s we approach Thanksgiving Day, let us think about the meaning of this day.

Originally, Thanksgiving was a day to give thanks for the harvest of the previous year. It has evolved to a day for gatherings of family and friends to give thanks and express our gratitude for our blessings.

Over the years The Minot Daily News has provided to its readers messages about this special day.

In a Thanksgiving message published 50 years ago in November 1972, it said:

“Thanksgiving Day is many things … family reunions, church services, football games on television, turkey dinner, afternoon naps, visits with relatives and most happily, for the majority of persons, a day off from work.

“It is more than that, though. The great American holiday, first proclaimed by George Washington on Oct. 3, 1789, has been set aside as a time for reflecting on mankind’s blessings, for giving thanks, for remembering the days gone by, and most important, for spelling out again the message of Abraham Lincoln of ‘charity for all and malice toward none.'”

An editorial published 100 years ago in November 1922 included:

“Tomorrow offers a very appropriate occasion for each individual to check back the many things for which he has to be thankful. The blessings of health and happiness have been general. The nation has come through a trying time and the United States now stands upon the threshold of an area the equal of which was probably never known.

“The people of North Dakota have ample reason for Thanksgiving. The state as a whole has made ample progress, crops were bountiful… “

The messages or portions of them still hold true today.

As you gather with family and friends on Thanksgiving Day, following past traditions or creating new ones of your own, this is also an opportunity to give thanks for all that you have.