After Halloween on October 31, the holiday world enters a lull period until Thanksgiving rolls around a few weeks later. However, by then, many people are already beginning to celebrate Christmas with trees and decorations, sparking a rough debate over whether the November season is dominated by turkey-driven dinners or festive winter nights. 

Thanksgiving, Of Course!

Written by Nathan Colagross

Have you ever eaten turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, carrots, various pies, and your favorite drink all on the same day?

Chances are, you have – on Thanksgiving.

The embodiment of the fall spirit, Thanksgiving remembers the origins of our great nation from Christopher Columbus to the Native Americans. Imagine the outdoors for a moment, especially in the fall season. I can almost see exactly what you see. Perhaps a road with trees on either side, with fading leaves that make the scenery look like something out of a low-budget Christmas movie. Perhaps a Waterview surrounded by trees that have parted with their leaves.

No matter your thoughts, the fall spirit has a distinct image, and thus, a distinct taste. Pumpkin-flavored food items often dominate the markets as pumpkin-spice lattes and pumpkin pies become commonplace. Who doesn’t love the spirit this brings? Almost definitely, you crave the feeling of getting a warm drink from your favorite coffee shop or arriving home to the smell of a freshly baked pie. The food, the smells, and the imagery are all related to the fall spirit.

Together, this culminates in the Thanksgiving holiday, as families get together to feast upon delicious delicacies that warm the fall frostbitten fingers. Thanksgiving also brings an unusual occurrence into many American families’ lives: a welcome abundance of leftovers. On a normal occasion, leftovers from homecooked meals are cast aside as the unwanted remains of a past meal that couldn’t live up to the standards of the cookbook. However, Thanksgiving breaks the status quo. Following Thanksgiving dinner, it can often be a duel for who can claim the biggest portion of the remaining food, scraping for any remaining mashed potatoes and sneaking additional slices of pie to take for later. Usually disgraced, these leftovers are welcomed home with open arms following Thanksgiving dinner.

Truly magical, right?

Some will argue that Christmas invokes similar occurrences of leftover delights, but the simple truth is that Christmas dinner is often a replication of Thanksgiving’s founding principles. What comprises Christmas dinner: a turkey or ham, mashed potatoes, and pie. Seem familiar? Likely, the basic makeup of Thanksgiving is so sound in American culture and so loved by so many people that other holidays feel the need to copy its great work to benefit their own standings. In a sense, it’s like printing out a picture of the Mona Lisa, adding a mustache, and calling it your own. The feast of Christmas directly copies the great feast of Thanksgiving. The fall spirit and the great tastes brought with it are unmatched by any other season. The imagery seen in the days surrounding Thanksgiving cannot be matched by any other holiday. As such, I rest my case.  

Obviously, It’s Christmas!

Written by Ethan Burress

Many believe that this time is Christmas time, and I agree with that sentiment.

Yes, Thanksgiving is still a holiday, but there is only so much celebration that can be done for Thanksgiving. With the amount of decorations, songs, movies, and activities, Christmas needs this extra month. Thanksgiving is given a day or two in the middle of Christmas, celebrated uninterrupted by Christmas, but after that, it is back to Christmas. The activities and anything else for Thanksgiving do not need more than a day or two, while Christmas could use this time. There is no reason to celebrate Thanksgiving for three weeks with nothing to do. Instead, we can dedicate this time to Christmas and the many celebrations of it.

There are many activities that can be done over this time for Christmas, while Thanksgiving only really needs the two days for the activities contained. For a majority of people, Thanksgiving is really only the dinner and the activities on Thanksgiving day. There are few Thanksgiving songs or movies, along with activities. Christmas has a multitude of these, with many songs, movies, and many activities such as Christmas light decorations and activities at the zoo. Plus, Santa, who doesn’t love Santa? Also the feeling the night before Christmas, knowing the day laid ahead of you, with gifts and the ability to spend time with family.

There is no need to act like Thanksgiving is being tossed aside either. The Thanksgiving festivities are not affected by a tree and some decorations. If anything, Thanksgiving dinner can be enhanced by a Christmas tree up. Most times when people talk about Thanksgiving, I am sure it is a thought about how near Christmas is. However, when Christmas is talked about there is less of a thought of Thanksgiving. There are reasons that festivities for Christmas can start as early as October while Thanksgiving only gains these few days. That is due not only to the popularity but also to the festivities already mentioned. As well I’m sure there has been a decrease in past years with Thanksgiving due to the fact that Thanksgiving is not exactly the happy holiday portrayed.

When the history of Thanksgiving is looked at, the very dark and brutal history is often ignored. Dr. Kelli Mosteller, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s Cultural Heritage Center director argues “It just disregards (the centuries of brutality) against Native Americans and chooses to take this one tiny snapshot, and in the world of social media, it puts all the pretty filters on it so that it doesn’t look the way it truly did”. These celebrations can occur simultaneously, but the spirit of November as a whole is Christmas, with Thanksgiving in the middle. 

What Do the People Think?

To gain Mentor High Schools’ consensus regarding the spirit of November, a poll was placed in the Hub and on the Cardinal Nation website for students, staff, and viewers to cast their vote. Here are the results. 

As students passed through the Hub on their way to class or to study in silence and as readers viewed the captivating articles on Cardinal Nation, the result was clear. By a vote of 123 to 52, Christmas was chosen as the Spirit of November. Specifically, the Hub garnered 121 votes for Christmas and 51 votes for Thanksgiving, while Cardinal Nation similarly favored Christmas over Thanksgiving by a vote of 2-1. Therefore, in total, Christmas was chosen by MHS students, staff, and Cardinal Nation readers as the Spirit of November.