thanksgiving quiz

my life depended on how well I did on this Thanksgiving quiz, the powers that be would probably serve me up for dinner instead of the traditional Turkey. I guess I could say I am not much of a historian when it comes to facts about this holiday. There are only 20 questions, so it's not like the quiz took so long my brain fell out of my ear; 20 measly questions and I only got 8 correct. In honor of the season of giving I will share with you some facts so you don't suffer the same fate of being Thanksgiving "stupid."

First of all, the first American Thanksgiving celebration took place in 1621, not 1492 when Columbus sailed the ocean blue. And who was it that celebrated this day with the colonists? The Wampanoag tribe was the group of Native Americans that sat down and shared food with the pilgrims.

Unbeknownst to me, the turkey, which is the traditional Thanksgiving fare, was first domesticated in Mexico and Central America. The female turkey is called a hen and the male turkey is called a tom; hence the name Tom the Turkey. The "gobble gobble" that we all believe to be the sound of the turkey is only made by the male turkey, the female turkey actually makes a "click click" noise, differentiating them from one another in the wild.

However to prepare the bird, it needs to be de-feathered, and a mature turkey has 3500 feathers covering its body. In order to de-feather the turkey you have to catch it first and you better have on your Nike running shoes because this sly bird can run up to 25 miles per hour! How fast can you run? I believed that a wild turkey can't fly; they are big and round and have little wings, right? Wrong. Wild turkeys can fly up to 55 miles per hour; that is astounding to me. I do believe that they are fast with their beaks. One year, while visiting a farm, I stood a little too close to the turkey enclosure while eating my tasty granola bites. Within a second, the turkey had ripped it out of my hand and run with it, leaving me chewing the only piece of crunchy goodness I had managed to put in my mouth.

An even more staggering statistic is what percentage of American homes actually eat turkey for the traditional Thanksgiving feast; a whopping 90%. The tradition of having a Christmas turkey is a little less common, only 50% of American homes eat turkey to Celebrate this holiday. Based on these numbers I believed that the United States consumed the most turkey, but again I was wrong. Actually, it's Israel that consumes the most turkey per year per capita. Who Knew?
Thanksgiving Church Services, Meals
last updated: November 20, 2007 05:30:51 AM

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• HILMAR COMMUNITY SERVICE -- 7 p.m. Wednesday, Hilmar Covenant Church, 20056 American Ave. Cooperative Thanksgiving Eve service by several Hilmar churches. Offering benefits Clothes for Kids project. Donated canned goods go to Hilmar Helping Hands, which provides food for needy. 668-0400.

• THANKSGIVING EVE -- 7 p.m. Wednesday, Shelter Cove Community Church, 4242 Coffee Road, Modesto. Pastor David Seifert talks on "Will You Be One Out of Ten?" 567-3200.

• THANKSGIVING EVE -- 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Modesto Covenant Church, 913 Floyd Ave. Choir, orchestra and bell choir featured in service. Offering. 527-4110.

• PRAISE SERVICE -- 7 p.m. Wednesday, Big Valley Grace Community Church, 4040 Tully Road, Modesto. Participants can share brief praise; Communion served. 577-1604.

• THANKSGIVING EVE -- 7 p.m. Wednesday, First Baptist Church of Modesto, 1325 12th St. Service is "warm, fuzzy family time" including singing with guitars, Thanksgiving trivia quiz, short message. 521-0181.

• TURLOCK GOSPEL MISSION -- 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Harvest Christian Center, 130 Third St. Meal for homeless and other community members. Free. 634-3294.

• MODESTO GOSPEL MISSION -- 4 p.m. Wednesday, 1400 Yosemite Blvd. The Great Thanksgiving Banquet & Bundle-Up. Thanksgiving meal with fixings plus distribution of coats. 529-8259.

• UNITED SAMARITANS FOUNDATION -- Thanksgiving Day hot holiday meals in Ceres, Denair, Hughson, Keyes, Modesto and Turlock on Thursday. 668-4853.

• SALVATION ARMY MEAL -- 1 p.m. Thursday, Modesto Centre Plaza, 1000 K St. Annual Thanksgiving meal by Costa family and The Salvation Army for homeless, lonely, seniors, "anybody who wants to come." 522-3209.

• HOLIDAY DINNER -- 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, First Baptist Church of Modesto, 1325 12th St. Holiday meal for homeless sponsored by Modesto Junior College Human Services Club. Blankets, clothing, toiletries items also given out. 735-9498.