“O come , O Come, Emanuel….”
Holy Trinity Episcopal Church
Fruitland Park, FL
www.holytrinityfp.com
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November 2008
November 2008
November 2008
November 2008
A Brief History of Thanksgiving
Greetings! Thanksgiving means many different
things to many people. It is the quintessential American
holiday for millions of us, and a time to renew and
reinvigorate family traditions. When else can you eat 10
times the amount of food you normally would? When else do
you serve string-bean casserole? Seventeen k inds of pie?
Or bring out those silly Publix pilgrim S &P shakers?
But the roots of Thank sgiving are not as simple, nor
as pure, as our 1st grade teachers would have had us
believe. The Pilgrims, known as Puritans, first landed in
Provincetown and signed the Mayflower Compact - the first
communal compact that didn’t involve royal approval, and
the harbinger of our national democratic traditions. Two
months later they crossed Cape Cod Bay and landed on the
“mythical” Plymouth Rock, founding the Plimouth Colony.
(Like the “true” Cross, if all the supposed pieces of Plymouth
Rock were reassembled, you’d have a boulder the size of
Australia’s Ayer’s Rock! )
In short order, the Massachusetts Bay Colony did
become the archetype for our tradition of Religious
tolerance- (except when the Colonists burned 39 people as
“witches” in the infamous Salem witch trials or forced the
surviving natives to convert to their brand of Christianity!)
In Plymouth, the Puritans befriended the loc al natives,
but also unintentionally spread smallpox, killing 96% of the
local Wampanog tribe. The locals taught the Colonists how
to fish the bountiful waters of Cape Cod Bay, and how to
cultivate the land. Nearly half the colonists died in those 1st
two years, and in 1621 the first Plymouth Thanksgiving was
celebrated over three days.
In reality, the first recorded Thanksgiving ceremony was
held on September 8, 1565 in what is now Saint Augustine.
The first English settlers of Virgiinia mandated a Day of
Thanksgiving in 1619. Thank sgiving Day feasts were held on
and off through the year 1845, when it became more of an
annual celebration on the last Thursday of November.
Make no mistake, while the Holiday now symbolizes
gratitude for our religious liberties, the Pilgrims were, in fact,
completely intolerant of other faiths or sects, let alone the
“uncivilized” natives! The Pilgrims were looking for freedom
for themselves, not others. Fortunately, over the centuries,
and through the amazing history of our nation in its pursuit of
(Continued next column)
Blessing of the Animals Very Well Attended
From Father Michael
When something really good happens, the entire parish
needs to know about that event. The Blessing of the
Animals service on St. Francis Day was such an occasion.
Our thank s to Donna Bott
who put the liturgy together
and did much of the publicity.
We had non- Episcopalians
who came to the Church
because of this publicity.
This is Episcopal evangelism
at its best!
Janet Dearcropp spent
considerable time and effort gathering goodies from the local
pet stores and had a lovely table display with all those
wonderful animal (and people ) gifts. Last but not least, Pat
Casson showed up with wonderful home-made treats,
appropriate for both human and animal consumption.
What role did the priest in charge play? Just show up,
bless the animals and share in the fellowship! This is the
way things should work . (You’ll notice that the 3 people who
made this work were all women. Jump on in guys- God and
the Parish are counting on you.!)
(Thanksgiving continued)
becoming an ever more democratic and inspirational
example to the world, Thank sgiving allows us to pause as a
nation and celebrate our collective blessings. It is only in
recent times that we are also becoming aware of those who
may not have been able to “secure the blessings of liberty
for ourselves and our posterity,” and seek to remedy those
shortcomings so that all may enjoy the blessings of this great
nation.
New Time for Nov. 8th Golf Scramble!
November’s Golf Scramble will again be held at
Pennbrooke Fairways in Leesburg. Tee-time will be at
9 am, due to change in the clocks. The greens fee is
a bargain! Sign up Sunday on the bulletin board in the
Parish Hall.
For more info & to sign-up, Call Pat at 751-6489
