I remember many Thanksgivings in the Richmond of long ago (for me, 1935-1965). Thanksgiving originally was not an annual holiday and was celebrated only if the President of the United States issued a proclamation. President Franklin Roosevelt tried to change it from the fourth Thursday in November to the third Thursday of November, but the public rose in protest and he changed it back.
In Great Britain, there is a similar celebration in October to give thanks for a bountiful harvest. Food is brought forward and left at the altar in the church. Canadians celebrate a Thanksgiving like us, but they wisely celebrate it in the more temperate month of October.
At Model School, I remember dressing up as pilgrims or Native Americans and re-enacting the first Thanksgiving — as best we could. At first, only Thursday was a school holiday, then Friday was added. At Eastern, the holiday eventually was expanded to three days (Wednesday through Friday) to allow students to travel to and from their homes.
The only community celebration I remember was a joint worship service on Thursday morning. The downtown churches rotated as hosts and their pastors took turns presenting a service. In this venue, Thanksgiving was very much a thank you to God.
At home we enjoyed turkey, lima beans, pumpkin pie, etc. We also had country ham. My father bought them “green” for 50 cents a pound, peppered and seasoned them, and hung them in the basement to cure. With this ham, we enjoyed red eye gravy. My father always kept a large vegetable garden in the summer. My mother would can in season and placed row after row of Ball mason jars in the cool, dark basement. Thus we had a basement full to draw from for Thanksgiving dinner! Woe be unto the lad who dropped one of the glass jars on the way up the steps to the kitchen. My mother also prepared homemade rolls for this occasion. The dough was placed in a large bowl on the mantel so it would rise to perfection.
Football was part of our Thanksgiving tradition even back then. Louisville Male and Louisville Manual always played their ultimate game for city-wide bragging rights on that Thursday. Kentucky and Tennessee also followed this Thanksgiving Thursday tradition. Following football over the radio allows for an exercise in imagination on the part of the audience and a display of vocabulary on the part of the radio announcer that is, sadly, now largely a lost art.
One year when the big game was conducted in Knoxville, a heavy snow came on Thanksgiving Day. All of the returning U.K. fans were funneled up Main Street in Richmond, as U.S. 25 went right through the center of town and the interstate did not exist. Many cars were stuck in the snow here in town. I vividly remember one tractor-trailer truck stuck and spinning its wheels trying to get up our Main Street slope.
With hundreds of motorists stranded, the citizens of Richmond opened their homes and churches and took them in out of the cold. Richmond did well for the stranded fans and they, in turn, had much to be thankful for in the form of helpful Madison County neighbors.
Finally, back in this period, no Christmas merchandise or decorations appeared until after Thanksgiving. Those were the days.
I wish a happy and memorable Thanksgiving to you one and all.
Local News
Thanksgivings of Long Ago
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‘She wasn’t just a teacher’ : Lambert retires after 43 years at Berea
Scroll to the bottom of the story to read "Love for Lambert: Berea graduates share memories of their teacher," as well as a list of other Berea retirees this year.
Writer’s Note: Brenda Lambert is the reason I write articles today (Class of 2000).
Years ago, a little blonde-haired girl from Rockcastle County gathered her friends to “play school” in a 10-by-10 foot playhouse her father built.
Even at 12 years old, Brenda Lambert knew she wanted to be a teacher one day.
“I always felt like an old person trapped in a young person's body,” said Lambert, who is retiring after 43 years of service to Berea Community School. -
Special Olympics return for 18th year at EKU
Next weekend, the Special Olympics Kentucky State Summer Games return to Eastern Kentucky University campus. This is the 18th consecutive year EKU has hosted the event.
The games will be Friday through June 2. About 1,300 athletes will compete this year. -
Assault charges reduced, dismissed by grand jury
Two men arrested in connection with serious assaults had their charges reduced, and in one case dismissed, by a Madison grand jury.
Jerry Wayne Edington, 34, of Berea Road, was charged Jan. 19 with second-degree assault after an altercation at the Blue Moon bar on East Irvine Street, according to a Richmond police report. -
Dump of the Day
The Dump of the Day is a recurring series the newspaper publishes to highlight illegal trash piles and push local governments to cite perpetrators and get illegal dumps cleaned up. See Page A7 in Sunday's paper to read a copy of the city’s ordinance related to trash pickup.
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Paradise Cove open through Labor Day
Opening day of Paradise Cove Family Aquatic Center coincided with a spike in temperatures Friday which reached 90 degrees. The facility, located in Richmond’s Lake Reba Park, will be open through Sept. 3. Regular hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday.
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Dump of the Day
An old mattress, a car seat and other debris sit Friday afternoon on North Street between Fourth and Fifth Streets where it was first spotted Thursday. The “Dump of the Day” is a recurring series the Richmond Register publishes to highlight illegal trash piles and push local governments to cite perpetrators and get illegal dumps cleaned up. See Sunday’s Richmond Register to read a copy of the city’s ordinance related to trash pickup.
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Undefeated academic team brings pride to Madison Middle School
Madison Middle School 6th and 7th grade academic teams have been undefeated for the last two years.
The 8th grade team also has done well, having some students qualify to compete at the state level. -
Woman fends off burglar with knife
A Berea woman used a kitchen knife to fend off an alleged burglar early Wednesday morning, and police say they were able to catch the man in the act.
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Man is indicted on additional sex charge involving teen in 1998
A man already accused of sex abuse in November 2011 has been indicted on a charge of first-degree rape involving a child in 1998.
Charles W. Peyton, 63, of East Irvine Street, was indicted Wednesday by a Madison grand jury. He used “forcible compulsion” to have sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old girl between March 1 and May 1 in 1998, according to the indictment. -
Woman fends off burglar with knife
A Berea woman used a kitchen knife to fend off an alleged burglar early Wednesday morning, and police say they were able to catch the man in the act.
Officers responded to a call in the 1000 block of Scaffold Cane Road about a man trying to break into a home, according to a release from BPD Public Information Officer Jake Reed. - More Local News Headlines
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