Face it. For many of us, Thanksgiving is one of two scenarios:

1)    You frantically prepare a huge dinner (“Hey, is that turkey ready yet?!”) and clean up the house before the relatives and/or friends invade, then chitchat with them or sneak away to watch some football on TV in another room until the turkey is done, and then everyone stuffs their faces full while someone reminds your brother of something mean and cruel that he did to you 40 years…or

2)    You spend turkey day traveling near or far to that relative or friend’s house (see above) before engaging in hand-to-mouth combat with what’s on your plate.

But among the freeway, food and football, we do ponder the real meaning of Thanksgiving, which is to give thanks for what we have. (And hopefully, we have much to be thankful for.)

In that light, behold this Thanksgiving proclamation in 1951 from then Governor Arthur Langlie. Reading the third paragraph will remind you that we were well into the Cold War with the Soviet Union back then.  Credit goes to Benjamin Helle in our State Archives for finding this 60-year-old document.