Cooper Lewis ‘26, Sports Editor
Every year, many countries around the world come together to celebrate a special holiday at the end of October. It is where people of all ages dress up and go out late at night to gather candy from their neighbors, or in specific cultures, they celebrate their loved ones who have passed. Halloween only lasts one night, but people enjoy it to the fullest. Then Nov. 1 comes, all the decorations go away, and the Christmas lights come out. The stores that once sold Halloween decorations, put the unsold ones on sale or even into storage until the next year, and the Christmas decorations come out.
From the start of November, Christmas does not begin for about a month and a half, but people want to get a head start on decorating. They practically skip past November and head straight into December. But what if I told you there was another holiday in November. A holiday that society seems to skip over. I would sound crazy, would I not? But it is true, I assure you. This holiday is called Thanksgiving.
People come together and celebrate what they are thankful for. They sit down at the table and feast on home cooked meals; ranging from turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and rolls. If such a holiday exists, why do people always forget about it? Nobody seems to put red or orange lights up, or blow up inflatable turkeys to put in their front yard. Thanksgiving and the entire month of November gives us a perfect time to prepare for the oncoming rush of Christmas, and perfectly eases us into the Christmas season. So, why do people tend to skip over this wonderful holiday? There are many answers to this question, and one of them is the cost of Thanksgiving food. With a recent rise in inflation, food prices are increasing dramatically. As of this year, a 16-pound turkey cost around $30, approximately $5 more than a 16-pound turkey in 2021. Turkey is not the only food with rising prices, as this year three pounds of sweet potatoes will cost you about $3.96, which is a dollar more than it was in 2021. These extra couple of dollars may seem insignificant but the money adds up.
These prices may seem fine to a normal American family, but to a family that is in need, these prices could be the deciding factor in whether or not thanksgiving is celebrated. But even if they can not afford a good meal to stuff their stomachs, they can still celebrate the event in different ways. Thanksgiving is the holiday of giving thanks after all, and showing gratitude as to what blessings have been bestowed.
There are some individuals who do not have an opinion on this topic, take freshman Tegan Wusthoff for example, he said, “We usually decorate for Christmas in early December, but if [Thanksgiving] is not for everyone, then yeah, they can skip to decorating if they want.”
It seems that other SLHS students agree, freshmen Max Bardoni said, “Thanksgiving is a special time where you can meet up with your family and spend time with them, and that time is valuable.”
There does not need to be any special lights or inflatable decorations, but people still should not jump to hanging Christmas lights; radios should still wait before playing the famous Christmas music; and stores should put out Thanksgiving appropriate decorations, instead of going straight to putting Christmas decorations out the day after Halloween ends. Society needs to recognize the fact that a whole holiday comes in between Halloween and Christmas.
Lyon Life 