Although a Harris poll a few years back revealed that Christmas is the favorite holiday of the year among all age groups of Americans, we think that Thanksgiving, our uniquely American holiday, has much more to recommend it than Christmas.

Thanksgiving has its roots with the Pilgrims, long before the concept of a United States had crossed anyone’s mind. It always has been a secular celebration of peace and relaxation. It simply is a day to be grateful for what we have, however much that may be.

Thanksgiving is a day of no pressure. It is the ultimate family-centered holiday. It has no religious meaning, no national-celebration connotations, and no required gift-giving. It lacks the commercialism, solemnity, and political overtones of all of our other national observances.

In a world where anxiety seems to follow us 24/7, Thanksgiving provides a welcome respite from the commercialism that accompanies Christmas and most of our other holidays. There is no obligation to spend a lot of money (that many of us do not have in the first place) to buy the perfect gift in order to be the perfect spouse, or the perfect parent, or the perfect friend.

Thanksgiving demands nothing more from each of us (other than for the person who is doing the cooking!) beyond just showing up and enjoying the company of our family and friends and then having a great meal.

When we think of the Christmas vs. Thanksgiving debate, we think it’s analogous to the late, great comedian George Carlin’s skit about football vs. baseball (check it out on YouTube if you’ve never seen it!). In Carlin’s telling, football is the equivalent of war in which the quarterback, known as the “field general,” throws “bullet passes” and “long bombs” in the face of an opponent’s “blitz” to pierce the “enemy defense.” By contrast, the aim of baseball is to “be safe at home.”

Similarly, while Christmas epitomizes our hyper-capitalist, consumerist, and frenetic society, Thanksgiving is its complete antithesis.

Thanksgiving is a national celebration that serves to remind us how blessed we are at a time when circumstances are so cruel for so many others in a world in which there are more refugees than at any time since the end of World War II.

Whatever our personal trials and tribulations may be, Thanksgiving reminds us how remarkably fortunate we are to live in this country. And in a day and age when so many of us are connected 24/7 to some instrument of communication, it truly is a relief to have a day when we can just shut it all off (other than perhaps watching a football game.)

We wish all of our readers a happy — and restful — Thanksgiving.

Let’s go Revere — beat Winthrop!!!

When the Revere High football team takes to the turf field at Harry Della Russo Stadium to meet archrival Winthrop  on Thanksgiving Day morning, the outcome of the contest between coach Lou Cicatelli and his Patriots, who are 3-6 on the season, against a Viking squad that comes in at 4-6 and that qualified for the post-season Division 6 playoffs, rates as a toss-up.

However, as the players, coaches, and fans on both sides of the field know all too well, you can throw out the proverbial record books when Winthrop and Revere get together on Thanksgiving to renew their annual rivalry to bring home the coveted Beachcomber Trophy. Regardless of the teams’ records, the Thanksgiving Day contest rates as a “second season” for both Winthrop and Revere, with a victory in front of the biggest crowd of the year in itself making for a successful season.

Coach Cicatelli’s crew enters the fray at 3-6 with two wins in their last three contests and are playing their best football of the season heading into the Turkey Day tilt, including a 21-14 victory over perennial GBl-kingpin Everett three weeks ago, which marked the second consecutive victory for a Revere squad over the Crimson Tide.

In addition, our Patriots will be eager to get back on the winning track vs. Winthrop, which has captured the last three meetings after Revere’s five-game Thanksgiving Day winning streak — the Patriots’ best-ever string of consecutive victories in the long history of the rivalry (which Winthrop leads 60-32-3) — was snapped in 2022.

With seasonable weather being forecast for Thursday morning, we expect that there will be a large crowd on hand to fill the stands at HDR for the 10:00 kickoff. We urge both the players and the fans to exhibit good sportsmanship both on and off the field.

We wish coach Cicatelli and his crew the best of luck.

Let’s go Revere — beat Winthrop!!!!