Every year this little neighborhood north of 17th Street in North Tustin hold it’s annual Thanksgiving day parade.  Started over 30 years ago when the daughters of the Parrish family were bored during a Thanksgiving Day celebration, they decided to have their own parade.  So they marched around the neighborhood by themselves.  Every year it grew bigger and bigger. Eventually the Foothill High school Marching band and Tall Flags became a part of the tradition.   Add your comments and memories of the parade.  We would love to know more about the history of the parade and the neighborhood in general.  Have old photos or video?  Submit them.

The truth about Thanksgiving Day is that every year I promise myself that I will get a Royal Holiday reservation and spend Thanksgiving watching the Macy’s parade in New York City I just wish work didn’t pile up on the holiday season and that I could really go to New York on Thanksgiving day, not for the sales, just for the parade from what friends that have been there tell me it is quite a sight. So this year I can only hope to be there next year for Thanksgiving Day. I know I will miss my family dinner but missing one once in a while can actually make you look forward to being there the next year can’t it? So The next thing in the agenda is to make a list of the Christmas present s I have to buy this year and getting them before December 15^th that is my deadline I hate going shopping after that all the crowds and the sales persons are too tired to be nice, so focus on having the shopping done by then.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

BLACK FRIDAY HERE I COME!!!!

…so little time.

1. First off – thanks so much to all of you who came out to our first annual DECA cocktail party. It was a full house and we were deeeelighted.  I want to say a special thank you to a few people:

• Melanie 0f Melanie’s Bistro for hosting the evening, preparing some really fantastic food, and serving up the beverages
• City Councillor, Janet Davis for helping us with the flyers, and
• Graphic Designer, Aron Harris, for designing said flyers, but more about him another time.

2. Did you know DECA was in a parade? You would if you had ventured down to the Beaches Santa Clause parade last weekend.  About the experience of dressing up as local fruits and vegetables to promote the East Lynn Market in a parade on a cool November Sunday, DECA vice-chair, Catherine Porter, said it was “quite possibly the best cure for depression. I vow to go in every parade I can from now until…death?”  (That’s her in the pumpkin suit.)

3. UP!  This Friday night, Gledhill Public School is hosting a family movie night. All proceeds from popcorn sales and the $1 admission charge will go to Community Centre 55 to help local families in need.  All children must be accompanied by an adult.  Showtime is 6:30.  Doors open at 6 p.m.

4. G-Spot Bar and Grill – A hearing has been scheduled for Dec. 14th at 9:30 a.m. to review the application for the liquor license of the G Spot Bistro.  If you have any concerns at all about this establishment and it’s liquor license please try to make it to this hearing if you can.  It’s at 90 Sheppard Ave. on the 3rd floor.  Contact 416-326-0366 for more information or let me know if you would like to know more.

5. A note on safety.  A resident on Oakcrest Ave. wrote me a little while ago to let us all know about an incident at her home.  They had gone to get into the car at 8:30 in the morning when their son decided he needed a new diaper (honestly it’s always when you’re walking out the door isn’t it?).  Anyway, they left the car unlocked while they went in to change the diaper and when they came out, the car was ransacked.  Someone had pulled everything out and gone through all the nooks and crannies.  In my own experience, I think someone goes down my street every night checking to see if any car doors are left accidentally unlocked.  Keep your vehicles locked folks.

6. Merrill Bridge Road Park (Is it just me or are there too many geographic identifiers in the name of this park?)  On Monday there was a meeting about making this park an off-leash dog park.  I understand there was discussion about making part of the park off-leash and discussion about making all of the park off-leash and fencing off the ravine.  There would be some on-leash hours during the day in the summer.  Anyway, the City (Parks and Rec) will now go off and consider the input from the meeting.  For more info, check out the Merrill Park Dog Association site.

7. Basement Flooding – Apparently the City is doing an environmental assessment and looking into the issue of basement flooding from the DVP to Vic Park and south from Sammon Ave.  The study will consider solutions and will include some public consultation next fall.  If you would like to know more about this, contact Councillor Sandra Bussin or Josie Franch, the Public Consultation Coordinator for the City at 416-338-2859.

8. Councillor Janet Davis is organizing a meeting to help tenants better understand their rights and responsibilities as tenants.  It will be Dec. 2nd from 7-9 p.m. at the Secord Public School Gym at 101 Barrington Ave.

Keke Palmer was aboard of the Build A Bear Workshop float, during the Macy’s 83rd Annual Thanksgiving parade earlier today. Keke performed her new song “Top of the World.”

This  morning I watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I was both pleased and shocked over the changes to this parade. For one, I was glad that this parade returned to its original route, ending on NYC’s 34th Street, as in the film Miracle on 34th Street. Being a musician, I was curious as to which artists would grace the stages of some of the floats. While this year’s Thanksgiving Day Parade featured astounding musical numbers and singers like Andrea Bocelli and Carly Simon, I noticed that this parade had more artists that were new to me: artists like Jay Sean, Keke Palmer, Boys Like Girls, Billy Currington, and Mitchel Musso. These singers cover a wide range of genres, some of these performances bothered me. Currington, for instance, sang “People are Crazy,” where he proclaimed his love of God and alcohol (Was that really necessary for a family program?). Others, like Musso, lip-synched their hit songs, often barely avoiding musical snafus reminiscent of  Milli Vanilli. Honestly, I’d prefer if all of the performers would just sing and not rely on their amplied studio recordings as crutches!

A lot to be thankful for this year! I’m excited to spend this quality time with family I haven’t seen in a while. Gain weight today. Lose it all tomorrow. Had a fun time so far watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Always a fun tradition.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a national holiday tradition, and has been so for the past 83 years, and this year the tradition continued.

This year, the parade route returns to its roots with it ending at 34th street right in front of the Macy’s store. This is different than it has been in recent years.

 There is a list of performers that include Katharine McPhee, Jane Krakowski, and we have Spiderman, Kermit and Spongebob floating down the parade route. Ziggy Marley, the son of the legendary Reggae singer Bob Marley, performed a song with his daughter on a float decorated as a pirate ship.

Ziggy Marley and Daughter awaiting performance at Macy Thanksgiving Day Parade today

 Ziggy performed his new song ”It’s Family Time” while holding his daughter in his arms so she could reach the mike…very cute.

Katharine McPhee, sporting her new sassy blonde ‘do, performed her new single “Had It All.” Jane Krakowski performed a Christmas tune. She may play a ditzy spoiled celeb on “30 Rock,” but in real-life Krakowski is quite the songbird.

Teen superstar Miley Cyrus made an exuberant appearance waving to her throngs of excited fans that lined the parade route waiting patiently for the international superstar. She looked great, in light of the bush crash tragedy that killed her long time tour bus driver this past friday. Today was much happier times for her.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade aired on CBS and NBC at noon ET/9 am PT.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING…NOW GO EAT….

due to economic recession macy’s thanksgiving day parade will be
severely downsized this year

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Jay Sean performed at this years Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade with his smash hit “Down.”

Today we went to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC. We watched it from Grandpa & Nana’s beautiful new apartment on the upper west side. Here are a few quick pics from my iPhone:

Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that never really excites me until the day of.  This time yesterday I wasn’t thinking about Thanksgiving AT ALL.  And today I’m super pumped to head down to OKC with my family!  My mom’s been cooking for hours and our kitchen is fullllll of food.

I’m typically not excited to see my extended family.  It’s been about 3 years since I’ve seen any of them, to be honest.  When I was young I felt like they were all so critical of me.  They’re the kind of people that will point out every little thing wrong with you and think you should just go ahead and appreciate them for their honesty.  But that’s tough to do when you’re an insecure, sensitive teenage girl.  So I started to avoid them and I’ve done it successfully for a few years now… always working on Thanksgiving, convincing my parents to stay here for Christmas, making plans anytime my family went to see them, etc.

So yes, today brings about weird feelings.  I’m not really sure what to expect.  Although I’m not too concerned about feeling insecure, because I’m more confident and comfortable now than I’ve ever been.  I’m going to get really cute, throw on my most expensive pair of boots, and just work it all day long.  It’s just what I do.

Now that I’ve watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and have seen all those holiday commercials, I REALLY feel like the Christmas season is here.  Finally!  It’s the best feeling, there’s nothing quite as amazing as Christmas.  I’m soooo ready to go present shopping.  I’m getting presents for everyone!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!! <3

We’re home for the holidays, and hope that you are too. Have a great thanksgiving, and give thanks to all that makes you joyful. Also, give thanks that you aren’t John Stamos dancing in the Macy’s thanksgiving Day parade…poor uncle Jesse, what happened to the Rippers!?

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

This is my friend Nora (left), my cousin Erica (right) and myself checking out the floats for the Detroit Thanksgiving Parade last night at one or so in the morning.

Happy Thanksgiving from Detroit, y’all.

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“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
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–John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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1948, Hyannisport, Massachusetts, USA — Kennedy family at Thanksgiving at Hyannisport, Massachusetts. From left: John F. Kennedy, Jean Ann Smith, Rose Kennedy, Joseph Kennedy Sr., Patricia Lawford, Robert F. Kennedy, Eunice Mary Shriver, Edward Kennedy (squatting). — Image by © CORBIS

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~*~

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Enuff of the preachin’, go and enjoy the parade in vintage B & W–

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Circa 1940, Manhattan, NY:  This float, depicting a scene from the “Thief Of Bagdad,” was among those included in the annual Macy Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.  – Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Times Square, Manhattan, NY:  Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade at Times Square. Photograph, ca. 1930s. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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1956, Manhattan, NY: Photo taken at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City shows the crowd watching behind a police barricade and children watching in front of the barricade. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1930, Manhattan, NY:  Photo shows the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Giant balloons are led down the street by attendants, past sidewalks crowded with spectators. Ca. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1939, Times Square, Manhattan, NY:  A great multitude of New Yorkers turned out today for the great annual free Thanksgiving show staged up by R.H. Macy’s department store. The parade was up to the minute with the giant replicas of comic strip and movie charactors that never fail to make a hit. Here is a view of the Tin-Man from the Wizard of OZ made from the sixth story of a Times Square building as the parade went past. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1931, Manhattan, NY:  View of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on Broadway.   Image foregrounds giant hippopotamus balloon. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1941, Manhattan, NY:  Parade participants hold ropes attached to the Santa Claus parade balloon as it collapses during the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1934, Manhattan, NY:  This gigantic figure of Eddie Cantor, featured in the annual Macy parade which every year brings joy to the kiddies of New York. The route of march was down Broadway through the theatrical center and hundreds of thousands of kiddies lined the route of the march. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1934, Manhattan, NY:  This big crybaby balloon was one of the features in the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade which paraded down Broadway, bringing joy to the hearts of the thousands of kiddies who lined the route of March. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1958, Manhattan, NY:  Thanksgiving Day – Macy’s Parade. Spaceman Balloon Held Up By Crane Moves Down Broadway.  Towering Spaceman balloon, held by crane, wins out-of-this-world admiration from young and old at Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1959, Manhattan, NY:  Thanksgiving Day – Macy’s Parade. A balloon of a thirsty crocodile in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Date unknown, Manhattan, NY:  Crowd Watching Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. — Image by © Underwood & Underwood/CORBIS

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Circa 1959, Manhattan, NY:  Thanksgiving Day – Macy’s Parade. Balloon of crocodile in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1952, Times Square, Manhattan, NY:  A giant spaceman balloon looms over the crowd watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. The helium-filled balloon was one of the Macy parade’s five stellar attractions, with 15 floats, 11 bands, 31 comedy acts and 54 clowns regaling delighted spectators. An estimated 2,250,000 persons, mostly children, enjoyed the “standing room only” show. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1962, Manhattan, NY:  A giant Bullwinkle float looms over the crowd in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Despite the weather, a large crowd came out to see the parade on a rainy Thanksgiving Day. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1951, Times Square, Manhattan, NY:  Thanksgiving Day – Macy’s Parade. Happy Holiday For Many… A Toy Soldier Balloon, paced by float bearing an American eagle, lords it over Times square as Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade provides the annual eye treat. More than 2,000,000 persons, old and younG, viewed the holiday capers. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1962, Times Square, Manhattan, NY:  Macy’s Parade. Times Square & 43rd Street. All He’s Quacked Up To Be, Donald Duck takes a bow in Times Square. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1959, Times Square, Manhattan, NY:  Popeye, one of the huge balloons in the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, makes its way through Times Square. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1959, Manhattan, NY:  Thanksgiving Day – Macy’s Parade. Spaceman is seen as it comes down Broadway in the annual Macy Day Parade. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1959, Times Square, Manhattan, NY:  Thanksgiving Day – Macy’s Parade. ‘Here comes Popeye. The pipe-puffing sailor man, high-strung and swaying in a brisk breeze, floats over Times Square as one of the balloon characters in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. A million kids of all ages saw it.’ — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1959, Times Square, Manhattan, NY:  Macy Day Parade. Photo shows the “Turkey” one of the helium filled balloons on it’s way through Times Square. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1961, Times Square, Manhattan, NY:  Thanksgiving Day Parade, flying dragon balloon. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1925, Manhattan, NY:  Santa Claus rides a parade float pulled by a team of horses down Broadway during the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1940, Times Square, Manhattan, NY:  Hippo Balloon at the Thanksgiving Day Parade. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1941, Times Square, Manhattan, NY:  Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 1941 — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1941, NY:  Some pretty queer looking pedestrians can be observed at large gatherings at Broadway, but some of the creatures who make their way down the famed thoroughfare in the annual Macy Thanksgiving Parade are enough to faze even a taxi driver. Here throngs of New Yorkers jamming Columbus Circle gape as a flying fish swings onto Broadway from Central Park West. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1933, Manhattan, NY:  Macy’s Parade. Ooh, Father Knickerbocker, Your Streets Are So Narrow! You can just hear “Andy the Alligator” complaining of the narrowness of New York’s most famous “lane” which is Broadway, as the helium inflated “Andy” floated over and dwarfed the street and everything in it. “Andy” and a host of such gargantuan figures of rubber delighted the myriads of New York kiddies and their Ma and Pas in the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade of a New York department store, that ushers in the Christmas shopping season, and the store’s opening of its toy department. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1955, Times Square, Manhattan, NY:  Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade passes Times Square in New York City. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1949, Times Square, Manhattan, NY:  There was more than turkey with all the trimmings for New Yorkers today.   Youngsters and oldsters got an extra treat from the gas bags, floats and bands in the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. This critter looked down on the crowd as the procession went through the Times Square area. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1963, Manhattan, NY:  Larger Than Life. Members of the “ground crew” appear to have their hands full as they prepare to “launch” Dino the Dinosaur, a feature of the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade, November 28th. Launching site was Central Park West in the seventies, where a huge net keeps Dino anchored. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1900s, Manhattan, NY:  A Felix the Cat and other parade floats and balloons are led down Broadway during the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. — Image by © Underwood & Underwood/CORBIS

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Date unknown, NY:  A Turkey balloon in an early Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade — Image by © Underwood & Underwood/CORBIS

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Circa 1949, Times Square, Manhattan, NY:  Man Of The Moment. It was quite a treat for these youngsters when a Santa Claus on stilts stopped to shake hands with them and find out what they want for Christmas at Times Square during the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. Grownups got a big kick out of the proceedings too. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Circa 1975, Times Square, NY:  Seven-year-old Wanda Ojeda gets an early start letting Santa know what she’s expecting for Christmas. She just happened to be on hand as Santas gathered in the Times Square area here to kick off the 79th Annual Christmas Fund-Raising Campaign for the Volunteers of America. — Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

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Ok so this may not be thoughtful and wonderful but Thanksgiving means a few very specific things to me.  The best way to describe those things is to give you a run down of what my Thanksgiving consists of…

Photo Credit Flickr ChrisB

First thing, I wake up to a newspaper and donuts.  Mostly, ok completely, thanks to my amazing, wonderful, handsome, perfect, did I mention amazing husband.  He wakes up early, and sneaks out to bring me back my newspaper (ads are a must), donuts, juice, and usually some flowers.  I then spread my ads all over the coffee table, or in years past the occasional bed and watch the parade and read the ads, mapping out the must stops for Black Friday. I love love love the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  It is my favorite part of Thanksgiving, it is the definition of Thanksgiving.  My favorite part is at the very end, I know strange, but when Santa comes rolling down.  It means I can let Christmas leave the inside of my house (because it starts after Halloween if you ask me) and hang up lights and wear my Christmas shirts.  And even though my mom and I just started participating in Black Friday a couple of years ago, we have always loved reading the ads together.  This is my absolute favorite part of Thanksgiving.  I look forward to it every year.  And even with getting married and blending families and growing families we’ve (read amazing husband) has managed to keep my favorite part of this holiday intact.  The ads, the parade, some donuts, Colin, Charles, and my mom.  That’s all I need to have a great Thanksgiving!

Ok next (and this year will be a little different) we have the food.  Usually my gram cooks everything, which amounts to, turkey, mashed potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, green beans, carrots, rolls, whole cranberries, jellied cranberries, cornbread stuffing and bread stuffing and occasionally candied sweet potatoes.  But this year I will be doing the cooking, that’s right if you’re reading this on Turkey Day I will be elbow deep in a turkey, ok maybe not at this moment but it was a wicked visual right!?  I will be making most of these things, there will be no candied sweet potatoes but for totally selfish reasons (I hate them).  Also no cornbread stuffing, because I’m just not that cool.  Also I’ll be doing what my Gram does and making pies!  This is the only part I’m afraid of.  I will be making 3 types of pies, with varying degrees of from scratch hehe.  A dutch apple pie for that amazing husband of mine, a pecan and a pumpkin.  I really am excited to do all of this and I hope it will be a new tradition for our Thanksgiving.

Mostly to be Thanksgiving is my family, playing games, eating food, laughing so much our faces hurt on the drive home.  But it all starts with that amazing wonderful parade!

Happy Thanksgiving!

As long as I can remember, the Macy’s Parade has been a big part of my holiday morning.  The floats, the marching bands, and the balloons — Snoopy is still my favorite — were the sights and sounds that woke me up and provided the soundtrack for our family’s holiday preparations.

Now that I live in Manhattan’s Upper West Side — one block from the parade route and just around the corner from the Museum of Natural History where they inflate the balloons — the Macy’s Parade has gone from television spectacle to neighborhood block party.

From mid-day Wednesday until Thursday afternoon, throngs of people — including a celebrity or two — invade my block to witness the festivities.

My favorite Turkey Day celebrity encounter to date?

On my second year in New York, Rory and I took an early walk in Central Park on Thanksgiving — but not quite early enough, as it turned out.  We got ‘caught’ on the park side of Central Park West in the gathering crowd, and I couldn’t cross the street without police escort.

As I stood there waiting, Rory in my arms so he wouldn’t get trampled, a boy’s hand reached over to pet him on the head.

“Your dog is cute,” his quiet voice said.

As I turned to say thank you, I realized the hand and voice belonged to Michael Cera of “Arrested Development,” “Superbad,” and “Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist.”

He and I chatted for a few moments about typical dog topics (breed, age, name) until his mom told him it was time to meet the producer from NBC.  He never introduced himself, and I never acknowledged who he was.

We were just two people hanging out, talking puppy dogs, at the Turkey Day block party in the ‘hood.

Hope everyone enjoys their day off before the holiday hussle and bussle (officially) begins!  Eat a lot of turkey and let that Itis sink in!

Christimas Shopping: 6.75% Complete

Waitin to be blowed up Am for Fanksgibin Parade

wuld dey fix ma ball?

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Please know you have profoundly helped me grow to who I am today (I hope that’s not a bad thing!). I apologize off the bat for the bad grammar. This is a very stream of consciousness letter. I am thankful for so many people this is going to sound like an acceptance speech. If only I had an award to go with it!For some reason, I feel more thankful than ever. Going through a transformation of sorts puts everything in perspective. When I lost my job this past June, I would have never guessed I would have felt more alive and have met some of the most amazing people. I never dreamed I would be on television/radio and also have a blog, which has had to date over 15,000 hits. I am grateful for EVERYONE who visits day after day!

Thank you for following the journey.

If I could tell you one thing –change the world. Go out and make a difference. Stand up for what you believe in. Change someone’s life. We all have amazing stories to tell. Share them.

My blog wouldn’t have gotten off the ground without a few people. My publicist, George, whose idea it was to really go forward and create the blog. He always has a way of staying positive. A special thanks to ALL the people I have interviewed thus far: the wonderful Marti C., single-licious Melissa B, exceptional Jerry Mitchell, incredible forced to be reckoned with Frenchie Davis, life changing activities Ryan Janek Wolowski and Randy Wicker, and uber talents Richard and Dana. Elisa, Will, Angelo and Renee thank you for one point or another for being my camera bitch! There are many more people, so I apologize if I have forgotten you.

Liz S, you are an amazing woman who constantly gives me the chance to do what I love! You always astound me by the types of events you have me cover. Thank you for taking a chance with me!
Julie H. you have such an amazing heart. I never thought in a million years I would be on the Pat Field website! You have really made my year. You see things in me that I have overlooked. I can’t thank you enough for the dream come true it has been and will keep continuing!
Meagan H. – WE WILL GET KATHY!! You are such a joy to know and you never make my crazy idea is well…crazy! You are a great visionary at what you do!

My family has always been my rock. A special shout out to my relatives in PA, who are not only amazing, but I am so blessed to have reconnected with them on Facebook. Though sometimes we seem miles apart, BENNINGTONS know we are NEVER that far. Thanks guys for all the kick ass support!

My other “family” -my friends who have seen my light and my dark, I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to see each of you grow and become individuals who make me proud in the way you contribute and choices you make. Each of you has such a special gift. I truly love you all and you have been a place to look for advice, support and unconditional love. You have no clue how much I value all of you (though sometimes my sarcasm may make it seem otherwise)

My Old Tappan friends, it’s been a while but let me know when you’re around the NYC/NJ area. For me to see us all grown up seems a little freaky! It was only yesterday we were singing to Mr. Boscia’s music, seeing Mr. Rossi throw a desk, cutting class, going to the prom. Now some of you have your own families. Keep me in your heart, as I do with you.

Wagner College gave me amazing inspiration to find myself and meet professors and life-long friends who inspire me daily. There are many ways you can gain an education as I learned in my years at Wager!

Thanks to all the RENT friends I have made. Measure in love. We can always be grateful for Jonathan Larson’s lasting treasure. Thanks for all the RENT road trips!

Thank you, all the new friends I have made. I look forward to knowing you more and more (that DOES sound kind of creepy)

THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU OUT THERE WHO INSPIRE!

This year, remember those who are not as blessed and keep them in your thoughts and prayers. It’s important for us –as teachers, friends, parents, lovers, brothers, sisters,-you name it, to go out there and make a difference. Anything small can help. We can be the change.

Please have a safe, healthy and happy Thanksgiving this year.

The best is yet to come,

Neal B
www.nealbinnyc.wordpress.com

From http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

It may be called Turkey Day, but the U.S. Thanksgiving Day is about more than just the bird. Learn about a holiday myth—the first “real” Thanksgiving wasn’t until the 1800s—and how we celebrate Thanksgiving dinner today.

Key to any Thanksgiving Day menu is a fat turkey and cranberry sauce.

Some 250 million turkeys were raised in the U.S. in 2009 for slaughter, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Those birds were worth about U.S. $4.5 billion.

About 46 million will end up on U.S. dinner tables this Thanksgiving. (See the Green Guide’s suggestions for having a greener—and more grateful—Thanksgiving.)

Minnesota is the United States’s top turkey-producing state, followed by North Carolina, Arkansas, Missouri, Virginia, and California.

These “big six” states produce two of every three U.S.-raised birds, according to data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau.

U.S. farmers will also produce 709 million pounds of cranberries, which, like turkeys, are native to the Americas. The top producers are Wisconsin and Massachusetts.

The U.S. will also grow 1.8 billion pounds of sweet potatoes—many in North Carolina, California, and Mississippi—and produce 1.1 billion pounds of pumpkins.

Contrary to legend, the amount of the organic protein tryptophan in most turkeys isn’t responsible for drowsiness.

Instead scientists blame booze, the sheer caloric size of an average feast, or just plain old relaxing after stressful work schedules.

What Was on the First Thanksgiving Menu?

Little is known about the first Thanksgiving dinner in the Plimoth (also spelled Plymouth) Colony in October 1621, attended by some 50 English colonists and about 90 native Wampanoag men in what is now Massachusetts.

We do know that the Wampanoag killed five deer for the feast, and that the colonists shot wild fowl—which may have been geese, ducks, or turkey. Some form, or forms, of Indian corn were also served.

But Jennifer Monac, spokesperson for the living-history museum Plimoth Plantation said the feasters likely supplemented their venison and birds with fish, lobster, clams, nuts, and wheat flour, as well as vegetables such as pumpkin, squash, carrots, and peas.

If you want to eat like a Pilgrim yourself, try some of the Plimoth Plantation’s recipes, including stewed pompion (pumpkin) or traditional Wampanoag succotash.

Where Did Thanksgiving Come From?

American Indian peoples, Europeans, and other cultures around the world often celebrated the harvest season with feasts to offer thanks to higher powers for their sustenance and survival.

In 1541 Spaniard Francisco Vásquez de Coronado and his troops celebrated a “Thanksgiving” while searching for New World gold in what is now the Texas Panhandle.

Later such feasts were held by French Huguenot colonists in present-day Jacksonville, Florida (1564), by English colonists and Abnaki Indians at Maine’s Kennebec River (1607), and in Jamestown, Virginia (1610), when the arrival of a food-laden ship ended a brutal famine.

But it’s the 1621 Plimoth Thanksgiving that’s linked to the birth of our modern holiday. The truth is the first “real” Thanksgiving happened two centuries later.

Everything we know about the three-day Plimoth gathering comes from a description in a letter wrote by Edward Winslow, leader of the Plimoth Colony, in 1621, Monac said.

It had been lost for 200 years and was rediscovered in the 1800s, she added.

In 1841 Boston publisher Alexander Young printed Winslow’s brief account of the feast and added his own twist, dubbing it the “First Thanksgiving.”

In Winslow’s “short letter, it was clear that [the 1621 feast] was not something that was supposed to be repeated again and again. It wasn’t even a Thanksgiving, which in the 17th century was a day of fasting. It was a harvest celebration.”

But after its mid-1800s century appearance, Young’s designation caught on—to say the least.

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving Day a national holiday in 1863. He was probably swayed in part by magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale—the author of the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb”—who had suggested Thanksgiving become a holiday, historians say.

In 1941 President Franklin Roosevelt established the current date for observance, the fourth Thursday of November.

Thanksgiving Turkey-in-Waiting

Each year at least two lucky turkeys avoid the dinner table, thanks to a presidential pardon—a longstanding Washington tradition believed to have originated with U.S. President Harry Truman.

Since 1947 the National Turkey Federation has presented two live turkeys—and a ready-to-eat turkey—to the President, according to federation spokesperson Sherrie Rosenblatt.

“There are two birds,” Rosenblatt explained, “the presidential turkey and the vice presidential turkey, which is an alternate, in case the presidential turkey is unable to perform its duties.”

Those duties pretty much boil down to not biting the President during the photo opportunity with the press.

In 2008 the vice presidential bird, “Pumpkin,” stepped in for the appearance with President Bush after the presidential bird, “Pecan,” had fallen ill the night before.

After their presidential encounter, the birds share the same happy fate as Super Bowl winning quarterbacks.

“For the last five years,” Rosenblatt said, “They’ve gone to Disneyland”—living out their days at Big Thunder Ranch in the California theme park’s Frontierland.

Talking Turkey

Pilgrims were familiar with turkeys before they landed in the Americas.

That’s because early European explorers of the New World had returned to Europe with turkeys in tow after encountering them at American Indian settlements. Indians had domesticated the birds centuries before European contact.

A century later Ben Franklin famously made known his preference that the turkey, rather than the bald eagle, should be the official U.S. bird.

But Franklin might have been shocked when, by the 1930s, hunting had so decimated North American wild turkey populations that their numbers had dwindled to the tens of thousands from a peak of at least tens of millions.

Today, thanks to reintroduction efforts and hunting regulations, wild turkeys are back.

(Related: “Birder’s Journal: Giving Thanks for Wild Turkey Sightings.”

Some seven million wild turkeys are thriving across the U.S., and many of them have adapted easily to the suburbs.

Wild turkeys, Meleagris gallopavo, can run some 10 to 20 miles (16 to 32 kilometers) an hour and fly in bursts at 55 miles (89 kilometers) an hour. Domesticated turkeys can’t fly at all.

Pass the Pigskin

For many U.S. citizens, Thanksgiving without football is as unthinkable as the Fourth of July without fireworks.

NBC Radio broadcast the first national Thanksgiving Day game in 1934, when the Detroit Lions hosted the Chicago Bears.

Except for a respite during World War II, the Lions have played—usually badly—every Thanksgiving Day since.

Consumers Rejoice!

For those who love marching and music, turkey takes a backseat to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, originally called the Macy’s Christmas parade because it kicked off the shopping season.

The tradition began in 1924, when employees recruited animals from the Central Park Zoo to join the parade.

Helium-filled balloons made their debut in the parade in 1927 and, in the early years, were released above the city skyline with the promise of rewards for their finders.

The parade, first televised nationally in 1947, now draws some 44 million viewers—not counting the 3 million people who actually line the 2.5-mile (4-kilometer) Manhattan route.

Thanksgiving weekend also boasts the retail version of the Super Bowl—Black Friday, when massive sales and early opening times attract frugal shoppers.

The National Retail Federation reports that some 130 million Americans, give or take a few million each year, brave the crowds to shop on Black Friday or on the following weekend.

Planes, Trains, and (Lots of) Automobiles

It may seem like everyone in the U.S. is on the road on Thanksgiving Day, keeping you from your turkey and stuffing.

But just 33 million of about 308 million U.S. citizens drive more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) from home on the holiday, according to the American Automobile Association.

Thanksgiving North of the Border

Cross-border travelers can celebrate Thanksgiving twice, because Canada celebrates its own Thanksgiving Day the second Monday in October.

As in the U.S., the event is sometimes linked to a historic feast with which it has no real ties—in this case explorer Martin Frobisher’s 1578 ceremony, which gave thanks for his safe arrival in what is now New Brunswick.

Canada’s Thanksgiving, established in 1879, was inspired by the U.S. holiday.

Dates of observance fluctuated, sometimes coinciding with the U.S. Thanksgiving or the Canadian veteran-appreciation holiday, Remembrance Day—and at least once it occurred as late as December.

But Canada’s colder climate eventually led to the 1957 decision that formalized the October date.