The most important reason for planning a thanksgiving party is to give thanks for all that we have and to enjoy it with friends and family for whom we also give thanks. Traditionally the plan is for a dinner party. This article is not going to be about how to plan a sit down dinner party, but, to will give some insight into the thanksgiving celebration.

A quick aside about the modern US thanksgiving holiday is black Friday sales day. Once you have truly honoured the reason for Thanksgiving Day, you can carry out your plan for the Thanksgiving sales season. If you are caught up in this shopping madness then plan your shopping spree and shop for Christmas presents. Thus you can be part of the madness but buy with a purpose in mind and at the same time save on your Christmas shopping.

Now, how did the real thanksgiving happen.

The origin of Thanksgiving Day in the US has two events that gave thanks for different reasons. The English settlers at Berkeley Hundred, Virginia in 1619 gave thanks to God for their arrival at Berkeley Hundred. It was ordained that the day of arrival, December 4, 1619 be observed yearly as a "day of thanksgiving" to Almighty God. The service on the arrival day was held by Captain John Woodleaf. This info could be a winner of a trivia question for your gathering.

The second event was the 1621 celebration at Plymouth Plantation. There the reason for thanksgiving was thanks for a successful growing season which was celebrated in the form of a harvest feast. This event is now generally called the first thanksgiving. It was a Patuxet Native American who taught the Pilgrims how to survive and the first feast it was actually a harvest festival. Harvest festivals giving thanks for the harvest were a traditional English and Native American celebration. At that time neither groups referred to such an event as Thanksgiving Day.

The origin of thanksgiving in Canada also had a double origin. First, an explorer had been trying to find the Northwest Passage. On his return to Newfoundland he gave thanks for his safe return. There was a thanksgiving feast for his safe return. It was held in 1578 and the explorer Martin Frobisher has a bay named after him in northern Canada. This feast was one of the first thanksgiving feasts in North America.

The second Canadian event was held by French settlers who in 1604, and yearly there after, held a large feast as thanks for their safe crossing of the Atlantic. They were lead by Samuel de Champlain and shared their feasts with their First Nation neighbours.

Harvest festivals have been held around the world as a celebration around the time of the harvest. The time of year varies according to the growing season. In Britain thanks for a successful harvest go back to pagan times. The more modern day thanks were usually in the form of a church service with hymns, praying and the decorating of the church with samples of the crops that were harvested. This decoration was both inside and outside of the church.

Paganism (or country dweller) is a very old form of religion and dates back to pre-Christian beliefs. Wicca is a form Paganism and in the Northern Hemisphere celebrated August 1st as the festival giving thanks for the first harvesting of wheat in the year. This celebration was known as Lammas day (loaf-mass day).

Now that we have covered the origin of thanksgiving day, thank goodness, how about the food. The most common is turkey. The use of Turkey came before Lincoln's nationalization of the holiday in 1863. It became more prevalent after 1800 but was uncommon before then.

Goose and duck are sometimes served in Europe as Thanksgiving fare having been replaced at Christmas by the turkey. The fowl native to the area is also used in many locations. In many western countries it is common for many immigrant communities to participate by celebrating with food that is common to their respective cultures. Don't be surprised if you are invited to a Thanksgiving feast where something other than Turkey is being served.; Happily the next day you can most likely find a friend who will be more than delighted to give you some turkey leftovers!

As this is a dinner celebration here is a list of ingredients often planned in a Thanksgiving dinner party.

• Pickles
• Green olives
• Celery
• Oyster stew
• Pumpkin soup
• Sweet potato ginger soup
• Roast turkey
• Cranberry sauce
• Giblet gravy
• Creamed asparagus tips
• Sweet potatoes
• Yams
• Baked carrots
• Broccoli casserole
• Snowflake potatoes
• Fresh Bread
• Hot rolls
• Fruit salad
• Mince meat pie
• Fruit cake
• Candies
• Grapes
• Apples
• Pumpkin pie
• Pecan pie
• Sweet potato pie
• Drip coffee

and finally STUFFING made from some of the following ingredients:

rice, bread, apples, sausage, chicken giblets, celery, carrots , onions, dried cranberries, pine nuts, pears, celery, rosemary, sage, red peppers, garlic, lemons, and mushrooms.

This is not truly Party Planning but does give some trivia for your dinner conversations.