6 / 8
6
q
Call us at 503-325-4321
IT’S
common knowledge that the
American celebration now called
Thanksgiving has its origin in 1621, as
the Pilgrims invited the neighboring
Indian tribes to join them in a feast of
gratitude for God’s blessings.
There’s no evidence, however,
that they actually celebrated this on
the fourth Thursday in November
or that it lasted only one day or that
they played a mean game of touch
football after dinner. The holiday was
celebrated informally throughout
the years, thanks to several annual
presidential proclamations.
The idea of a permanent, national
celebration each November came
242 years after the first Pilgrim and
Indian festival in the early 17th
It is through our
partners that
we are able to
innovate to meet
the needs of
our community.
We are honored
every day by the
trust placed in
us, and we are
inspired every
day to do all we
can to live up to
that trust
by providing
the best care
medicine has to
offer.
—Erik Thorsen,
President/CEO,
CMH
A
SEASON
OF
THANKS
Celebrating gratitude for more than one day
century. During the Civil War, many
Americans clamored for some sort of
national religious holiday. One of the
most vocal was Sarah Josepha Hale
(who, by the way, wrote “Mary Had a
Little Lamb”).
Hale used her clout as editor
of the influential
Godey’s Lady’s
Book
magazine to motivate President
Lincoln to proclaim a national
holiday. On Sept. 28, 1863, she wrote
a letter to the president encouraging
him to “have the day of our annual
Thanksgiving made a national and
fixed Union Festival.” Five days later,
Lincoln issued the “Thanksgiving
Proclamation of 1863.”
But should thanksgiving be
confined to one day? Or, as