Oct 4th, 2001 Issue 37 - Vol 2

This week, the Galloping Geezer dons the feathers of the Bird of the Hour, our Thanksgiving Turkey…

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There are three traditions behind Canadian Thanksgiving Day

1) Long ago, before the first Europeans arrived in North America, the farmers in Europe held celebrations at harvest time. To give thanks for their good fortune and the abundance of food, the farm workers filled a curved goat's horn with fruit and grain. This symbol was called a cornucopia or horn of plenty. When they came to Canada they brought this tradition with them.

2) In the year 1578, the English navigator Martin Frobisher held a formal ceremony, in what is now called Newfoundland, to give thanks for surviving the long journey. He was later knighted and had an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean in northern Canada named after him--Frobisher Bay. Other settlers arrived and continued these ceremonies.

3) The third came in the year 1621, in what is now the United States, when the Pilgrims celebrated their harvest in the New World. The Pilgrims were English colonists who had founded a permanent European settlement at Plymouth Massachusetts. By the 1750's, this joyous celebration was brought to Nova Scotia by American settlers from the south.

At the same time, French settlers, having crossed the ocean and arrived in Canada with explorer Samuel de Champlain, also held huge feasts of thanks. They even formed 'The Order of Good Cheer' and gladly shared their food with their Indian neighbours.

After the Seven Year's War ended in 1763, the citizens of Halifax held a special day of Thanksgiving.

The Americans who remained faithful to the government in England were known as Loyalists. At the time of the American revolution, they moved to Canada and spread the Thanksgiving celebration to other parts of the country. many of the new English settlers from Great Britain were also used to having a harvest celebration in their churches every autumn.

Eventually in 1879, Parliament declared November 6th a day of Thanksgiving and a national holiday. Over the years many dates were used for Thanksgiving, the most popular was the 3rd Monday in October. After World War I, both Armistice Day and Thanksgiving were celebrated on the Monday of the week in which November 11th occurred. Ten years later, in 1931, the two days became separate holidays and Armistice Day was renamed Remembrance Day.

Finally, on January 31st, 1957, Parliament proclaimed...

"A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed ... to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October.

Immigration Laws

I think our Immigration laws are so lax partly because we are so desperate to attract new tax payers, no wonder we are a haven for illegal aliens.These have to be changed soon, to include revising the passport system to include photo ID along with eye scanning technology and also requiring a cash Bond and proof of self financial ability and no welfare to those newly landed immigrants until they prove themselves after they become Canadian citizens and then no immigration to any other country. Terrorists, Drug & Arms etc should invoke the firing squad for enemies of the state.

Johnny Canuck
Edmonton AB

Pray For The Children

Bewildered by the sparks that leap
from flagrant tongues, and fearing pails
of melted darkness poured across
the bobbing colors of their day,
they play; escaping on a limb
of fantasy, to hide their thoughts
in secret crevices. They climb
inside a shadow, pull their world
around them, clutch it tight, and watch
for silver angel wings in flight.


(c) 2001 Laryalee Fraser

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Alberta Canada

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