SANDPOINT — There are a lot of myths about how Thanksgiving came to be.

Legend has it that a 1621 harvest feast held between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag people — to celebrate the English settlers making it through a tough first year and a successful corn harvest — was the first Thanksgiving.

A disorderly affair, according to Britannica.com, that event saw a meal of what was likely geese and ducks, as the fowl were easier targets than turkeys. The Wampanoag contributed venison to the feast, which the website said likely also included fish, eels, shellfish, stews, vegetables and beer.

The story is slightly different, according to the Wampanoag version as told to a USA Today Network reporter. A member of the tribe reports that the Pilgrims did not invite the Wampanoag to the feast; instead, the tribe heard steady musket fire and, fearing a war, Wampanoag warriors approached the Pilgrim settlement. It was only after a tense meeting between the two sides that calm prevailed and the feast took place.

You would have to fast-forward more than 150 years before what was a regional celebration expanded. Britannica.com reports that while the Continental Congress proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving in 1798, whether to do anything was left to the states.

It wouldn’t be until Sarah Josepha Hale, the editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book magazine, launched a campaign that won the support of President Abraham Lincoln in October 1863 that the day started to evolve into what we have today.

Since then, the day has been proclaimed a holiday by every president since, and the date set as the last Thursday in November. Following a joint resolution of Congress to declare the day a national holiday, Franklin D. Roosevelt designated the fourth Thursday of the month as Thanksgiving Day.

The day has become a time to celebrate with family and friends, to gather in appreciation for life’s blessings. Britannica.com notes that the day has inspired charitable activities, such as helping local food banks or donating to local causes.

At Sandpoint Waldorf School, gratitude and thanks are top of mind for the students, with Thimbleberry kindergarten students recently sharing the many things for which they are grateful. Among them: their families, their pets and the planet around them.

Raya — “The sun.”

Rylan — “Air, water, fire, and my puppy.”

Kahlan — “Family.”

Bolemir — “My cat.”

Leo — “My family and air.”

Mia — “The sun.”

Izzy — “The sun.”

Zach — “Emma.”

Hartlynn — “My cat, my dogs, the sun, the water, the fire and the sea.”

Vincent — “Our cat, dog, family and air.”

Skadi — “My family, my dog and clouds.”

Emma — “My family, the sun and air.”

Oshen — “My cats.”

Jasper — “Our cats.”

Arlo — “My cat and my dog.”

In the spirit of the holidays, Sandpoint Waldorf students also took time to reflect on the importance of giving to others and the importance of community, offering suggestions from their own lives. From helping around the house and watching a pet for a neighbor on vacation — the ideas both celebrate their own ways of helping and offer ways for others to extend the day’s thoughts of gratitude by giving back and strengthening community.

Below are their thoughts:

Afton — “I help with my dog, and I donate food to the food bank.”

Amelia — “I help with my baby brother, and my cats.”

Ari — “I care for the school playground by picking up toys and trash. I also watch other people’s pets for them.”

Ashton — “I rake leaves at my house, and vacuum for my mom.”

Charlee — “I make my bed every morning, and I help to set the dinner table.”

Claire — “I help my mom, because she is busy.”

Eva — “I take care of my pets, Knight and Ranger.”

Esmarie — “I help train my puppy, and help exercise the dogs.”

Finnigan — “I get help when someone is hurt.”

Liam — “I like to help my mom when she isn’t feeling well. We do the dishes and take the dogs for a walk.”

Gogo — “I am kind to my teacher and classmates.”

Oceana — “I give my mom and dad my drawings, and I help with my little sister.”

Reed — “I am kind to my family.”

Scarlett — “I help clean the house and our car with my mom, and I like to help friends.”

Tilly — “I clean my room.”

Wesley — “I play with my dog. I like to take out the trash at school.”

Ajah — “I could help the community by planting trees. I could help my moms cook dinner. I could rake leaves. I could make my bed. I could feed the dog.”

Ezra — “Help your parents around the house. Shovel our driveway. Mow our lawn. Helping people if they’re injured. Collect branches that are in the road.”

Finnian — “Baking bread for the food bank. Helping your parents shovel snow. Mow the lawn. Helping get fruit from the garden. Rake your neighbor’s lawn.”

Henry — “Baking bread for the people who need it. Helping my mom clean the house and helping bake the cookies. Helping my mom water the garden in the summer. Helping my dad get in wood for the fire.”

Ida — “Baking bread for the food bank. Helping weed the garden. Help neighbors shovel snow. Rake leaves in the fall.”

Jack — “Last November, I raked my neighbor’s yard and last Monday I helped my mom bake cookies. When my mom is sick I do chores. I also help my mom put the garden to sleep. I also help my mom with the shopping.”

Jackson — “Shoveling, doing chores, offering to help my little sister. Help cooking.”

Koa — “Baking bread for the food bank. Helping your parents to clean the dishes. Helping to shovel snow, and helping your neighbors to bring the trash to the curb. In the summertime, help your mom to garden.”

Remy — “Help your parents around the house. Help your friends. Make bread for the food bank. Help your neighbors by shoveling their leaves. Help your friends and family.”

Tibor — “Giving good eggs to people. Giving nice soap to people, and giving books.”

Antonio — “Helping my neighbors stack their firewood.”

Aria — “Washing the dishes.”

Ariya — “Playing violin at Panhandle Special Needs.”

Autumn — “Volunteering at the animal shelter.”

Eva — “Raking leaves for my neighbors.”

Georgia — “Volunteering at the Bonner Community Food Bank with my mom.”

Kachemak — “Help my parents make my new home.”

Kyra — “Cat sitting for my neighbor.”

Liam — “Help clean the dishwasher out by putting the dishes away.”

Miley — “Helping my parents with chores around the house.”

Wyatt — “Shoveling snow for neighbors.”

Zoie — “Helping wherever is needed.”

Blake — “Some ways to give back to others through acts of kindness and gratitude are to say thank you, smile at somebody, mow a neighbor’s lawn, and wave hello to people.”

Elsa — “Smiling at people when they walk by, and donating to the food bank near the holiday season.”

Evelyn — “A way to give back to others could be helping to hold the door open for others, and maybe lend a hand with groceries at the store.”

Julian — “Something that I think would be a sincere, well-received act of kindness would be going around your neighborhood and just looking for things that need to be done. That can be picking up trash on the sidewalk, or knocking on people’s doors and asking if you can rake their leaves. Small acts of kindness can go a long way with people who really need them.”

Kai — “A way to give back can be shoveling people’s driveways.”

Marin — “I think a good way to give back is to give what you can, if you have any extra food, books, or anything else. Another way is just to compliment someone — you never know, it could make someone’s day.”

Theo — “I think that raking leaves and shoveling snow for your neighborhood and waving and smiling to people on the streets would be good ways to show kindness and gratitude.”

Trennon — “Ways to give back to others through acts of kindness and gratitude would be to smile and wave when people are walking by.”

Winslow — “A way to give back is to spend time with residents in assisted living centers.”

    Sandpoint Waldorf School students take part in an annual all-school play celebrating the Michaelmas festival.
  

    Sandpoint Waldorf School students take part in the schools opening-of-school ceremony welcoming and honoring the new first-grade class.