It is the fall of the year 1950 and we in America, including this writer, John C. Alden and his wife Irvina, are well over the effects of World War II. The country is blossoming again after that time of excruciating, extreme sacrifice. As the holiday season approached and the trees shed their fall plumage, thoughts of Thanksgiving and Christmas dominate the hearts of God's people. Truly meaningful holidays center upon God who brought them about. He creates and we celebrate in the joy of Righteousness.

The town of Duxbury, Mass. lies 30 miles south of Boston and nine miles north of Plymouth. This seacoast town was the 1620 landing place and subsequent home for the 102 Pilgrims from England and Holland. It is one of the first permanent settlements of this country. As Plymouth grew through subsequent arrivals of other ships from England, people moved both north and south. John Alden and his wife Pricilla, both members of the original group, were among the first to start afresh in a new location. So, in 1624, they built their new home in Duxbury, after the hamlet in England called Ducksborough. The present day John Alden House was built there in 1653 by Jonathan, John Alden's third son. It is one of the two remaining homes from that time in our history. It is a product of the second generation of those hardy Pilgrims who sought the right to worship according to the calling and choosing of Almighty God. Successive generations maintained the house faithfully as it sheltered and became 'home' to its occupants, each of whom knew the importance of God, family and country.

This writer, John C. Alden (10th generation) remembers well his grandfather, Charles L. Alden, whose vision was to establish the 1653 John Alden House as a historical attraction, a guide to our nation's true beginnings. So, in 1923 Charles built a 30-foot-square log cabin of cedar logs close to the old house. It became a successful fine-dining restaurant, The Log Cabin Tea Room, which helped substantially to keep that dream alive. Grandfather Alden saw the now 350-year-old home as a monument to the memory of John Alden, the youngest signer of the Mayflower Compact signed in the cabin of the Mayflower ship before the Pilgrims disembarked in Plymouth. This document bound together that small band of settlers as "one body politic (expedient) -------- for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith."

The last folk to live in this ancestral home were my immediate family. In 1955, the Alden kindred of America assumed the home's upkeep after the death of my grandfather and grandmother.

With this background, we come to the story of our 1950 Thanksgiving. The Log Cabin, long since abandoned as a restaurant because of the 1930's Great Depression, was now a place for family gatherings of which there many. There was a 10-foot-wide porch across the front of that majestic place. The building's designation as a cabin fell far short of its huge impression. As one entered the massive doorway, the aroma of cedar was almost overwhelming yet immediately pleasing.

Preparation for Thanksgiving this year started in October.

Irvina, always the planner asked, "John, do you suppose we could have my family for Thanksgiving this year?"

"Sure, why not!" I answered. She and I and our two children, Jackie and Brad were living in a house across the field from the old John Alden House.

"But, do we have room?" she asked.

Pondering our dilemma took awhile, but then it hit us, "We can use the Log Cabin!"

Then came the logistics: Were there enough dishes left from the Tea Room era? How would we wash them when the water was shut off and drained for the winter? Electricity? Heat?

"Honey, I think we can do it!" I spoke enthusiastically. "There's plenty of wood out back to heat the big room - I'll turn on the water that morning. The big electric stove works great. And you can call everyone today, and ..."

"OK, OK," said my Beloved (she's always been that), "If you think you can really do it."

Plans went ahead smoothly as we looked forward to fun and feast. As the great day approached, cut logs were brought in from the woodpile out back. They would be burned in the 5-foot-wide field-stone fireplace at the rear of the great room. Heat from this fire would easily warm up the big room and if all went well, it would also cook the turkey. In the Alden house primitive kitchen, there was an English roasting spit (circa 1580) which Grampa Alden used as one of the early cooking exhibits.

The electricity was turned on, and as we were experiencing a late Indian Summer, I turned on the water a few days before so we could clean up the cabin kitchen before Thanksgiving morning. Eileen was to cook the potatoes and squash, Helen the rutabagas, carrots and pumpkin pies and Irvina was to dress the turkey and make the apple pies. I believe she made suet pudding also. Everyone prayed for mild weather and no rain or snow.

Thanksgiving arrived, bright and clear, just as we'd prayed! I got up way before dawn, jogged across the field to the cabin and touched a match to the carefully layed out paper, kindling and logs. Soon the fire was roaring and our Thanksgiving was underway.

The folks arrived about 1 p.m. with all the fixins for the feast. The Cedar Log Cabin worked its magic of aroma and fireplace nostalgia as the sun quietly started its descent. Our thoughts were turned toward the reason for our gathering. No doubt God keeps our hearts warm by giving us lovable friends and surrounding us with joyful influence. He also moves within our hearts, quickening us to appreciate what is good and lovable. Thanksgiving, apart from material blessings, is also a time for deep gratitude for God's work in our hearts. Our feelings and yearnings apart from God may mislead us, but when we take them to our Creator in repentance, He helps us. Misleading affections brought lovingly before God make our present life bearable, lifting us far above the world's temptations and sorrows.

This is the touch of God that brings His people together, and brings them unto Him in thanksgiving and love for His greatest gift of all, our Precious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thus, we sat down at the huge dining table surrounded by the delicious aroma of open-roasting turkey and all the other tantalizing smells of this wonderful time of year. The bursting heat from the fireplace warmed hearts as well as bodies. We were experiencing a measure of the glorious peace of God. Irvina's father asked the blessing acknowledging God's love and sovereignty. We then ate the most delicious Thanksgiving dinner ever prepared.

Turkey, roasted in this way has its own special flavor not duplicated in an oven. All commented on this fact. Our after-meal relaxation was memorable and enlightening. Many thank-yous were in order for my Grandfather Alden, also. Whether planned or not, he provided a perfect Thanksgiving for his grandson John, his wife Irvina and their two children Jackie and Brad as well as Irvina's wonderful family.

And so we leave our 1950 Thanksgiving in the shadow of the memory of that first Thanksgiving feast. Most of the original occupants of the old Alden Home were participants in that first extended time of Thanksgiving and feasting. It occurred in 1621 when almost a hundred Nausetts, Pokanokets and even some Pocassets joined the Plymouth Pilgrims in brotherhood.

Those 55 remaining Pilgrims (47 died that first winter) reached out in Christian love to their neighbors, maintaining peace and goodwill with the surrounding tribes.

Thus, under God, was started the first official family oriented Colony of our great nation, the United States of America.

Editor's note: John Alden lives in an apartment at Wellspring Meadows Assisted Living Facility in Hayden as caregiver for his wife, Irvina, who is in the last stages of Alzheimer's. Several of John's poems were previously published in The Press Writers Corner.

Submissions for consideration for publication in the Writers Corner should be emailed to Maureen Dolan, mdolan@cdapress.com.