Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world.

Fascinating Facts And Tantalizing Trivia

A Hartson Dowd Column

Oct 9, 2006

Columbus Day [ Oct 9 ] Columbus Day is celebrated in the United States to honor Christopher Columbus's first voyage to America in 1492.

Columbus Day is a holiday celebrated in many countries in the Americas, commemorating the date of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Similar holidays, celebrated as D?a de la Raza (Day of the Race) in many countries in Latin America  Discovery Day in the Bahamas, Hispanic Day in Spain, and the newly-renamed (as of 2002 D?a de la Resistencia Ind?gena (Day of Indigenous Resistance) in Venezuela, commemorate the same event.

Italian-Americans observe Columbus Day as a celebration of Italian-American heritage.

Italian-Americans feel pride in the day due to the fact that Christopher Columbus, an Italian sailor, sailed to the Americas. Many royal courts were interested in financing the voyage, but Spain financed the ships for Columbus' brainchild. Some Hispanics are embittered by this victory for Columbus. In the United States, Banks and government offices are closed on Columbus Day.   Columbus Day was first celebrated by Italians in San Francisco in 1869, following on the heels of 1866 Italian celebrations in New York City. The first state celebration was in Colorado in 1905, and in 1937, at the behest of the Knights of Columbus (a Catholic fraternal service organization named for the voyager), President Franklin Delano Roosevelt set aside Columbus Day as a holiday in the United States. Since 1971, the holiday has been commemorated in the U.S. on the second Monday in October, the same day as Thanksgiving in neighboring Canada.

It was on this date in 1492 that Christopher Columbus discovered America. It took a man with tenacity of purpose and unflinching devotion to a single idea, to face the perils that he faced in his attempt to reach land to the west.

“He accomplished more than anyone else towards making us masters of the world on which we tread, and giving us, instead of yawning abysses and realms of vapour, wide waters for our ships, and land for the city and the plough . . . He stands in history as the completer of the globe.” ….. John Sterling.

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451 to Domenico Columbo, a wool weaver.  He worked for his Father until he was 22 then set out to follow his own dream to become a sea captain. Many of his fellow Genoese had prospered in Lisbon under the Portuguese flag as Captains of sailing ships and he longed to join their ranks.

It was to this end that Columbus began to educate himself learning to read and speak Portuguese, Castilian and Latin. He read many geography books, and studied the bible and the writings of Marco Polo, gathering all the information he could about the world. He particularly studied,  Pierre d' Ailly's "Imago Mundi," or picture of the world. He became a chart maker himself and because of these studies became convinced that the world was spherical, round instead of flat. This belief later became the basis for his quest of finding a shorter route to Asia.

Asia offered many goods Europeans craved but traveling east to get them was difficult and dangerous.   However, it was with these countries of the EAST, India, China, Japan, and the East Indies, that Europeans longed to trade in greater volume. It was for this reason that a sea route around the tip of Africa to the East Indies and Asia was sought.  Columbus was just one of many, explorers and tradesmen trying to find such a route.

Portugal deemed, " The greatest seafaring nation in the world," due in large measure to the discoveries, exploits and sponsorship of  it's prince, nicknamed "Henry the Navigator," seemed the most likely nation to support Columbus's dream of finding that shorter route to the EAST. So, it was no surprise that later, he would chose to approach Portugal's King John II for his support of his expedition.

In 1479 Columbus married Dona Felipa Perestrello, whose father had been one of Prince Henry the Navigator's captains. His wife's social rank opened doors for Columbus. And using his Father in laws collection of charts and documents he gained more knowledge of Portuguese discoveries and plans. In 1481 he entered the service of King John II of Portugal and voyaged to the Gold Coast of Africa.

Columbus wanted to discover the much sought for route to the EAST that would open up a lucrative trade.  He believed there was a better way to find it then traveling around the tip of AFRICA. He believed by sailing west 3000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean that he would come full circle and end up in Asia without having to go south and east. He thought he would sail right into these countries never dreaming he would land on a whole new continent and lay claim to a whole new world.

In 1484 Columbus applied for ships and men from King John II of Portugal. He was refused and then his proposal was reconsidered. However, the final rejection of his proposal came when Bartholomew Diaz discovered the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. He had found an eastern sea route to India. The Portuguese were no longer interested in an unproven western route. Columbus was denied once again and returned to Spain. 

He finally convinced the King and Queen of Spain to finance him and at dawn on Aug. 3, 1492, the three ships hoisted anchor from Palos, Spain and set sail.

He set sail on August 3, 1492 under the Spanish flag from Palos, harbor in Spain with three ships the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. Problems with the Nina and the Pinta necessitated a one month delay in the Canary Islands. He set sail again on September 3, 1492 and thirty-three days later at 2:00 a.m. on October 12, 1492, Rodrigo de Triana, a seaman aboard the Pinta, spotted land. 

Columbus actually had landed among the Bahamas Islands. He named this land San Salvador, claiming it in the name of Spain. This NEW World would lead to the settlement by Europeans of the continents of North and South America.

Some people oppose Columbus Day, claiming his achievements are not worthy of a holiday. The modern-day legend of Christopher Columbus and the discovery of America is due to Washington Irving. His "biography" of Columbus, a dramatic and embellished account, was so popular it became accepted as fact. Historically, Columbus was not the first to discover America, nor was he the first European to land at America, though he was probably the first European to successfully bring European culture to the Americas. There is also controversy surrounding the treatment of the native people of the Americas by Columbus and by Spanish conquistadors.

 and

Thanksgiving Day – October 9^th, 2006

Festivals of thanks for a bountiful harvest are probably as old as farming itself.

Here in North America it is generally thought that the original Thanksgiving Day dates back to 1621 in Plymouth Colony, where the Pilgrims joined with Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoag tribe, and about ninety of his tribesmen in a three-day feast.  In fact, fifty-three years before the Pilgrim’s celebration, Sir Martin Frobisher and the English settlers in the area held a harvest celebration of thanksgiving in what is now Newfoundland.

Early October, when harvest is complete, has been the time when families paused to give thanks for all the good things given us.  Although each family celebrates in its own way, generally speaking this is the most family-oriented holiday next to Christmas.  Family is usually one of the most important parts of our lives and something to be grateful for.

Today is the day Canadians celebrate family.  Everyone comes home—as many as possible.  Those who can’t are sorely missed.  We get together around food.  Today, food becomes sacred, not because it is spiritual, but because it brings us together, and I suppose in light of that, it is spiritual after all.  The turkey is the centerpiece, with wild rice and sausage stuffing, mashed potatoes, turnip, squash, salads, and pumpkin pie for dessert.  We gather around the table and we are the ones who count.  Of course we like fussing with the food anyway (someone will be fussing in the kitchen, Martha-like, most of the day), but we are the ones worth all the fuss.  This day is a lot of work but I feel that it is worth all the effort we put into the occasion.  Its real value is the renewal of family ties and bonds of love that keep our family close.

It’s interesting to know that pumpkins and other members of the squash family are indigenous to the New World.  Early settlers from Europe had never seen these plants, but when the plants transported from Europe failed to thrive in the harsh Canadian climates, the settlers were happy to find out about these edible fruits and vegetables.

If you are online today reading this, you may be one of those who couldn’t get home.  In which case, know that you are loved and missed.  You belong.  Some of you may not feel like you do, but you do.  You belong to God and the rest of us.

God made us a family, dependent on Him as our Father in heaven.  He gives us our daily bread, steers us around temptation, and delivers us from the evil all around us, some of which we may or may not see.  And most importantly, He forgives us of our sins against Him and each other.  Without this, it would be hard to know love.  We have so many barriers to love, and sins to be forgiven of and to forgive.  We need a good deal of grace for days like this, because no one knows us better than family.  And isn’t that what true family is—we love and we hurt all at the same time?

Thank God Jesus suffered hurt and died on the cross for all of us.  Without this we would not be acceptable.  With it, we can love and forgive because we have been forgiven.

I’m guessing that many of you will be reading this on Friday or Monday (I won’t be checking my own E-mail on Thanksgiving Day) and if you are, you will have waded through a sea of spam messages to get to it. Congratulations!  Thanksgiving will be a memory—another roll of film to process and file or log onto your computer.  Hopefully, one of those pictures stands out in your mind with a glow of the possible.  We will live together for eternity, and today, we are one step closer.  Today there are no spiritual orphans.

We here in Canada have so much to be thankful for.  We have many freedoms that we take for granted—free speech, freedom of religion and worship, the freedom to choose out government and our destiny.  These are all important parts of the democracy that is our heritage.

To God be the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

*^*^ PUMPKIN PIE

There are many recipes for pumpkin pie, but this is a particular favourite of mine:

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

? teaspoon each of salt, ginger, mace, nutmeg, cinnamon

1/3 cup brown sugar

? cup maple syrup

1 cup scalded milk

2 eggs, well beaten

1-1/2 cups canned pumpkin

10-inch unbaked pie shell

Whipped Cream (optional)

1.  Mix all ingredients together (except whipped cream).
2.  Pour mixture into the unbaked pie shell.
3.  Bake in a hot 450 degree F oven for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 325 degrees F and bake 30 to 40 minutes longer or until the filling is firm.  (A knife inserted in the centre should come out clean.)
4.  Cool before serving.  Serve with whipped cream.

This is the day when once again the children will be here,

Gathered around the table’s rim from places far and near.

And when the quiet moment comes when heads are bowed to pray,

They’ll thank the Lord for family ties and for Thanksgiving Day.

Hartson Sager Dowd

hsdowd@telus.net