A Florida Thanksgiving

by Adele Woodyard

 In a couple of weeks it will be Thanksgiving, a national holiday that many of us will celebrate with family and/or friends. For me it will be a gathering of two families, 19 in all, at my son and daughter-in-law’s house in Gainesville. A birthday cake will join the traditional pumpkin pie, for three of the guests have their special days this month, one of them on Thanksgiving Day.. Hope the weather cooperates, for tables will be set around the pool, and we can eat outdoors, like they did in the Plymouth colony  388 years ago. Perhaps the day will remind four of us of a Thanksgiving we shared one November. Here’s  part of the piece I wrote for Coast to Coast Magazine,  Nov-Dec. 1995:

        “A huge turkey made from baled hay greets campers near the entrance to Spirit of the  Suwannee Park in north Florida. Fallen leaves rustle underfoot. Pale gray smoke from a hundred fire rings rises toward the late November sky. As the day closes in on 2 p.m., campers clad in jeans and jackets pour out of RVs, trailer homes and tents. Bearing salads, sweet and mashed potatoes, veggies, pies and cakes, they converge at tables set beneath tall oak trees that drip with Spanish moss. These hearty dishes are set down beside roasting pans piled high with steaming turkey, stuffing and gravy, furnished by the park.

       All sizes and ages rush to find a seat and bow their heads as a deep voiced baritone invokes the blessing. …table numbers are called out and the hungry horde flocks to  fill their plates (with) this sumptuous spread that costs campers a mere $2, in addition to a covered dish big enough to feed six to eight.

      Surrounded by hardwoods and pine, within walking distance of the Suwannee River, you can easily imagine what Florida’s first Thanksgiving was like. To wonder if Indians will step out from behind the trees, for the Timucuan Indians once lived and hunted in these woods. But the illusion doesn’t end when the tables are empty. Each November the park stages Old Tyme Farm Days, an annual step back to the past…”      

 The rest of the article shows what else we found in the park that weekend, when we pitched two tents and canoed on the Suwannee River. According to their web site, much has been changed and/or added, since our visit. The annual Thanksgiving Day feast is now $5, and Old Tyme Farm Days have added to their hands-on exhibits. 580 acres has grown to 800, 270 campsites now number 600 improved, and there are comfortable cabins for those who have neither RV or tent.  There’s even a treehouse with bath and kitchen, if you’d like to sleep high aboveground. But the “pickin shed” for musical groups with banjos and guitars, bass and fiddles is still there, along with fishing on Rees Lake.  See for yourself what’s all year round at http://musicliveshere.com; 386-364-1683.

Wherever you are, whatever you do, may you have a happy Thanksgiving.