Tell me: why "Thanks Giving Day"!?

Here in the Philippines we don't celebrate Thanksgiving only in the US. Christmas is the most celebrated holiday here. Turkey also is not popular here unlike in the US there Thanksgiving is not complete without Turkey to their table.

Celebrating Thanksgiving is a very old tradition in the U.S. dating back to when the Pilgrams first came to this country. The story is that native American indians taught them how to grow crops and hunt game. In the Fall, after the crops were harvested, the Indians and the settlers came together for a feast in order to give thanks for the bountiful harvests and the friendship they shared. In the past few decades Thanksgiving has become very commercialized and is now used as the kick off of the Christmas holiday shopping season but there's still more to it than that for the average American. Families still get together to share a wonderful meal, to give thanks for the gifts God has given them. As far as pardoning a turkey, it's a fun tradition...nothing more than that. It's an honor for the farm whose turkey is chosen. The turkey who was pardoned this year came down here to Florida where I am and was featured in the Thanksgiving parade at Disney World. He will live out his life there.