Back in time... to the first Thanksgiving

The message is in the name - THANKSgiving. Of course, we all know we celebrate the day in recognition of all we have to be grateful for. But when is the last time you stopped to think about how this day came to be so important and how this one simple act of human kindness towards one another developed into a national holiday? For the first graders at Eagle Grove Elementary, it was just last week.

Kay Kern of the Wright County Farm Bureau went into each of the three classrooms dressed as, and portraying, Elizabeth Hopkins - a real life Pilgrim who was only one of a few women who survived the 1620 voyage of the Mayflower from Europe to what we now know as the United States of America.

“The journey was long and the winter was hard that followed,” she told the captivated kids.

“Hopkins” explained how their people left “the old world” in search of religious freedom, and how they were actually aboard the Mayflower for one whole month before the ship ever set sail. Their voyage lasted 66 days, cut short because of high winds which forced them off course from their original destination of New York, and instead landing them in Cape Cod, Mass. A total of 102 Pilgrims set out on this voyage, only 53 survived.

For the full story, see this week's Eagle Grove Eagle. Subscribe by calling 1-800-558-1244 ext 122 or email Deb at circulation@midamericapub.com or by clicking here.