers Day is November 14th.

And in honor of books--because An Enchanted Letter TM is dedicated to getting kids to read (I'm an English Lit M.A. and writer), below are several resources (other than your local library) for free children's books.

Plus, in honor of young readers everywhere, I will be running a giveaway here and on my website of a prize pack of children's books. So stay tuned! (I'll be getting the details up in the next few days.)


Links:

National Reading Incentive Program -- ideas and free printables

Certificate for participation during National Young Readers Week

Recipes and suggested books

Children's Books Online: The Rosetta Project --Free online children's books

Children's Books Online-- Here's the link to their online library

Project Gutenberg

An Enchanted Letter TM -- FREE downloadable ebook I compiled of classic children's stories

World Kindness Day

November 13th is World Kindness Day. Pretty cool, huh?

In 1996, the Small Kindness Movement in Japan organized a conference in Tokyo. They invited like-minded individuals from around the world who had started kindness movements in their own countries. A second conference in 1997 led to the formation of the World Kindness Movement, and a "Declaration of Kindness," signed by seven countries, on November 13th, which became World Kindness Day.

The mission of the World Kindness Movement is, simply, to inspire kindness both between individuals and between nations, to create a kinder world.

The purpose is to look beyond ourselves, our countries, culture, and religion and realize we are citizens of the world--and look for those qualities that make us similar, rather than different. If we focus on what we have in common, then we can make progress toward a true and lasting peace. The day celebrates coming together and working together.

And it all starts with us, with small acts of kindness.

So, start small. Enough small kindnesses add up to a really big kindness. And in that vein, An Enchanted Letter TM has been preparing care packages for children in need for an organization called "Samaritan's Purse." This organization runs "Operation Christmas Child" which collects shoeboxes filled with personal hygiene items, small toys, school supplies, and sweets, and sends them to children in need all over the world.

Last year, I read an article in their newsletter about a little boy who was so grateful to receive a pair of shoes through Operation Christmas Child. The story touched me to the core. Most of us take shoes completely for granted, but I've been reading how many children can't go to school without shoes. Can you imagine? And children who walk around barefoot risking infection from dirty syringes and who knows what else. That something so basic, so simple, can make such a difference.

This year, An Enchanted Letter TM, in addition to donating toys to local drives, is sending 5 shoeboxes to Operation Christmas Child, each with a pair of shoes. It isn't much, but the power of combined donations-- Well, little kindnesses really do add up.

Times are tough, life is stressful. With the holidays approaching, what can you do to make someone's life a little easier? To make the world a little better? A little kinder?


Links:

World Kindness Movement

KindActs.net

Australian Kindness Movement

ActsofKindness.org

Acts of Kindness --send ecards, free printables

Kids For Peace

The Great Kindness Challenge

Some ideas to get you started

Samaritan's Purse

Operation Christmas Child

Happy Veterans' Day!

What is Veterans' Day, really?

It is the day we honor veterans of all wars, but it began at the end of World War I.

World War I officially ended on June 28, 1919, with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, but the actual fighting between the Allies and Germany had already ended seven months earlier with the armistice--which went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918.

November 11.

President Woodrow Wilson declared November 11, 1919 "Armistice Day" to honor the sacrifices the men and women made during the war. Because World War I, at the time, had been known as the "war to end all wars." Other countries today still recognize November 11th as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in honor of the Armistice treaty which ended WWI.

Armistice Day officially became a holiday in the United States in 1926, and in 1938, Congress voted it a federal holiday.

Then World War II happened.

Armistice Day came to symbolize the sacrifices made by veterans of all wars. In 1953 the residents of Emporia, Kansas called the holiday Veterans' Day in gratitude to all the veterans in their town. On June 1, 1954, Congress passed a bill introduced by a Kansas congressman that officially changed the name from Armistice Day to Veterans' Day.

For several years in the 1970s, Veterans Day was observed in October by many states but in 1978 it was returned to November 11th.

On Veterans' Day and Memorial Day, veterans' groups raise funds for their charitable activities by selling paper poppies made by disabled veterans. This bright red wildflower became a symbol of World War I after a bloody battle in a field of poppies called Flanders Field in Belgium.

Thank you to all the veterans--and those serving now--for keeping America free.

And here are three interesting sites I found (thanks to "I Heart Daily's newsletter--check out iheartdaily.com) about recycling that leftover Halloween candy by sending it to our troops. (I also just saw a piece in my local newspaper about a dentist collecting leftover Halloween candy for just this purpose.)

Soldiers often request candy and sweets in their care packages. But no chocolate, since it melts :) This is a perfect Veterans' Day activity, coming so close on the heels of Halloween--and Christmas isn't all that far behind.

Support Our Troops

Operation Shoebox Supporting Our Troops

Operation Gratitude

Operation Gratitude's Halloween Candy Buyback Program


Links:

History

Celebrate Veterans' Day -- history and origin of the holiday

Veterans' Day --history and meaning

History.com

Infoplease--lots of links

History of Veteran's Day (more kid-friendly)

US Dept of Veterans' Affairs -- history, teacher's guides

Celebrating America's Freedoms --lots of links to history, famous US documents on the subject of freedom from the Dept of Veterans' Affairs

Crafts, activities

US Department of Veterans Affairs Kids' Site

Veteran's History Project

Veterans Day Crafts, Projects, Worksheets, Books, and Printouts

Surfing the Net with Kids --Veteran's Day

Veterans' Day Printables

Veterans' Day Wordsearch

BOO! Happy Halloween! And a CONTEST!

Halloween is coming! Can you just feel it in the air? All the ghosts and goblins getting restless?

Of course October 31st is Halloween, but it is also the day other "holidays" are celebrated, like National Caramel Apple Day, Carve A Pumpkin Day, Reformation Day, and Samhain Day. And October 30th is National Candy Corn Day. (I don't know about you, but I LOVE candy corn!) And October is also Cookie Month, Apple Month, and Caramel Month. (Love those too!) Okay, I admit it. I have a terrible sweet tooth. That makes October a pretty sweet month, eh?

Reformation Day

What is Reformation Day? It is a religious holiday that commemorates Dr. Martin Luther's posting of his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517, a move that triggered the Protestant Reformation and break with certain traditions of the Catholic church. Luther's two main points were that Christians cannot earn God's love or forgiveness; they have only to accept God's love and forgiveness. And that every Christian has his or her own personal relationship with God, reading the Bible, and praying directly to God.

Today, Reformation is celebrated as an alternative to Halloween, which has its origins in the occult or pagan.

Samhain

Which leads us to Samhain Day. Samhain (pronounced "sow-en") means "summer's end," and marks both the end of summer and the harvest. Samhain marked both the change in the weather--from summer to winter--as well as the shift from life to death. The Celts believed that such turning points in their lives signified magical times, and that during this time of change, when people brought the livestock down from the hills and basically "hibernated" inside their houses or close to home, the world of the living was closest to the world of the dead.

The spirits of the dead and those yet to be born walked amongst the living. The dead could return to the places where they had lived and food and entertainment were provided in their honor. One story also suggests that those who had died in the preceding year were on the lookout for a new body to possess for the coming year. Not wanting to be possessed, the living turned out the fires in their hearths to make their homes cold and inhospitable. Then they dressed up in ghoulish costumes and noisily paraded around the neighborhood to frighten away spirits.

Halloween

Which leads to our modern Halloween, or "All Hallows' Eve," which comes from the Catholic holiday "All Hallow's Day" or "Saint's Day" which honors the saints. All Hallow's Eve being the day before, or the evening before, All Hallow's Day. The Catholic Church had a long-standing tradition of incorporating pagan traditions into their own Christian holidays to bring people into Christianity.

The Days of the Dead

All Souls Day is celebrated especially in Mexico, where All Hallow's Eve, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day are collectively celebrated as "Los Dias de los Muertos," or "The Days of the Dead." Families fondly remember the deceased, but it is also a time of festivities with parades of skeletons and ghouls.

Trick-or-treating

The custom of Halloween was brought to America in the 1840's by Irish immigrants fleeing the great potato famine. Trick-or-treating is thought to have originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a ninth-century European custom called souling.

On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars received, the more prayers they promised to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the family that gave them the cakes. At the time, people believed the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could help the soul make its way to heaven.

Jack-O-Lantern

The Jack-o-lantern custom probably comes from Irish folklore. As the tale is told, a man named Jack tricked Satan into climbing a tree. Jack then carved an image of a cross in the tree's trunk, so the devil could not climb down. Jack made a deal with the devil that, if he would never tempt him again, he would promise to let him down the tree.

According to folktale, after Jack died, he was denied entrance to Heaven because of his evil ways, but he was also denied access to Hell because he had tricked the devil. Instead, the devil gave him a single ember to light his way through the cold darkness. The ember was placed inside a hollowed-out turnip to keep it glowing longer.

The Irish used turnips as their "Jack's lanterns" originally. But when the immigrants came to America, they found that pumpkins were far more plentiful than turnips. So the Jack-O-Lantern in America was a hollowed-out pumpkin, lit with an ember--or a candle--or today, a flashlight.

Alternative to Candy

Trick-or-treating usually means candy, but I found an interesting website, "Books for Treats," I just have to share. As an English major (MA in Eng Lit) and a writer, books are my passion--and so An Enchanted Letter (TM) is dedicated to getting kids to read. Books for Treats is an organization that gives books each year to trick-or-treaters instead of candy, and I thought this was a nifty idea for anyone to do on their own.

Since books are expensive, the organization's idea is to collect gently used books, in good condition, to distribute instead of candy. Not only is it a great way to recycle--not to mention cut down on cavities :)--it's a great way to extend the joy of the holiday. Because as much as I love candy--and I do so LOVE candy--a book lasts a lot longer than a sweet. Candy is gone in a flash, but a book lasts "forever." (i.e., a good story lasts forever.) So check out Books for Treats. (No, I'm not affiliated, but I'm always on the lookout for unusual sites.)

So, Happy Halloween everybody. Have fun, and stay safe trick-or-treating. And check out the links below for Halloween crafts, recipes, and more!

Contest

And don't forget to enter the KidZone Foliage Drawing Contest! Deadline is November 15th, so hurry!



Links:

Overview of Reformation Day

History of Reformation Day

How To Celebrate Reformation Day

Samhain

Fall Craft Ideas

History of Halloween

Halloween History

Fisher-Price Print and Color Cards for Halloween

Kid Printables--Lots Halloween printables (coloring pages, puzzles, crafts)

Family Fun--Halloween crafts, recipes, printables

Makingfriends.com --MORE Halloween kid printables, crafts

Freekidscrafts.com--kids' crafts

Activity Village--Halloween Crafts for kids

Kaboose--Halloween costumes, crafts, recipes, more

Halloween clipart at An Enchanted Letter

Make a Difference Day!

October 24th is Make A Difference Day!

Created by USA WEEKEND Magazine, Make A Difference Day is an annual event that takes place on the fourth Saturday of every October. The next event is Saturday, October 24, 2009.

I thought this was a great idea. We can all make a difference in someone's life any day of the year and reap the reward of knowing we did good. But, if you send in an entry form after October 24th, your volunteer project may win not only accolades but a $10,000 donation from Newman's Own for the charity! How's that for an incentive? There's even an idea generator on the site. Here's the link:

Make A Difference Day

What is An Enchanted Letter (TM) doing? Getting shoeboxes together for my favorite charity "Operation Christian Child" at Samaritan's Purse. They collect shoeboxes filled with small toys, socks, toothpaste, toothbrushes, even shoes to distribute to children worldwide. Check the Samaritan's Purse website for local dropoff locations near you. There's still time to put a shoebox together. National Collection Week is November 16-23.

One person can make a difference, and it doesn't have to be anything big.

Samaritan's Purse

Operation Christmas Child