Happy Thanksgiving!

I want to wish all of my loved ones in Canada a very happy Thanksgiving today. 

It's not a big occasion like it is here in the States. I asked someone once why it was such a huge deal here and they said that it was because it marks the beginning of the Christmas season. Everyone has a big dinner late in the afternoon and goes to bed early so that they can get up at 4am the next morning to go shopping. In Canada we just have a turkey dinner and then go to work or school the next day. 

I found the following info on Kidzworld.com and pasted it here for you to read. 

Canadian Thanksgiving - How It Began

The origins of Canadian Thanksgiving are more closely connected to the traditions of Europe than of the United States. Long before Europeans settled in North America, festivals of thanks and celebrations of harvest took place in Europe in the month of October. The very first Thanksgiving celebration in North America took place in Canada when Martin Frobisher, an explorer from England, arrived in Newfoundland in 1578. He wanted to give thanks for his safe arrival to the New World. That means the first Thanksgiving in Canada was celebrated 43 years before the pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts!

Canadian Thanksgiving - Official Holiday
For a few hundred years, Thanksgiving was celebrated in either late October or early November, before it was declared a national holiday in 1879. It was then, that November 6th was set aside as the official Thanksgiving holiday. But then on January 31, 1957, Canadian Parliament announced that on the second Monday in October, Thanksgiving would be "a day of general thanksgiving to almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed." Thanksgiving was moved to the second Monday in October because after the World Wars, Remembrance Day (November 11th)and Thanksgiving kept falling in the same week.

Canadian Thanksgiving - The 49th Parallel

Another reason for Canadian Thanksgiving arriving earlier than its American counterpart is that Canada is geographically further north than the United States, causing the Canadian harvest season to arrive earlier than the American harvest season. And since Thanksgiving for Canadians is more about giving thanks for the harvest season than the arrival of pilgrims, it makes sense to celebrate the holiday in October. So what are the differences between Canadian and American Thanksgiving, other than the date? Not much! Both Canadians and Americans celebrate Thanksgiving with parades, family gatherings, pumpkin pie and a whole lot of turkey!

Have a happy holiday everyone!

(For my American friends, Happy Columbus Day!)