THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 23, 1995 TAG: 9511190027
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JENNIFER C. O'DONNELL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
As they dine on turkey and cranberry sauce today, the students of StoneBridge School will be thinking about those who first celebrated the holiday.
On Friday, StoneBridge held its annual Thanksgiving observance, Plimoth Plantation Day. The celebration was an opportunity for the students to learn about the holiday's history and the historical events that led the pilgrims and Indians to celebrate their bounty.
``The pilgrims worked so hard to get here,'' said seventh-grader Natalie Hord, a cast member in the school play, ``The Mayflower Memoirs.''
``When you think about all the troubles they had, it's hard not to think about them on Thanksgiving.''
``We related their troubles to modern life,'' said Laureen Geer, the play's narrator. ``Like the fact that they were on the ship for 66 days, and they didn't even have a bathroom. How did they manage? Our problems, like breaking an arm and having to wait for four hours in the emergency room, seem so small.''
But being children, the students had no problem finding some humor in the pilgrims' trials.
``This guy, John Howland, fell off the Mayflower and had to hang on to some rope for 20 minutes before someone saw him,'' said Shane Drye, giggling as he re-enacted the mishap between performances.
StoneBridge began celebrating the history of Thanksgiving 13 years ago. Friday's event included four plays performed by students in grades five through eight as well as spinning and weaving demonstrations and a reading of the First Thanksgiving Proclamation made by President George Washington.
The students, most of them dressed in pilgrim or Indian attire, ended the celebration with a re-creation of the first Thanksgiving feast. With the help of six microwave ovens and food prepared by parents and grandparents, the school's staff and several volunteers presented a buffet table with venison, seafood, pies, breads, vegetables, cider, turkey and eel.
``The first Thanksgiving took place in a coastal area,'' said Kathy Finn, the event's coordinator. ``It's only natural that they would have seafood dishes like lobster and eel. We tried to recreate the first feast as much as possible.''
Gesturing to the crowd made up of parents, grandparents and neighbors, Lauren Geer summed up the purpose of Plimoth Plantation Day.
``It's a chance to show everyone what we know about the pilgrims and Thanksgiving. Today, we're the teachers, and everyone else are the students.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by MORT FRYMAN
Michele Gonzales, left, and Melody Gonzalez man the information
booth during Plimoth Plantation Day at StoneBridge School.
The fifth- and sixth-grade chorus started off the activities for
Plimoth Plantation Day with a song: ``Sing for Joy.
by CNB