With Thanksgiving soon approaching here are some interesting facts.

Though many competing claims exist, the most familiar story of the first Thanksgiving took place in Plymouth Colony, in present-day Massachusetts, in 1621. More than 200 years later, President Abraham Lincoln declared the final Thursday in November as a national day of thanksgiving. Congress finally made Thanksgiving Day an official, national holiday in 1941.

Sarah Josepha Hale, the enormously influential magazine editor and author who waged a tireless campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday in the mid-19th century, was also the author of the classic nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

In 2001, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative Thanksgiving stamp. Designed by the artist Margaret Cusack in a style resembling traditional folk-art needlework, it depicted a cornucopia overflowing with fruits and vegetables, under the phrase “We Give Thanks.”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Minnesota is the top turkey-producing state in America, with a planned production total of 49 million in 2008. Just six states — Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia, Missouri and Indiana — will probably produce two-thirds of the estimated 271 million birds that will be raised in the U.S. this year.

The National Turkey Federation estimated that 46 million turkeys —one fifth of the annual total of 235 million consumed in the United States in 2007 — were eaten at Thanksgiving.

In a survey conducted by the National Turkey Federation, nearly 88 percent of Americans said they eat turkey at Thanksgiving. The average weight of turkeys purchased for Thanksgiving is 15 pounds, which means some 690 million pounds of turkey were consumed in the U.S. during Thanksgiving in 2007.

The cranberry is one of only three fruits — the others are the blueberry and the Concord grape — that are entirely native to North American soil, according to the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers’ Association.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest pumpkin pie ever baked weighed 3,699 pounds and measured more than 20 feet in diameter. It was baked on Sept. 25, 2010, by the New Bremen Giant Pumpkin Growers in Ohio, and all you need is 1,212 pounds of canned pumpkin, 2,796 eggs (233 dozen), 109 gallons of evaporated milk, 525 pounds of sugar, 7 pounds of salt and 14.5 pounds of cinnamon.

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Don’t forget our coffee shop where every day you can have homemade soup for $1 and a sandwich for 50 cents. Tuesday, we are serving Scalloped potatoes and ham hotdish for $2.

Upcoming Events

Monday: Blood pressure checks, 9 a.m.; Cards (Pinochle, Duplicate Bridge), 12:30 p.m.; Exercise with Evie, 1 p.m.;

Dance, 2 p.m.; Movie, 6 p.m.; Facebook class, 6 p.m.

Tuesday: Silver Sneakers 8:30 a.m.; Exercise with Evie, 9 a.m.; Scalloped potatoes and ham, 11:30 a.m.; cards (Pinochle, Duplicate Bridge, 500), 12:30 p.m.; Silver Sneakers, 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday: Wood Carvers, 8:30 a.m.; Tai Chi 9:30 a.m.; cards (Pinochle, Cribbage), 12:30 p.m.; Stitching Bees, 1 p.m.; Open chess, 1 p.m.; Boot Camp, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving – CLOSED

Friday: Closed

Weekly Card Results

Weekly Card Results

Monday Bridge

CLOSED

Tuesday Duplicate Bridge

Nov. 12, five tables

1st Bud Higgins, 1st Jim Fisher; 2nd Vandy Newman, 2nd Ron Peters; 3rd Larry Crowe, 3rd Dick Hansen; 4th Ray Schmidt, 4th Gail Schmidt; 5th Marge Blaser, 5th Joyce Crowe

Tuesday “500”

Nov. 12, three tables

1st Beulah Luthe, 2nd Jerry Downing, 3rd Dick Davies, 4th Wayne Chilson

Pinochle

1st Mildred Ballantyne, 2nd Hilton Henschen

Friday Bridge

Nov. 15, three tables

1st Russ Vaale, 2nd James Fisher, 3rd Arnie Lang, 4th Harriet Oldenburg, 5th Betty Jorgenson

Weekly Cribbage

Nov. 6, four tables

1st Pat Peters, 2nd Dale Peters, 3rd Russ Vaale

4th Hilton Henschen, Weekly “500”

November 15th w/5 tables playing

1st Beulah Luthe

2nd Hilton Henschen

3rd Lois Anderson

4th Jerry Downing