OPINION
6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2017
Founded in 1873
HEIDI WRIGHT, Interim Publisher
JIM VAN NOSTRAND, Editor
JEREMY FELDMAN, Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
Neighbors helping
neighbors — it’s
what we are all about
H
appy Thanksgiving to all our readers.
As we gather around the dining table with our families
today, it is fitting to acknowledge that we have much to be
thankful for.
In a nation deeply divided by political differences, with so
many facing agonizing economic struggles, we can still focus on
the good that unites us.
Thanksgiving has its origin in the 1621 feast staged by those
Puritan settlers who fled persecution in England, endured an ardu-
ous ocean journey, then survived the first year of the Plymouth
Colony. They joined with Native Americans to celebrate the first
harvest, and set the table for every celebration that followed.
George Washington proclaimed a day of thanksgiving for victories
in the revolution that created our nation. And Abraham Lincoln
solidified the regularity of the celebration during the Civil War.
While in modern times it has morphed into a holiday that com-
bines family gatherings, turkey dinners and televised sports, it
retains its deeper meaning.
Many families enjoy a tradition of going around the table and
asking each person to mention what they are thankful for. Young
and old verbalize their appreciation for America’s freedoms, rela-
tionships, pets and the plenty on the table.
On this day, we savor that tradition, too, by considering the
many people and things for which we should be thankful. Firstly,
it is fitting that we reflect on the contribution of soldiers, sailors,
air crews and Marines serving overseas while expressing hope for
their safe return.
And spare a thought for those here on the North Coast who are
not spending the day with their families.
Right now, police officers and firefighters throughout Clatsop
County are on duty, serving and protecting as they do 24/7, year-
round, to keep us safe.
Medical personnel are working at Columbia Memorial
Hospital, Providence Seaside and Ocean Beach Hospital in Ilwaco,
Wash., providing the continuity of care that our ailing neighbors
need.
Members of the U.S. Coast Guard are risking their lives to pro-
tect mariners traversing one of the most treacherous ocean bars on
the planet. Their service enriches our community.
Many groups of professionals in our community may be taken
for granted. They touch our lives and truly make a difference. But
how often do we applaud them?
Fishermen of the Northern Oregon commercial fleet based in
our community provide stores and restaurants with the bounty of
the ocean year-round, frequently enduring life-threatening condi-
tions to bring in their catch. We thank them.
In classrooms from Seaside to Knappa, teachers are shaping our
nation’s future generations with knowledge and the ability to think.
Their efforts are rarely recognized at the time, although it is com-
mon to hear adults attribute their success to dedicated mentors who
shaped their upbringing.
In addition, we should be thankful for the gorgeous environ-
ment in which we spend our lives. No big-city sprawl and daily
chaos here. Instead, our small-town, rural North Coast communi-
ties are surrounded by spectacular natural attractions, from Saddle
Mountain to our ocean beaches, plus the relentless beauty of the
Columbia River. Let’s never take that for granted. And the best
way to demonstrate our thankfulness is to protect it year-round,
keeping it free from litter and other man-made spoils.
Our nation offers some freedoms that we should cherish,
for they are the envy of the world. The First Amendment to the
Constitution — the greatest words ever penned by modern man —
guarantees free worship, free assembly and free speech. Those of
us in the communications business are especially thankful for the
latter, because it drives our very existence. It isn’t reserved for the
press, however; it applies to everyone.
As we celebrate all these aspects of our nation of plenty, we
should pause to commend those in the North Coast who are doing
their part to help the less affluent among us with the basic necessi-
ties of life.
There can be few higher callings than providing shelter from
the storm, offering nourishing food and a helping hand to those
for whom the modern times are a daily struggle for existence. Our
less-fortunate neighbors are part of the fabric of our North Coast
community. The manner in which we treat them is a reflection of
the depth of our caring.
There is so much more. Those round-the-table Thanksgiving
pronouncements often feature the smaller things that make life
grand — libraries, live music and art. All contribute nuanced plea-
sure to modern life’s finery. And there are less tangible assets, too,
like laughter and smiles. How gloomy life would be without them.
Perhaps it is timely to share more?
Anyone who has traveled outside our borders likely has
returned with a simple realization that this country offers a com-
bination of more freedom, hope and choice than any other. Today,
let’s set aside any differences and worries and instead focus on the
good.
We on the North Coast have much to be thankful for.
In celebration of Thanksgiving
A selection of American writings
about Thanksgiving from the Library
of Congress.
Thanksgiving
transcends cultures
The American custom of Thanks-
giving transcends cultures and
stands as a truly American tradition.
In the following excerpt, Herman
Spector tells the story of a 1939 Jew-
ish Thanksgiving in New York City.
The story foreshadows the grim real-
ities of World War II, yet to come:
We don’t exactly have seasons
here, but holidays are important.
Before “Simkas-Torah” — that’s the
holiday of rejoicing in the giving of
the Torah — they use ducks. During
the Passover holidays the best of
all poultry is used — all the luxury
items; capons, turkeys, and the finest
chickens. This past Thanksgiving —
not a Jewish holiday, of course —
but I believe more Jews bought tur-
keys than ever before. Why? In my
opinion, it’s due to particular world
relations at this time, to conditions
of oppression abroad and the desire
to give thanks for living in America.
During Chanukah week they prepare
fat for the Passover, so specially fat-
tened geese are brought to the city
then, like the ones you saw outside.
With the devout housewife, not to be
able to have a genzil (goose) for the
holidays would be a tragedy of the
first order.
A Thanksgiving sermon
In African American communi-
ties in the late 19th century, Thanks-
giving was celebrated in church with
special Thanksgiving sermons.
The Rev. Benjamin Arnett was a
prominent AME cleric in the Ohio
AME Church.
In his Centennial Thanksgiv-
ing sermon on Nov. 30, 1876, Arnett
reflects on the triumphs and fail-
ures of American history and proj-
ects a promising course for Ameri-
ca’s future:
Following the tracks of righ-
teousness throughout the centu-
ries and along the way of nations,
we are prepared to recommend it to
all and assert without a shadow of
doubt, that ‘Righteousness exalted
a nation’; but on the other hand fol-
lowing the foot-prints of sin amid
the ruins of Empires and remains
of cities, we will say that ‘sin is a
reproach to any people.’ But we call
on all American citizens to love their
country, and look not on the sins
of the past, but arming ourselves
for the conflict of the future, gird-
ing ourselves in the habiliments of
Righteousness, march forth with the
courage of a Numidian lion and with
the confidence of a Roman Gladi-
ator, and meet the demands of the
age, and satisfy the duties of the
hour. Let us be encouraged in our
work, for we have found the mocca-
sin track of Righteousness all along
the shore of the stream of life, con-
stantly advancing holding human-
ity with a firm hand. We have seen
it ‘through’ all the confusion of ris-
ing and falling States, of battle, siege
and slaughter, of victory and defeat;
through the varying fortunes and
ultimate extinctions of Monarchies,
Republics and Empires; through bar-
baric irruption and desolation, feu-
dal isolation, spiritual supremacy,
the heroic rush and conflict of the
Cross and Crescent; amid the busy
hum of industry, through the marts
of trade and behind the gliding keels
of commerce.
And in America, the battle-field
of modern thought, we can trace the
foot-prints of the one and the tracks
of the other. So let us use all of our
available forces, and especially our
young men, and throw them into
the conflict of the Right against the
Wrong.
Then let the grand Centen-
Library of Congress
A Puck cartoon cover imagines a Thanksgiving holiday dance of plenty.
nial Thanksgiving song be heard
and sung in every house of God;
and in every home may thanksgiv-
ing sounds be heard, for our race
has been emancipated, enfranchised
and are now educating, and have the
gospel preached to them!
Broch and buried them out in the
field, and my little sisters laid flow-
ers on her grave. Father decided
then and there to quit farming, and
although this all happened over 60
years ago, to this day I just can’t say
that I’m very crazy about sorghum
or onions.
On the prairie
Frontier life in the 19th century
offered challenges to pioneers, but
also provided opportunities to give
thanks.
In the 1930s, George Strester
remembers his father, a preacher
who tried farming in Nebraska in
1873. The Strester family celebrated
a memorable Thanksgiving when
their livestock ate a crop of rotten
onions:
Father said we’ll have to have
something beside vegetables to eat,
so he decided to butcher the cow.
She had gone dry anyway (probably
because of eating so many onions)
and was nice and fat and would
make prime beef and enough to last
all winter.
We children all shed a few tears
when Old Broch was killed, for she
was a family pet, but we had to have
something to eat. That was the day
before Thanksgiving, and the next
day mother planned a real Thanks-
giving feast — a large roast of meat
with potatoes and carrots laid around
it. Something we had not had for
years. But there was a peculiar odor
that filled the house while it was
cooking. Mother said she might
have spilled something on the stove
which in burning, caused the stench.
The table was set and the roast
brought on and how delicious it
looked, and father, after giving
thanks for the prosperous year and
the many blessings that we had
enjoyed, carved the roast, placing a
liberal helping of meat, carrots and
spuds on each plate. Mother took a
bite and looked at father; he took a
taste and looked at us kids. I took a
mouthful and my stomach heaved,
and horrors of horrors, there was that
familiar taste of rotten onions. So
our dinner was entirely spoiled and
all we had to eat was johnny cake
straight with nothing to put on it or
go with it. Still father did not say
any cuss words and though sorely
tried, was still able to say ‘Well,
well, that surely is too bad.’
Well we took the remains of Old
Civil War feast
From Civil War diaries we know
what the troops ate generally and
on special occasions. For holidays,
organizations solicited donations of
food including poultry, mince pies,
sausages and fruit. One account
notes that the Sanitary Commission
put on a feed in the field that con-
sisted of turkey, chicken and apples
— but a day late. A soldier noted, “It
isn’t the turkey, but the idea that we
care for.”
In the University of Iowa’s col-
lections of Civil War Diaries and
Letters, Asa Bean, a surgeon in the
Union Army, wrote describing his
Thanksgiving dinner on Nov. 27,
1862:
“There has been a surprise party
here to Day for the Benefit of Sol-
diers and Nurses they were fur-
nished with a Thanksgiving Din-
ner roast Turkey; Chicken & Pigeon
& Oysters Stewed. … I had a good
dinner of Baked Chicken & Pudding
Boiled potatoes, Turnip, Apple but-
ter, cheese butter, Tea & Trimmings
…we live well enough, but cannot
Eat Much without being sick.”
— Ellen Terrell, Library of
Congress
A close call
In 1938, Mrs. Hulda Esther
Thorpe remembers the dangers that
settlers faced on the prairie in the
1800s, and the many reasons settlers
had for giving thanks:
One of the best Thanksgiving
dinners we ever knew of was when a
family of settlers had their nice wild
turkey dinner taken by the Indians,
who came in silently and just shoved
the folks back and eat it up.
They did not harm the white peo-
ple though and after they were gone
the women made a big corn bread
and with what few things the Indi-
ans left, they had a feast, the best
as the daughter tells, that she ever
eat. This was because they were so
happy and thankful that the Indians
spared them.