Did you know? Lobster, seal, and swans were on the Pilgrims' menu at that first Thanksgiving feast which lasted for over three days in 1621.

Today, however, nearly 90 percent of Americans eat turkey—whether roasted, baked, or deep-fried—on Thanksgiving, according to the National Turkey Federation. Other traditional foods include stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. Volunteering is a common Thanksgiving Day activity, and communities often hold food drives and host free dinners for the less fortunate.

It is the time for giving thanks and looking for ways that we all can connect with others. This is when some members of the MWM team have volunteered packing up groceries for needy families in our community.  It has become our tradition to give financial support to the Food Banks and organizations that our staff identifies for our annual sharing. Our clients have said they appreciate this kind of outreach in place of personal gifts. Have a wonderful time this special day remembering so many blessings and connecting in a meaningful ways – family and community.

The First Thanksgiving – 1621
“That first winter was brutal when the Mayflower landed with its original passengers. Most of the colonists remained on board the ship, where they suffered from exposure, scurvy, and outbreaks of contagious disease. Only half of the Mayflower’s original passengers and crew lived to see their first New England spring. In March, the remaining settlers moved ashore, where they received an astonishing visit from an Abenaki Native American who greeted them in English.

Several days later, he returned with another Native American, Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe who had been kidnapped by an English sea captain and sold into slavery before escaping to London and returning to his homeland on an exploratory expedition. Squanto taught the Pilgrims, weakened by malnutrition and illness, how to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, catch fish in the rivers and avoid poisonous plants. He also helped the settlers forge an alliance with the Wampanoag, a local tribe, which would endure for more than 50 years and tragically remains one of the sole examples of harmony between European colonists and Native Americans.

In November 1621, after the Pilgrims’ first corn harvest proved successful, Governor William Bradford organized a feast and invited a group of the fledgling colony’s Native American allies, including the Wampanoag chief Massasoit. Now remembered as American’s “first Thanksgiving”— Much of what we know about what happened at the first Thanksgiving comes from Pilgrim chronicler Edward Winslow, who wrote:

“Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together, after we had gathered the fruits of our labors; they four in one day killed as much fowl, as with a little help beside, served the Company almost a week, at which time amongst other Recreations, we exercised our Arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for five Deer, which they brought to the Plantation and bestowed on our Governor, and upon the Captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plenty."

A National Holiday
In 1827, magazine editor and prolific writer Sarah Josepha Hale —author, of the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb”—launched a campaign to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday. For 36 years, she published editorials and sent scores of letters to governors, senators, presidents, and other politicians, earning her the nickname the “Mother of Thanksgiving.”

President Abraham Lincoln finally heeded her request in 1863, at the height of the Civil War, in a proclamation asking all Americans to ask God to “commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife” and to “heal the wounds of the nation.”

COVID-19
We understand that some of you have been touched by the coronavirus.
In our Thanksgiving prayers we are remembering everyone who is dealing with the coronavirus or any other medical challenges.  This is a time when we all need to be so very careful.  Please stay safe.

As investors we need an understanding of C19, since it has such a huge effect on the world.

Here are the numbers from November 19th

• 1.54 million tests Tuesday – never In history has there been so much testing
• 12.3% positives (7-day average) – peak was April 10 at 19.8%
• 79,410 currently hospitalized, a new peak
• 1,869 deaths – but remember that the death data is date reported which could be a death from months ago, not date of death.

How long with the lock down last? My bet is that we will be dining alone on Thanksgiving and Christmas and celebrating New Year’s banging pans in our own back yards avoiding gatherings of all kinds.

Be patient and vigilant; stay safe and healthy.  

Judith McGee, L.H.D., CFP®, ChFC
Chair/CEO (MWM) & Co-Branch Manager (RJFS)