Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Have you ever wondered if Thanksgiving was a holiday anywhere else besides America? Well, Canada has a Thanksgiving Holiday as well.  Read below to learn about Thanksgiving in Canada. I was surprised to learn there was Thanksgiving in Canada, too.

In 1957, the Canadian Parliament solidified the Canadian people's folk practice of giving thanks for a bountiful harvest by declaring the second Monday in October the official day of Thanksgiving. This year, Thanksgiving Day is October 10. Thanksgiving has a long history in Canada and is a holiday forged out of the Canadian people's history and desire to give thanks for all the good that surrounds their lovely land.

Canadian Thanksgiving traces its roots across the Atlantic as definitively as it is rooted in its own heartland. The original concept of Canadian Thanksgiving is traced to an old European farming custom in which farmers were known to band together to toast a plentiful harvest. The first known Thanksgiving celebration on Canadian shores was hosted by a European explorer named Martin Frobisher who enjoyed an impromptu harvest feast upon washing his ship ashore in Newfoundland around 1578. Frobisher famously gave thanks not only for the delicious feast he was enjoying, but also for his and his crew's good fortune at having avoided the many dangers found on the high seas. The third, much noted aspect of Canadian Thanksgiving's origin, is attributed to the many Loyalists (Americans who remained faithful to England) who moved north to make a new home in Canada. Loyalists brought with them many American Thanksgiving traditions that were adopted into the Canadian holiday.

We have redone the Christmas Section. LOTS of new Christmas Stuff has been added.