What comes to mind when you think of Thanksgiving? Some of you may think about the Pilgrims and Indians and the feast they shared on this day long ago. But if you are more food oriented, you probably think about the scrumptious food you will have with friends and family as you celebrate this day.
a traditional Thanksgiving dinner today, simple wikipedia
If you were to write a tale that took place around the Thanksgiving time of year, you might want the town it takes place in to have a name that would make one think of this holiday. Below you will find towns that have already been given such names. Why not take advantage of them for your story?
The states are listed in alphabetical order, and the towns under each state are listed that way too.
Arizona
Roll, Arizona
Arkansas
Turkey, Arkansas
mashed potatoes with butter and chives, wikipedia
Florida
Spuds, Florida
Georgia
Pumpkin, Georgia
Pumpkintown, Georgia
Indiana
Gnawbone, Indiana
Kentucky
Pilgrim, Kentucky
Turkey, Kentucky
Maryland
Cranberry, Maryland
Thanksgiving, Maryland
Michigan
Pilgrim, Michigan
Missouri
Pilgrim, Missouri
apple raspberry pie, flickr
New Mexico
Pie Town, New Mexico
North Carolina
Cranberry, North Carolina
Pumpkintown, North Carolina
Turkey, North Carolina
Ohio
Turkey, Ohio
Oklahoma
Corn, Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
Cranberry, Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Pumpkintown, South Carolina
potatoes, pixabay
South Dakota
Potato Creek, South Dakota
Tennessee
Pumpkintown, Tennessee
Yum Yum, Tennessee
Texas
Pilgrim, Texas
Pumpkin, Texas
Turkey, Texas
West Virginia
Cranberry, West Virginia
Pie, West Virginia
Pumpkintown, West Virginia
Turkey, West Virginia
Wisconsin
Cranberry, Wisconsin
girl writing, etc.usf.edu
Writing Prompts
I’m sure that everyone has heard about the Presidential pardon for a turkey and its mate each year around Thanksgiving. Each year the President of the United States grants a pardon to a turkey and its significant other, thereby keeping them from being part of anyone’s Thanksgiving meal. For a fictional writing prompt about this yearly ritual, let’s say that a different turkey farm is used each year to select the turkey and it’s mate from. This year, the turkeys will be selected from those bred at Gobble Gobble Resort Turkey Farm in Turkey Hills, Indiana. The residents have heard that this year’s lucky winners will be chosen from their farm and they are excited. Each tom starts to take steps to ensure that he and his mate will be the lucky winners. How do they prepare and who are the lucky winners? What about the ones who don’t succeed in winning? How do they deal with it? How manipulative are the turkeys in trying to win?
Did you know that Benjamin Franklin’s choice for the national bird of the United States of America was the turkey? The wild turkey of Franklin’s day and the wild turkey hunted now are different from the domesticated bird we know and love as part of our Thanksgiving and Christmas feasts. Have you ever wondered why not many hunters come home with a turkey that they have tracked down and killed? Wild turkeys can fly and have a gift for blending in with their surroundings to escaping detection. Turkeys that live in the wild are also very social animals; if you throw an apple or an orange in the middle of a group of them, they will play a type of football with the piece of fruit. The turkeys that we buy at the store to put on our tables have been domesticated and selectively bred to increase the amount of meat on their bodies, thus dumbing them down. But what would have happened if Ben Franklin’s advice to make this creature our national bird would have been heeded? How would the turkey be viewed today? Would this bird still grace the table of almost every home in America on these two national holidays?
Harvest festival observed by Pilgrims at Plymouth, wikipedia
Now let’s go back to the time of the Pilgrims and the Indians. After the harsh winter of the previous year and there is going to be this huge feast, one that will last for 3 days. You had no flour, so there was no bread of any type. Dairy products weren’t to be found since you didn’t yet have any cattle. But you did have a wide assortment of meats (wild fowl, venison, fish and other seafood), along with fresh berries. How did you feel having a feast with the Indians? Were you scared? Or were you looking forward to it? These Indians had to help those remaining to survive the harsh winter. Do some research about the first Thanksgiving and put yourself in place of one of the surviving men, women, or children. Or you could put yourself in the place of one of the Indians. Take your readers back to the year of 1621 and allow them to experience the very first Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving could be a time when some people discover that what they had thought to be a curse has always been a blessing. Janine has been terrified of spiders all of her life. Every time she lays eyes on one, she immediately does everything she can to kill it. She often wishes for a world without spiders, a world free of these eight-legged creatures. On Thanksgiving, she wakes up and finds her wish has come true. There are no spiders to be found anywhere. Specialists are trying to figure out what happened, but Janine is rejoicing and is so very thankful. She doesn’t rejoice for long, though. Soon her house, as well as everyone else’s house, is overrun with flies, mosquitoes, wasps, and roaches. What happened? Since their natural enemy and predator, the spider, is no longer around, these other insects are flourishing. Janine realizes the chaos her granted wish has caused. She sets out to find a way to reverse it and bring the spiders back. How does she go about this? Does she succeed?
elderly woman, wikipedia
Thanksgiving is about gratitude. It is a time of year to honor God and thank Him for His mercy and grace. Myra is an elderly lady whose life has been very, very difficult. One tragedy after another has caused her to become bitter and unthankful for any blessing that she receives. She is mad at God and blames all of her problems on Him. Why not? If He is all-powerful as the Christians claim, He could have kept all her problems from happening. What Myra fails to see is that the tragedies she has experienced are because of the bad choices that she has made, not because of God. He simply allowed her to do as she wanted. This year, through her granddaughter’s actions, Myra’s eyes are about to be opened to the truth. Write a story and tell how Myra’s granddaughter brings joy and thankfulness back into the life of a bitter elderly woman.
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