From all Military Ovation board members and volunteers, we thank you and Happy Thanksgiving.

President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving one hundred fifty years ago, in the midst of the Civil War. Though it was a time of hardship, Thanksgiving was a day for Americans to express gratitude for the many blessings they enjoyed, including the sacrifices of those serving in uniform and their families. Every year since, Americans have come together during this season to reflect and to give thanks.

This time of year is especially difficult for service members who are serving far away from their families and loved ones. To all those deployed overseas: know that Americans will be thinking about you as they gather around the Thanksgiving table, and praying for your safe return. To their families back here at home: Americans will always be indebted to you for sacrificing on their behalf.

Whether you are in uniform or a civilian, whether deployed abroad or stationed here at home, it is your service and commitment that allows Americans to enjoy the blessings of Thanksgiving. Your strength, selflessness, and patriotism are deeply respected by the American people, and we are very thankful for your commitment to our country.

From all Military Ovation board members and volunteers, we thank you and Happy Thanksgiving.

By the time the 13 Colonies became the United States of America, the only national holidays were Independence Day and George Washington’s birthday. There was no national day of Thanksgiving.

That eventually changed when a very determined lady by the name of Sarah Josepha Hale campaigned for years to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday.

Sarah was the daughter of Martha Whittlesey Buel (1752-1811) and Captain Gordon Buel, who were married in 1783 in Saybrook. Martha’s predecessors were members of Saybrook’s deep-rooted and prominent Whittlesey family.

Gordon Buel served as captain in the American Revolution and after the war, was granted 400 acres in Newport, N.H., where they moved to work the farmland. Eventually they had four children, one of whom was Sarah Josepha, born on Oct. 24, 1788.

In an 1868 Godey’s Lady’s Book, Hale shared the following poem:

Our National Thanksgiving

All the blessings of the fields,

All the stores the garden yields,

All the plenty summer pours,

Autumn’s rich, o’erflowing stores,

Peace, prosperity and health,

Private bliss and public wealth,

Knowledge with its gladdening streams,

Pure religion’s holier beams:

Lord, for these our souls shall raise

Grateful vows and solemn praise.