The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 92, No. 25, Ed. 1, Wednesday, November 19, 2003 Page: 5 of 8
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November 19 2003
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The nation's first
Thanksgiving holiday
took place In December
1621 as the religious
separatist Pilgrims held a
three-day feast to cele-
brate the bountiful har-
vest they reaped follow-
ing their first winter In
North America. The day
did not become a nation-
al holiday until 1 863
when Abraham Lincoln
proclaimed the last
Thursday of November as
a national day of thanks-
giving. In his Thanks-
giving proclamation of
1 939 President Franklin
Roosevelt clarified that
the holiday should
henceforth be celebrated
on the fourth Thursday
not always the last to
encourage earlier holi-
day shopping. In 1941
Congress made this
change permanent.
The United States also
produced 1 .3 billion
f rounds of sweet potatoes
n 2002. North Carolina
produces the most (481 s
million) followed by
California (276 million)
Mississippi (197 million)
and Louisiana (188 million).
If you're looking for a
place to spend Thanks-
giving you could look for
one of the eight U.S.
places named after the
cranberry.
Twenty places In the
MS. are named Plymouth
Rock. Plymouth Minn. Is
the most populous with
67304 residents In 2002.
Plymouth Mass. had
93789. There Is also a
single township In the
United States named
"Pilgrim" with a popula-
tion of 13S in Dade
County Mo.
The wild turkey was
once considered as a
candidate for United
States national bird.
Does this mean that If
things had turned out
differently we might
be enjoying roast eagle
next week?
Forecasted 2003 cran-
berry production Is 583
million pounds up 3 per-
cent from 2002. Wiscon-
sin leads the states In the
production of cranberries
with 305 pounds followed
by Massechusetts (170
million) New Jersey (47
million) Oregon (44 mil-
lion) and Washington (17
million).
skA H
Don't rule out Turkey
Tex. (pop. 482); Turkey
Creek La. (pop. 361); or
Turkey N.C (pop 264) as
places to celebrate this
year.
Annual per capita tur-
key consumption is up 70
percent since 1980 al-
though pretty much the
same as In 1990: 13.8
pounds.
An estimated 269 mil-
lion turkeys will be
raised In the year 2003
nearly one for every
U.S. resident.. That's
down 1 percent from
2002 when the turkeysi
produced weighed 7.4
billion pounds and were
valued at $2.7 billion.
The U.S. Imported
about $10.5 million dol-
lars' worth of live turkeys
from Canada between
January and August 2003.
During this time the U.S.
ran a $4.2 million trade
deficit In turkeys.
Minnesota expects to
raise 453 million turkeys
in 2003 and North Caro-
lina produces an almost
Identical number making
them the top two turkey-
producing states. They
are followed by Missouri
(27.5 million) Arkansas
(24 million) Vlriglnla(23
million) and California
(16.5 million). These six
states are expected to
account for two-thirds
the gross national turkey
product.
Don't waste
your money.
Pick up the 2002-'03 Prickly Pear
yearbook & DVD you ordered!
44444444444444 4444
TODAY till 2:00 Thursday 10:30 - 2:00
c ft
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 92, No. 25, Ed. 1, Wednesday, November 19, 2003, newspaper, November 19, 2003; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101852/m1/5/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.