Thanksgiving Canadian Style

Our niece Katie and her daughter Nolie (who is Canadian/American)
 show off their own garden bounty.

We were surprised to find out that Canada celebrates a Thanksgiving Day.  Being Americans we tend to think of it as our special day.  After all, we're the ones with Plymouth Rock and the Pilgrims, right?  Well, a Googling we go...

Turns out the Pilgrims were not doing anything novel when they held their famous Thanksgiving bash.  Native peoples had been holding such events long before those partying Europeans arrived in the New World.  Festivals of thanks were held to celebrate the bounty of a good harvest before America or Canada made them "official government" holidays. 

So what about Thanksgiving in Canada?  According to the w.w.w., refugees fleeing the civil war in the United States brought the custom with them to Canada.  Since 1879, Canada has held a Thanksgiving Day each year, but on varying dates with differing themes.  It has only been since 1957 that the official Canadian Thanksgiving was created when Parliament proclaimed it "a general Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed" and decreed the event would occur on the second Monday in October each year.  

Is the Canadian Thanksgiving any different from the American version?  Well, other than that soccer football thing...nope.  Turkey with all the fixings, pumpkin pie for dessert, and an after dinner loosening of the belt buckle makes pilgrims of us all.