Plant City Observer
y Observer
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VOLUME 6, NO. 223
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2022
YO UR NEWS PAP ER . ACCOLADES AT PLANT MANY OFFICERS RECEIVE CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT AWARDS CEREMONY AMONG THOSE RECOGNIZED AT PCPD’S AWARDS CEREMONY INCLUDE NEW AND RETIRING OFFICERS, A SPECIAL CHIEF’S AWARD RECIPIENT, PROMOTED OFFICERS, TWO K9 RETIREMENTS AND OFFICERS WHO EARNED SPECIAL RECOGNITION FOR THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS.
MICHELLE CACERES STAFF WRITER
Plant City Police Department recognized many of its own, and one civilian, at an Awards Ceremony last week at Michael S. Sparkman Police Center.
After a welcome, invocation, presentation of colors, pledge of allegiance and opening remarks to a standing-room-only crowd, master of ceremonies Captains Robert McLellan and Dave Millich got down to the business of recognizing award recipients.
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PIG JAM BRINGS THE FLAVOR TO PLANT CITY MICHELLE CACERES STAFF WRITER
Thanksgiving is a time to take a welldeserved break from work and recharge in preparation for the last, and busiest, month of the year. As Plant City residents get ready to gather with friends and family, share a meal and enjoy the day, it’s important to take a look back at the history behind the holiday and the traditions we recognize as indelible parts of the celebration. While many historians trace the origins of Thanksgiving to the harvest celebrations of early colonizers in New England in the early 1600’s, it didn’t become an official holi y until Oct. 3, 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday of November as a national day of Thanksgiving. President Franklin Roosevelt, recognizing that in some years November has fi e Thursdays, changed the date to the fourth Thursday of the month. WATCHING THE MACY’S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE
The Pig Jam returned to Plant City last weekend, with live music, delicious barbecue, dozens of teams and hundreds of hungry residents coming out to take part in the annual event. Hosted by the Plant City Chamber of Commerce and sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society, the Plant City Pig Jam featured 24 amateur and 25 professional barbecue teams manning their smokers and competing for the opportunity to take home awards presented to the event’s best chicken, pork ribs, pulled pork and beef brisket, awarded by a panel of experienced judges and table captains. See the full list of award winners when they are made available online.
To be honest, I turn on the parade as much to watch the shivering attendees trying to stay warm as I do for the character balloons, fl ats, marching bands and entertainers. It increases my gratitude for living in sunny Florida. Macy’s staged its fi st Thanksgiving Day parade in 1924 (it was aptly named the Macy’s Christmas Parade), meandering through New York’s city streets and ending at Macy’s fla ship store at 34th Street and Broadway. While it’s held on Thanksgiving Day, it doesn’t celebrate the holiday as much as it ushers in the next one…the start of the busy holiday shopping season. Still, the parade is a spectacle and a
good way to get in the holiday spirit. It kicks off li e from NYC at 8:45 a.m. and can be watched on NBC or streaming on Peacock. EATING A TRADITIONAL THANKSGIVING DINNER For many Americans, the Thanksgiving meal consists of roast turkey with stuffin cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. What was eaten at the fi st feast by our Pilgrim ancestors? Historical references claim the meal included wild turkey and venison, both plentiful in the region, as well as fall vegetables such as onions, beans and carrots. Corn might also have been served, but not as a tasty casserole. It would have been removed from the cob and turned into cornmeal, which was then boiled and pounded into a thick corn mush or porridge. Yum. Whatever dishes are on your table, keep in mind that Thanksgiving is also one of the top days for cooking fi es. Fun fact: In 1784 Ben Franklin suggested that the wild turkey would be a more appropriate national symbol than the bald eagle (thankfully other lawmakers didn’t gobble up the idea). BREAKING THE WISHBONE FOR GOOD LUCK A holiday tradition that takes place only if turkey, duck or chicken dons your table. Two family members, usually children, fight ver the furcula, or “wishbone”, each struggling to crack the bone and get the bigger piece.
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