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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 2020)
16 Holidays in Sisters Wednesday, November 25, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Thanksgiving traditions and turk — By Craig F. Eisenbeis — Shop Paulina Springs Books and our Holiday Gift Guide. It’s close to home! GIFT CARDS AVAILABLE! E! Mon-Sat 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. COVID precautions in place 252 W. Hood Ave. | 541-549-0866 866 paulinaspringsbooks.com Relaxing Skincare & Natural Nail Services Custom gift baskets and gift cards too! Sarah Woods | 541-953-7112 | 392 E. Main Ave., Sisters roamnaturalskincare.com QUICK & DELICIOUS HOLIDAY MEALS START WITH TAKODA’S TAKEOUT 541-549-8620 Menus at takodassisters.com And Our Gift Cards Make Great Stocking Stuff ers! Monday-Sunday, 11 am-8 pm | 425 W. Hwy. 20, Sisters Holiday Special… All Handmade Jewelry! 20% OFF! Natural gemstones, ling ng g Native American sterling silver and turquoise, leather, driftwood, Heishi beads, composite materials. (Good through 12/24/20) EST. 1995 VISIT OUR STORE STO 7 DAYS A WEEK, 11-5 311 E. CASCADE AVE., SISTERS | 541-549-4251 Nothing evokes the image of Thanksgiving more dramatically than a turkey. So, when a flock of 18 wild tur- keys wandered through my yard the other day, I saw it as an appropriate harbinger of the approaching holiday. Traditionally, we’re taught that Thanksgiving dates back to the Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1621. While that’s not exactly wrong, it’s not really the whole story, either. First off, the term “Pilgrim” didn’t even come into common usage until the nineteenth century, and things like those silly buckle hats are pure fiction. As far as the origins of Thanksgiving, European autumnal celebrations and feasts are so old that they actually pre- date Christianity. Further, the first such celebrations by Europeans, in what is now the continental U.S., reportedly took place in Spanish-speaking Florida a hun- dred years before the Pilgrims, but such is the nature of our white, Anglocentric biases in the recounting of history. The biggest historical disappointment, however, is that turkey probably wasn’t even on the English colonial menu at all in 1621. While it is not impossible that turkey was on the original menu — after all, wild turkeys were native to that area — it is believed that waterfowl, most likely ducks and geese, were the actual menu offerings — in addition to lobster! We do know for certain from recorded history, however, that venison was served when members of the local Wampanoag native tribe contributed five deer to the feast. However, contrary to tradition, they weren’t exactly invited guests. The indigenous people showed up out of curi- osity when they came to investigate cel- ebratory gun and cannon fire marking the settlement’s three-day harvest festival. Historical accounts also typically ignore the rather severe deterioration of rela- tions between the natives and Pilgrims in the succeeding years. Like the term “Pilgrim,” turkey as the holiday’s main dish did not begin to find its way into Thanksgiving tradition until the 19th century. The first governmentally sanctioned Thanksgiving in America took place in 1777, when a Continental Congress proc- lamation celebrating Revolutionary War successes led to a December observance that year. President George Washington PHOTO BY CRAIG EISENBEIS A local wild turkey peers out from cover on the edge of Indian Ford Meadow. proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving in October of 1789 and again in February of 1795. The practice was periodically con- tinued over the next several decades but was not permanently established until Abraham Lincoln did so in 1863, during the Civil War. Another historical misconception is the oft-told tale that Benjamin Franklin proposed the turkey as the national sym- bol in place of the eagle. While Franklin did defend the turkey as “a much more respectable bird...though a little vain and silly…,” he never proposed elevating it to be the national symbol. Turkey went on to solidify its posi- tion as Thanksgiving’s top entree choice in the early 1900s. The last Thursday of November was the chosen date until President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved it up a week in 1939 when November had five Thursdays. Reportedly, his rea- soning was to stimulate the Depression economy by providing another week for merchant sales before Christmas. In 1942, the fourth Thursday became the holiday’s permanent date. Your opportunity to enjoy a wild tur- key for this year’s Thanksgiving is rather limited. Unless you’ve kept a frozen wild turkey from the local spring hunting sea- son, you may be out of luck. Although the eastern Oregon fall turkey season is open now, it is closed for the Sisters area, specifically in the Metolius and Upper Hospice of Redmond Hospice of Redmond is not letting the pan- demic derail their holiday observance, which ich supports vital programs in the community. Hospice of Redmond’s annual fundraising event, Festival of Trees, is being transformed into a COVID-friendly event for the first time in 36 years. The event will feature a Tour of ity Trees to support local businesses and community partners while allowing for safe distancing. lminate ate The two-week event will lead up to and culminate spice ser- with a virtual auction to support various hospice edmond, Bend, vices for the uninsured. Local businesses in Redmond, Sisters and Terrebonne will open their doors to host the 25 trees for public viewing from November 23 through December 5. You can view the trees by visiting www.hospiceofredmond.org. Anyone interested in bidding on a tree may do so beginning December 1. Central Oregon Daily will host a live auction on December 5, concluding the special event. Desc Tu and the 1 Mou one o deer Meto focus first 1987 Se flock trapp cated and p confi came Cent itat in The our a fores I’v quali are t while prop best of T likely a com If Turk your liquo