It Started on Thanksgiving
It's been
a year since Anthem Opinions began publishing, and it all started with an
article written on Thanksgiving Day, 2012.
Since
that time, we now reach 400+ subscribers, and hope we're accomplishing our
mission...ENTERTAINING
you.
What
began as a casual conversation between two fraternity brothers who hadn't seen
each other in 40 years, asking ourselves if it were possible to enhance the
enjoyment of a senior community...
...over
the last 12 months we have made every effort to be a positive force in our Sun
City Anthem community by expanding the dimensions of a senior
lifestyle...
...and in
making every attempt to fulfill that commitment, we've had the pleasure
of adding valued individuals like Carol Van
Camp, Forrest Fetherolf, and Norm Johnson, authoring our Information Pages, "The Garden Wizard", "Mr. Fix-It's World
of Home Improvement", and "What's Up in Weekend
Entertainment".
What a
wonderful group of individuals who, without any motive other
than
"making others happy", to be associated with day in and day
out !
I can't
forget others; namely Rana Goodman of Anthem Today, and the man in her life, Dan Roberts, publisher of The Vegas
Voice, who have expanded our horizons even further in allowing me to
write a monthly column in that newspaper entitled "What's Up
!?!", introducing Anthem Opinions to their readers across the Las Vegas
valley, in addition to naming me their Vegas Voice Radio
Talk Show Host, each Saturday morning on KLAV radio; and to that, also
allowing Rana and I to be a part of the new "An Afternoon
Affair" shows at Red Rock and Sunset Station.
There's
my friend, Dennis Bono and his
right-hand man, Mike McHugh, who have been so gracious in
introducing me to many local entertainers in the past year, who now I call
"friend".
So we're
tried...and continue to try each and every day, to make this publication better
and better !
And if we
have, tell your friends...in order that they
too can subscribe to Anthem Opinions...and become our friends as
well.
So...in
honor of our 1st anniversary, and to a special
holiday...
I'm reprinting our first article, an article that many subsequent subscribers may not have read.
On behalf
of my pal and co-owner of Anthem Opinions, Allen
"Techie" Weintraub...
We wish
all of you a Happy Thanksgiving...and...a sincere thanks for making Anthem
Opinions a publication that we believe, has been an asset to Sun City Anthem and
to the Las Vegas valley.
Dick
Arendt
---------------------------------------------
WHY TURKEY on THANKSGIVING ???
This Thursday, our nation will be
sitting down with family to celebrate the American tradition of
Thanksgiving.
We've all seen the portraits of the
Pilgrims and the Indians coming together one day to celebrate a joint feast, but
there is one question that few can answer.
Why do we eat turkey on
Thanksgiving?
Actually, it's rather "basic, Watson,"
as Sherlock Holmes would often say.
It was cheap
!
It goes back to the late 19th century.
You see, going to a butcher to get a beef brisket wasn't readily available and
people looked at cows as being more valuable alive than dead. Bessie could
graze and provide milk for the family every day, but be steak only
once.
So, how about chicken? Way back when,
they felt the same about the chicken as they did the cow. A live chicken can
lay an egg, but a dead one, well, can't ! Besides roosters weren't too tasty, and their purpose was to strut the barnyard, looking for objects of their
affection...to make more chickens.
Geese were considered, but they were
more expensive than chicken to raise, and if you looked closely, not much
available for "leftovers."
Venison was considered as a option, but
not many people were into hunting for their dinners in Manhattan or in downtown
Chicago.
Then here is pork or ham, "the other
white meat." Years ago pork wasn't considered fit for human consumption; and
besides, the Jewish population wasn't too cool on choosing that option
either.
So...one fine day, this big fat bird
that can't fly came "a walkin" past one of those farmer's homes. There he was;
no one had to feed it, and it was easy to kill because it made a big target for
those rifles.
These creatures would spend about seven
months eating insects and worms on the farm to keep themselves alive, and
yet would grow upwards of 10 pounds or more.
So...by simple deduction, this became
the choice of the American dinner table for the Thanksgiving
holiday.
In 1863, while pondering the fate of the
Union, President Lincoln, needing something to raise the spirit of the country
during the Civil War, looked out the window of the White House one afternoon,
and saw this bird walk by his door, strutting its feathers for all to
see.
He recalled the early history of the Republic when Benjamin Franklin first suggested that the TURKEY be the national bird, was joyful that another bird was chosen for the honor, and so, because he could never remember having a crave for an eagle sandwich, he came to the conclusion that Benjamin Franklin's original suggestion would better serve the nation in it's stomach, rather than on the back of a coin.
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