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{{Infobox officeholder
'''Thanksgiving''' ({{wp|Germanic languages|Tyrnican}}: ''Erntedankfest'') is a [[Surrow|Surrowese]] holiday that takes place on the second Monday of October. Celebrated as an [[Surrow#Holiday|official holiday]] since the late nineteenth century, Thanksgiving celebrates the bounty of the sea and the end of the fishing season for the year
|honorific-prefix  = The Right Honourable
|name        = Sotty Haloranov
|image        = President_John_F._Kennedy_with_Prime_Minister_of_Jamaica,_Sir_Alexander_Bustamante_(04)_(cropped).jpg
|imagesize    = 250px
|caption      = Sotty Haloranov, 1954
|office      = 16th [[Prime Minister of Imagua and the Assimas]]
|term_start  = 23 April, 1952
|term_end    = 23 April, 1956
|president  = [[Victor Redmond Keswick]]
|deputy = [[Jim Stevens]]
|predecessor = [[Frederick Maynard]]
|successor = [[Martin Ellingham]]
|office1  = Member of Parliament for Tarnstead
|term_start1 = 12 February, 1917
|term_end1 = 23 April, 1964
|predecessor1 = [[Harold Cavalier]]
|successor1 = [[Dwane Harris]]
|birthname    = Sotirian Perkins
|birth_date  = {{birth date|1876|2|24}}
|birth_place  = [[Evertsgard, Imagua and the Assimas|Evertsgard]], [[Saint Christopher's Parish|Saint Christopher's]], [[Imagua|Colony of Imagua]]
|death_date  = {{death date and age|1969|8|6|1876|2|24|df=y}}
|death_place  = [[Cuanstad]], [[Imagua and the Assimas]]
|alma_mater  =
|nationality  = [[Imagua and the Assimas|Imaguan]]
|profession  =
|party        = [[Democratic Labour Party (Imagua)|Democratic Labour Party]]
|otherparty  = [[Labour Party (Imagua)|ISESWI]] (1903-1919)<br>[[Labour Party (Imagua)|ISP]] (1919-1937)<br>[[Labour Party (Imagua)|Labour Party]] (1937-1948)
|spouse      = [[Molly Egnell]]
|children    = 3
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'''Sotty Haloranov''' (born '''Sotirian Perkins''', 24 February, 1876 - 6 August, 1969) was the seventh [[Prime Minister of Imagua and the Assimas]], serving from 1952 until 1956, and a trade union leader.


==Early life==
==History==
Sotty Haloranov was born as Sotirian Perkins on 24 February, 1876 in [[Evertsgard, Imagua and the Assimas|Evertsgard]], [[Saint Christopher's Parish]] (present day [[Evertsgard, Imagua and the Assimas|Evertsgard]], [[Cuanstad]]) to Archibald Perkins, a blacksmith of mixed race, and to Tabitha Perkins (nee O'Halloran), a housewife of [[Caldia|Caldish]] descent, as the youngest of six children, and the only son to survive childhood.
[[File:Luxenborough_arrival_at_Newfoundland.jpg|250px|thumb|left|''Arrival of Avery Holcot to the Surrows'', unknown artist, 1760]]
Thanksgiving on Surrow is believed to have primarily evolved from {{wp|harvest festival|harvest festivals}} that occur in the autumn in [[Rythene]] and [[Tyrnica]], with historian [[Harvey Riberg]] writing in 1974 that "most of the customs associated Thanksgiving on Surrow can ultimately be traced to the Rythenean {{wp|harvest festival#Customs and traditions in English-speaking world|harvest supper}}," with Riberg noting records of fishermen as early as 1501 having a feast at the end of the fishing season before returning to [[Auressia]] with their catch "akin to that of a harvest supper."


His early life was marked with tragedy: his father abandoned Tabitha and their children in 1879, and in 1881, Martha died of {{wp|scarlet fever}}, leaving Sotty and his siblings orphaned.  
Many historians, such as [[Dennis Brestrich]] and [[Chris Hasard]], say that the first recorded Thanksgiving was when [[Avery Holcot]] landed on Holcot Inlet in 1486 and thanked God for "protecting their fleet in such wild territory." However, as it took place sometime between June 24th and June 28th, and as it was primarily a religious ceremony where all men in Hoclot's fleet [[Rite of Masking#Rite of Masking|applied clay to their chins]] to symbolise their strength and overcoming difficulties during their voyage, with no feast being held on that day, other historians such as [[Donald Molson]] and Harvey Riberg have argued that it had "no connection or very little connection" to the modern-day Thanksgiving that is celebrated in Surrow.


According to Sotty's biography, a sailor from [[Vinalia]] took pity on him, and adopted him as his own, bringing him back to Vinalia where he was sent to school and studied at a university. In gratitude, Sotty would adopt the sailor's surname as his own. However, most historians dispute the veracity of Sotty's claims, citing Imaguan census records from 1891 reporting that he and his siblings lived with his paternal uncle near [[Lundholm]], his surname not matching grammatical rules in the {{wp|Rusyn language|Soravian language}} and his surname's similarity to his mother's maiden name, and his "penchant for embellishing stories," with his 1942 and 1961 accounts of his experiences in Vinalia barely matching up.
The first official day of Thanksgiving was in 1759 when Governor [[Josiah Matthews]] declared a day of thanksgiving to be held on "the fourteenth day of October" to celebrate the end of the [[Eleven Years War]] between Rythene and Tyrnica. While religious ceremonies were performed on that day, as the day fell on or near the traditional feast at the end of the fishing season, it is believed by most historians, like Dennis Brestrich, Donald Molson, and Harvey Riberg that this "day of thanksgiving" was the first "true Thanksgiving" on Surrow, as it incorporated many of the traditions that are associated with contemporary Surrowese Thanksgiving.


In 1899, Sotty moved to [[Cuanstad]] where he took a job as a dockworker. His experience as a dockworker made him interested in politics, particularly as he resented "contributing to the economy of Imagua but not having a say in the politics of this land." This led him to becoming involved with the [[Dockworker's Union (Imagua)|Dockworker's Union]] by 1900, and by 1903, he would join the [[Labour Party (Imagua)|Imaguan Subsection of the Estmerish Section of the Workers' International]].
Although successive governors would not declare a day of thanksgiving on that date for over fifty years, records from the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century would consistently refer to the day when the feast occurred in early-to-mid October as Thanksgiving, with Thanksgiving involving entire villages gathering at the local temple to mourn those who were lost at sea before having a feast inside the temple to celebrate the "bounty of the sea."


==Political career==
In 1825, Governor [[Abner Stedman]] proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving on the "second Monday of October" to celebrate the success of the [[Second Rythenean Revolution]] and to celebrate the "bounty of the sea without which no man may survive," and declared that Thanksgiving "shall forever fall on the specified day." Stedman's proclamation permanently tied the feast to celebrate the end of the fishing season with Thanksgiving, with the only times Thanksgiving was not proclaimed to fall on the second Monday of October being in 1914 and again in 1943 to give thanks for the ending of the [[First Great War (Levilion)|First Great War]] and the [[Second Great War (Levilion)|Second Great War]], with the dates being TBD and October 28th respectively.
===Early political career===
After Sotty Haloranov joined the Imaguan Subsection of the Estmerish Section of the Workers' International, he became involved in the party newspaper, where he wrote about his experiences and his treatment during his time at the dockyards in Cuanstad, and the necessity for the Imaguan working class to "stand together against the elites."


At the same time, he remained involved in the trade union movement, but now focusing on trying to get the trade unions to cooperate with one another. In 1907, he was able to help forge an agreement between several trade unions to form a {{wp|national trade union center|trade union centre}}, the [[Imaguan Trade Union Federation]], with Sotty saying that it would "strengthen ties among the labour movement." Sotty would become involved in the ITUF's oprations, although he was not in a leadership position for the ITUF.
In 1950, following Surrow's formal independence from Rythene, Thanksgiving was officially codified as a public holiday falling on the second Monday of October, with the holiday staying on that date ever since. Since the 1950s, as Surrow has urbanised, Thanksgiving customs changed, with dinners in Holcot Inlet decreasing as people began returning to their hometowns to attend their Thanksgiving dinners.


In 1908, Sotty Haloranov would stand in his first election, standing for Tarnstead. Although he stood little chance of winning, due to the fact that most people in Tarnstead did not own enough property to be able to vote for the [[Parliament of Imagua and the Assimas|Chamber of Commons]], this experience taught him "the value of campaigning and the value of appealing to the common man." He would place a distant third, only securing five votes.
==Customs==
[[File:ETS_Bus_Happy_Thanksgiving.jpg|250px|thumb|right|A [[Tulaktarvik Transit Authority|TTA]] bus displaying "Happy Thanksgiving," 2019]]
In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, Surrowese usually travel back to their home communities, which in the context of Thanksgiving means the place where their ancestors had most recently lived before moving to either [[Holcot Inlet]], [[Tulaktarvik]], or [[Gateway]]. This has made the Thanksgiving weekend the busiest travel day of the year in Surrow, leading to a custom where entire families travel by chartered bus towards their home communities in order to avoid dealing with traffic congestion and spending too much on gas as gas prices usually spike during the Thanksgiving weekend.


This experience emboldened Sotty Haloranov to fight for universal male suffrage, as Haloranov believed that "if anyone is deprived of the opportunity to vote just because they are poor, like my parents and family were, then it is a sign that we need to change the system."
Upon their arrival in their home community, the Thanksgiving meal traditionally takes place at a local temple or at the local community centre, with preparations being made for at least two weeks prior to Thanksgiving. Traditionally, the Thanksgiving meal takes place in the early evening, but since the early 1990s, there has been a trend to have multiple sittings spanning from lunch to supper to ensure that everyone who arrives in their home community can attend the Thanksgiving celebrations. Some historians, such as Molson, have argued that it may have been an outgrowth of having two separate meals in [[Tern Harbour]] for the town's Rythenean and Tyrnican communities, but others, such as Hasard have said that it is due to community centres or temples being "unable to accommodate over one-to-two hundred people at once."


Haloranov would run again in 1909 and 1913 but failed to get elected. However, in 1917, Haloranov succeeded in getting elected to the Tarnstead constituency, defeating [[Democratic Party (Imagua)|Democrat]] MP [[Harold Cavalier]], and he was sworn in on 12 February, 1917.
The meal itself involves a traditional dance performance by a local group, usually either a {{wp|English country dance|country dance}} or a {{wp|Ländler|Tyrnican country dance}}, followed by a priest or the mayor reading the names of those who were lost at sea in the past year before performing a {{wp|toast (honor)|toast}} to all who have lost their lives at sea. This is then followed by saying grace before eating the meal, and then at the end of the meal, another traditional dance performance is performed.


===MP for Tarnstead===
After the meal, families usually spend time in their home community, either at a relative's house, or in an outdoor environment before returning home later in the day or the following morning.
One of his first acts as MP for Tarnstead was advocating for universal male suffrage, with Sotty Haloranov supporting the Labour Party's demand to introduce universal male suffrage as a precondition for participating in a coalition government with the Democrats. At the time, Sotty Haloranov opposed {{wp|women's suffrage}}, believing that women would "only vote as their husbands and the church dictated to them," effectively "diluting the voice of the people."


However, when the Estmerish Section of the Worker's International split in 1919, the Imaguan subsection also split. Despite his left-leaning views and sympathy to {{wp|council socialism}}, his dislike of [[Ethel Cropper]], who he later described as being "uncooperative and impossible to reason with" meant that Sotty Haloranov stayed with the party, which would become the [[Socialist Party (Imagua)|Socialists]].
==Cuisine==
[[File:Jiggs_Dinner.jpg|250px|thumb|left|A plate of home dinner]]
Due to Thanksgiving falling at the end of the fishing season, most of the dishes consumed at Thanksgiving are fish-based.


After [[Peter Hansson]] died in 1920, [[Nelson Egnell]] became Chief Minister, and per {{wp|constitutional convention}}, [[Elections in Imagua and the Assimas#1920|a snap general election]] was called. Due to the passage of universal suffrage, the Socialists were able to take advantage of newly-enfranchised supporters to sweep into power, as well as poor economic conditions as a result of the [[Great Collapse]], with Sotty Haloranov winning his seat with 68% of the vote. During this time, Sotty Haloranov began advocating for "Imaguan independence," believing that Imagua was "now at a stage where it can and should take its rightful place on the world stage," while he served as {{wp|parliamentary secretary}} for the [[Ministry of Labour (Imagua)|Labour Minister]].
The three most prominent dishes associated with Thanksgiving are {{wp|flipper pie}}, made from cured and salted seal flippers and vegetables and covered with pastry akin to a traditional {{wp|meat pie}}; {{wp|Jiggs dinner|home dinner}}, comprised of {{wp|salt beef}} boiled with {{wp|potatoes}}, {{wp|carrots}}, {{wp|cabbages}}, {{wp|turnips}}, and {{wp|greens (vegetables)|greens}}, and alongside {{wp|Figgy duff (pudding)|raisin pudding}}, {{wp|stuffing}}, and {{wp|pease pudding}}, and {{wp|fish and brewis}}, comprised of fish and {{wp|hardtack}} and typically served alongside with {{wp|scrunchions}}, or fried {{wp|pork rinds}}. It is customary to serve fish and brewis and either flipper pie, home dinner, or both dishes at Thanksgiving.


Thus, by [[Elections in Imagua and the Assimas#1924|1924]], Haloranov comfortably won with 73% of the vote against his Democratic opponents. After the 1924 election, Haloranov was sidelined by Nelson Egnell, due to Haloranov's advocacy of Imaguan independence, although he retained his position as parliamentary secretary. Following the start of the [[Great War (Kylaris)|Great War]] and subsequent Gaullican occupation of Imagua, Sotty Haloranov would use his position among the trade unions to "sabotage Gaullican authority" and advocate for Imaguan independence from both Estmere and Gaullica. This led him to being arrested in 1930, where he was detained until the liberation of Imagua.
Other foods commonly consumed during Thanksgiving include {{wp|fishcake}} with {{wp|summer savoury}}; {{wp|Hash (food)|fish hash}}; {{wp|fish soup}}, usually made with cod and berries; {{wp|Rollmops|rolled fish}}, made with pickled cod rolled up in a cylindrical shape around an onion and salt filling; {{wp|fish fingers}}, usually made with cod; {{wp|tuna casserole|cod or haddock casserole}}, made with pasta and either cod or haddock, and topped with hardtack; {{wp|chowder|cod chowder}}, made with cod, {{wp|dulse|sea lettuce}} and corn, hardtack, and milk; {{wp|scrod}}, made from filleting a small cod or haddock and then baking it, and {{wp|prawn soup}}, made with {{wp|shrimp}}. Common sides at Thanksgiving include {{wp|mashed potatoes}}, {{wp|potato salad}}, {{wp|tuna salad|cod or haddock salad}}, shrimp, and sea lettuce.


===Post-war===
Traditionally, {{wp|whiskey}} is consumed at the Thanksgiving dinner, with a shot of whiskey traditionally consumed "at once" after the toast to those lost at sea to "honor their memories," with subsequent drinks are expected to be nursed throughout the night in order to "preserve the supply of whiskey." For those who are either too young to consume whiskey, usually under the age of 13, or who choose not to drink alcohol, {{wp|apple cider}} is an acceptable alternative to whiskey. However, whiskey's popularity has been in decline since the 1990s, with some community centres banning the consumption of whiskey and other alcoholic beverages at Thanksgiving dinners due to liability concerns, and in recent years, other beverages, such as {{wp|soft drinks}}, {{wp|beer}}, or water, have become more acceptable.
[[File:Haloranov_50.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Sotty Haloranov, 1950]]
Following the liberation of Imagua, Sotty Haloranov would briefly enter cabinet as [[Ministry of Labour (Imagua)|Labour Minister]], but after the [[Elections in Imagua and the Assimas#1936|1936 elections]], the Labour Party returned to the opposition benches, but Haloranov was able to keep his seat with 81% of the vote. However, the stint in opposition, plus Haloranov's history of resistance, garnered him respect, and helped increase his position within the Labour Party.


He would develop close ties to [[Wilbur Smith]], who would lead the left-wing faction of the Labour Party. During his time in the backbenches, Haloranov started to advocate for including more [[Bahio-Imaguan people|Bahio-Imaguans]] in government, and in 1939, declared segregation on the island "a sin."
The traditional desserts consumed on Thanksgiving are {{wp|blueberry pie}}, which is traditionally made from the last wild blueberries harvested in the season, and {{wp|pie|bakeapple pie}}, which is made from the last {{wp|Rubus chamaemorus|cloudberries}} harvested in the season, although in recent years, most of the berries are imported from other countries such as Albrennia. However, in recent years, {{wp|pumpkin pie}} and {{wp|apple pie}}, primarily imported from Albrennia has become popular as an alternative Thanksgiving dessert to blueberry pie.
 
Haloranov would win his seat with 76% of the vote in [[Elections in Imagua and the Assimas#1940|1940]], and 71% in [[Elections in Imagua and the Assimas#1944|1944]]. During this time, Haloranov emerged as an opponent of the [[United Provinces (Kylaris)|United Provinces]], fearing that the larger provinces would overwhelm Imagua, and criticised the adhesion of the Assimas and [[Bonaventure|New Accadia]] (present-day [[Bonaventure]]) as "reducing Imaguans to a mere minority in the federation." He would help promote the idea of Imaguan independence among working class Imaguans, which would play a factor in Imagua's expulsion from the union in 1948.
 
That year, Haloranov would keep his seat with 72% of the vote. Due to his high position within the newly-merged [[Democratic Labour Party (Imagua)|Democratic Labour Party]] and the Imaguan labour movement more generally, he was expected to become the party's nominee for the [[Prime Minister of Imagua and the Assimas|Imaguan premiership]] for the [[Elections in Imagua and the Assimas#1952|1952]] elections.
 
As opposition leader, Sotty Haloranov criticised the governing [[Sotirian Democratic Party (Imagua)|Sotirian Democrats]], accusing them of having made "no tangible progress" on worker's rights and on the rights of Bahio-Imaguans, and accusing them of continuing to operate "as if Imagua was still part of the [[Estmerish Empire]]." Haloranov also promoted the establishment of several state-owned enterprises to help "bind the country together," and promised to engage in land reform.
 
His rhetoric, in addition to the growth of trade unions meant that by 1952, he was seen as a serious contender to become [[Prime Minister of Imagua and the Assimas|Prime Minister]]. During his campaign against incumbent Prime Minister [[Frederick Maynard]], Haloranov promised to engage in land reform to help the poor, begin ending segregation on the island, and making "twenty years of progress in four." Despite concerns of his age, Haloranov was able to lead the DLP to victory in [[Elections in Imagua and the Assimas#1952|that year's general election]], winning 34 seats with 50.03%. Haloranov kept his seat, with 75% of the vote in his constituency.
 
===Prime Minister===
On 23 April, 1952, [[President of Imagua and the Assimas|President]] [[Walter Redmond Keswick]] appointed Sotty Haloranov to be the [[Prime Minister of Imagua and the Assimas|Prime Minister]]. Haloranov would appoint his [[Cabinet of Imagua and the Assimas|cabinet]], appointing [[Jim Stevens]] to be his [[Deputy Prime Minister of Imagua and the Assimas|Deputy Prime Minister]] on the same day.
 
Immediately after being sworn in, Sotty Haloranov began setting up {{wp|state-owned enterprises}}. Two of them included the [[Imaguan Television Service]], which would broadcast television across the country, and the [[Imaguan Maritime Service]], whose goal was to provide cheap service between [[Imagua (island)|Imagua]] and the [[Assimas Islands|Assimas]], so to enable people to travel more freely between the two. Sotty Haloranov also passed laws to help strengthen labour rights in the country, with a law in 1952 enshrining the principle of {{wp|equal pay for equal work}} and by another law in 1953 to institute a card check system.
 
However, the outbreak of the [[Carucerean Revolution]] in 1953 and the collapse of the [[United Provinces (Kylaris)|United Provinces]] would prove to be his greatest challenge as Prime Minister, because Haloranov was sympathetic to the goals of the [[Social Liberation Movement of Carucere|Social Liberation Movement]]. However, he felt constrained because the United Provinces was Imagua's largest trade partner at the time, and he feared that if he were to recognise Carucere's independence, Imagua would be isolated in the West Arucian. In addition, outright supporting Carucerean independence would make Imagua appear to be "moving towards [[Tretyakism]]," which he felt would further isolate Imagua on the world stage.
 
After discussions with [[Raymond Rivière]], Prime Minister of the United Provinces, Haloranov would recognise Carucerean independence on September 9th. This decision was met with harsh criticism from the Sotirian Democratic Party, as the SDP believed that Carucere would be a "Tretyakist base in the West Arucian," and condemned land reform as being "proof" that Carucere was going to be pro-[[Chistovodia]].
 
(TBC)
 
==Personal life==
 
(TBC)

Latest revision as of 20:12, 21 December 2024

Thanksgiving (Tyrnican: Erntedankfest) is a Surrowese holiday that takes place on the second Monday of October. Celebrated as an official holiday since the late nineteenth century, Thanksgiving celebrates the bounty of the sea and the end of the fishing season for the year

History

Arrival of Avery Holcot to the Surrows, unknown artist, 1760

Thanksgiving on Surrow is believed to have primarily evolved from harvest festivals that occur in the autumn in Rythene and Tyrnica, with historian Harvey Riberg writing in 1974 that "most of the customs associated Thanksgiving on Surrow can ultimately be traced to the Rythenean harvest supper," with Riberg noting records of fishermen as early as 1501 having a feast at the end of the fishing season before returning to Auressia with their catch "akin to that of a harvest supper."

Many historians, such as Dennis Brestrich and Chris Hasard, say that the first recorded Thanksgiving was when Avery Holcot landed on Holcot Inlet in 1486 and thanked God for "protecting their fleet in such wild territory." However, as it took place sometime between June 24th and June 28th, and as it was primarily a religious ceremony where all men in Hoclot's fleet applied clay to their chins to symbolise their strength and overcoming difficulties during their voyage, with no feast being held on that day, other historians such as Donald Molson and Harvey Riberg have argued that it had "no connection or very little connection" to the modern-day Thanksgiving that is celebrated in Surrow.

The first official day of Thanksgiving was in 1759 when Governor Josiah Matthews declared a day of thanksgiving to be held on "the fourteenth day of October" to celebrate the end of the Eleven Years War between Rythene and Tyrnica. While religious ceremonies were performed on that day, as the day fell on or near the traditional feast at the end of the fishing season, it is believed by most historians, like Dennis Brestrich, Donald Molson, and Harvey Riberg that this "day of thanksgiving" was the first "true Thanksgiving" on Surrow, as it incorporated many of the traditions that are associated with contemporary Surrowese Thanksgiving.

Although successive governors would not declare a day of thanksgiving on that date for over fifty years, records from the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century would consistently refer to the day when the feast occurred in early-to-mid October as Thanksgiving, with Thanksgiving involving entire villages gathering at the local temple to mourn those who were lost at sea before having a feast inside the temple to celebrate the "bounty of the sea."

In 1825, Governor Abner Stedman proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving on the "second Monday of October" to celebrate the success of the Second Rythenean Revolution and to celebrate the "bounty of the sea without which no man may survive," and declared that Thanksgiving "shall forever fall on the specified day." Stedman's proclamation permanently tied the feast to celebrate the end of the fishing season with Thanksgiving, with the only times Thanksgiving was not proclaimed to fall on the second Monday of October being in 1914 and again in 1943 to give thanks for the ending of the First Great War and the Second Great War, with the dates being TBD and October 28th respectively.

In 1950, following Surrow's formal independence from Rythene, Thanksgiving was officially codified as a public holiday falling on the second Monday of October, with the holiday staying on that date ever since. Since the 1950s, as Surrow has urbanised, Thanksgiving customs changed, with dinners in Holcot Inlet decreasing as people began returning to their hometowns to attend their Thanksgiving dinners.

Customs

A TTA bus displaying "Happy Thanksgiving," 2019

In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, Surrowese usually travel back to their home communities, which in the context of Thanksgiving means the place where their ancestors had most recently lived before moving to either Holcot Inlet, Tulaktarvik, or Gateway. This has made the Thanksgiving weekend the busiest travel day of the year in Surrow, leading to a custom where entire families travel by chartered bus towards their home communities in order to avoid dealing with traffic congestion and spending too much on gas as gas prices usually spike during the Thanksgiving weekend.

Upon their arrival in their home community, the Thanksgiving meal traditionally takes place at a local temple or at the local community centre, with preparations being made for at least two weeks prior to Thanksgiving. Traditionally, the Thanksgiving meal takes place in the early evening, but since the early 1990s, there has been a trend to have multiple sittings spanning from lunch to supper to ensure that everyone who arrives in their home community can attend the Thanksgiving celebrations. Some historians, such as Molson, have argued that it may have been an outgrowth of having two separate meals in Tern Harbour for the town's Rythenean and Tyrnican communities, but others, such as Hasard have said that it is due to community centres or temples being "unable to accommodate over one-to-two hundred people at once."

The meal itself involves a traditional dance performance by a local group, usually either a country dance or a Tyrnican country dance, followed by a priest or the mayor reading the names of those who were lost at sea in the past year before performing a toast to all who have lost their lives at sea. This is then followed by saying grace before eating the meal, and then at the end of the meal, another traditional dance performance is performed.

After the meal, families usually spend time in their home community, either at a relative's house, or in an outdoor environment before returning home later in the day or the following morning.

Cuisine

A plate of home dinner

Due to Thanksgiving falling at the end of the fishing season, most of the dishes consumed at Thanksgiving are fish-based.

The three most prominent dishes associated with Thanksgiving are flipper pie, made from cured and salted seal flippers and vegetables and covered with pastry akin to a traditional meat pie; home dinner, comprised of salt beef boiled with potatoes, carrots, cabbages, turnips, and greens, and alongside raisin pudding, stuffing, and pease pudding, and fish and brewis, comprised of fish and hardtack and typically served alongside with scrunchions, or fried pork rinds. It is customary to serve fish and brewis and either flipper pie, home dinner, or both dishes at Thanksgiving.

Other foods commonly consumed during Thanksgiving include fishcake with summer savoury; fish hash; fish soup, usually made with cod and berries; rolled fish, made with pickled cod rolled up in a cylindrical shape around an onion and salt filling; fish fingers, usually made with cod; cod or haddock casserole, made with pasta and either cod or haddock, and topped with hardtack; cod chowder, made with cod, sea lettuce and corn, hardtack, and milk; scrod, made from filleting a small cod or haddock and then baking it, and prawn soup, made with shrimp. Common sides at Thanksgiving include mashed potatoes, potato salad, cod or haddock salad, shrimp, and sea lettuce.

Traditionally, whiskey is consumed at the Thanksgiving dinner, with a shot of whiskey traditionally consumed "at once" after the toast to those lost at sea to "honor their memories," with subsequent drinks are expected to be nursed throughout the night in order to "preserve the supply of whiskey." For those who are either too young to consume whiskey, usually under the age of 13, or who choose not to drink alcohol, apple cider is an acceptable alternative to whiskey. However, whiskey's popularity has been in decline since the 1990s, with some community centres banning the consumption of whiskey and other alcoholic beverages at Thanksgiving dinners due to liability concerns, and in recent years, other beverages, such as soft drinks, beer, or water, have become more acceptable.

The traditional desserts consumed on Thanksgiving are blueberry pie, which is traditionally made from the last wild blueberries harvested in the season, and bakeapple pie, which is made from the last cloudberries harvested in the season, although in recent years, most of the berries are imported from other countries such as Albrennia. However, in recent years, pumpkin pie and apple pie, primarily imported from Albrennia has become popular as an alternative Thanksgiving dessert to blueberry pie.