The first Thanksgiving was celebrated over three days in 1621. It was a major festival in which 50 pilgrims were joined by 90 Wampanoag tribe members. Unlike modern tradition, turkey wasn’t included in this original meal. It was proclaimed a national holiday by Abraham Lincoln on October 3, 1863. Today, many new traditions have arisen that vary from every family. For example, turkey is a core part of the meal for the majority of families and it is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November and only lasts one day.
In Hingham, one of the favorite Thanksgiving traditions includes traveling to see family. Sophomore Lauren Armstrong said, “My family enjoys going to Vermont to visit our cousins and aunts and uncles. We stay in a hotel and go to their house for dinner. We stay for about a week and have a lot of fun sledding and hiking.” The tradition of gathering together with family to appreciate everything families are to each other and reconnect after potentially long periods of time without seeing each other is one of the most popular traditions in the country.
Similarly, this can be made easier by schools letting out the students the day before Thanksgiving. Freshman Maggie Flynn said, “Being let out the day before Thanksgiving is so helpful because it gives lots of families the chance to travel and see relatives who can live far away from them.”
Additionally, one of the main themes of Thanksgiving is being grateful for everything and everyone who is a part of your life. Sophomore Carolyn Downey said, “On Thanksgiving, my whole family goes around and says a couple things that we are thankful for. I love this because we all get to take a second and appreciate each other and what we love.”
Other traditions may include running the turkey trot every year. This race begins at the high school and is a 5k. It circles around Wompatuck and runners or walkers end up crossing the finish line at the end of the first straightaway of the track. This race puts everyone participating in the Thanksgiving spirit by being surrounded by the community that everyone is thankful for.
