Each year, Americans celebrate
the Thanksgiving holiday on the fourth Thursday of November. Most
families follow traditions begun on the first Thanksgiving, but many
have their own traditions that they follow each year. Here are some of
the common traditions associated with "Turkey Day."
Travel
One of the best things about Thanksgiving is spending time with family.
Many people live far from family members and travel long distances by
car, train, or plane to be with their loved ones. Thanksgiving is the
busiest travel day of the year!
The Feast
Traditional foods are a large part of Thanksgiving
celebrations. Many families include the entire family in the
food
preparation. Traditional foods include turkey, stuffing,
gravy, sweet
potatoes, cornbread, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Many people
serve pie for dessert at the end of the meal. Popular pie flavors are
pumpkin, pecan, sweet potato, and apple.
Vegetarian Foods
Some families choose to serve vegetarian
Thanksgiving dinners
instead
of a stuffed turkey. Some people eat vegetarian turkey, which is made
out of tofu.
Others prefer to eat squash,
salads, or other fruit and
vegetable dishes.
The
Wishbone
Some families include breaking the turkey's wishbone as part of their
celebration. The wishbone is found attached to the breast meat in the
turkey's chest. After the meat has been removed and the wishbone has
had a chance to become dry and brittle, two
people each take one
end of
the bone, make a wish, and pull. Whoever ends up with the larger part
of the bone gets their wish!
The Turkey Pardon
Each year at Thanksgiving, the President of the United
States receives a gift of a live turkey (along with an alternate
in
case something happens to the official turkey). At a White
House ceremony,
the president
traditionally "pardons"
the National
Thanksgiving Turkey and the alternate turkeys, allowing them to live
out the rest of their lives on a farm.
Helping Others
Many generous folks use Thanksgiving as
an opportunity to help the less fortunate. Some people volunteer to
serve food at homeless shelters on
Thanksgiving Day and others donate to shelters or participate in canned
food drives.
TV
Television also plays a part in Thanksgiving celebrations. Many
families watch the New York City Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The
parade includes marching bands, floats, songs and
performances from
Broadway musicals, and giant
helium-filled balloons! People may also
enjoy televised football games.