Thanksgiving is an annual event celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the U.S. and second Monday in October in Canada. The first Thanksgiving  was celebrated in 1621, in present day Massachusetts, by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians as a blessing for the harvest and the preceding year. It has since become a tradition and occasion for friends and families to get together and feast in a grandeur style. The staple item of the menu is now Turkey along with other traditional foods like stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. In New York, a parade organized by the Macy’s department store since 1924 featuring live animals, store employees dressed like cowboys and clowns and balloons depicting Walt Disney cartoon figures, etc. attract huge crowds to the venue.

To make merry and derive maximum enjoyment from the festivity you could do the following:

1) Start the day with a prayer of gratitude and reflect positively on the people you know and your near and dear ones and especially the Lord to whom you owe all. Don’t let anything or anyone disturb your inner peace and look forward to a fun loving day.

2) Sit down with the family, discuss and chalk out the program for the day. Sort out all the Thanksgiving Day crafts that you have prepared a day or two earlier in order to play some games with the family or friends. Give a helping hand in the preparation for the day’s events. When seated with the family it’s best to find out your lineage and history so that you know your family’s background and also feel as an integral part of it. Take out your laptop and reach out to your distant relatives and friends and convey your wishes with warmth that reaches out to them.

3) Do something nice like helping out a less fortunate family or by volunteering to a social cause. Thanksgiving volunteer opportunities get filled up fast so you must plan ahead and ensure a spot for yourself.

4) If you are in New York then you must join the millions that gather on the streets for the Macy’s parade in Manhattan. In this annual pageant you’ll have fun watching the floats, huge balloons, marching bands, clowns and cheerleaders enacting their roles.

5) After the parade you can stack on beers and watch the football games. Loosen your belt and get ready for all the yelling you want for your favorite team. It’s a full day for the National Football League. The Detroit Lions, the Cowboys, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Seattle Seahawks et all are there on NBC, CBS, FOX to spend the day on.

6) If you are in an unflappable and cool frame of mind then watching a movie with the family would undeniably be a good pastime. New movies are generally released on holidays so look out for what’s playing at the local theatres nearby on Thanksgiving Day.

7) If you have children then a visit to the Zoo, the Aquarium and the Safari Park would be ideal for a family day out. Children simply love animals and fun spots and even adults do relish a change from a daily routine human interaction.

8) You might want to go to a golf course and if you are not up to it to play a whole round, the driving range in itself is a fun place for the family to visit. Or you could all go bowling with friends and play games in an entertainment complex. As Thanksgiving is a prelude to the shopping season you might as well take your family along to do just that.

9) As dinnertime approaches the penultimate task is to make sure that you have performed all your physical exercises and that you are ready and well prepared for a sumptuous dining experience. A voracious appetite and succulent mouth watering dishes should guarantee a satisfying and an enjoyable conclusion to a Thanksgiving Day.

10) Ultimately, as the Thanksgiving Day draws to its conclusion, taking a stroll might not be a bad idea. A leisurely walk in the quiet and soothing ambiance of a park with its idyllic surroundings should draw the curtains on an otherwise hectic but fun day. But yes, before dozing off to a dreamland beyond do not forget that final prayer for the Thanksgiving Day you had.