(Editor’s Note: The following column was submitted by Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer.)

Friends and Neighbors, 

As we celebrate this Thanksgiving holiday, we are reminded of all that we have to be thankful for in this great country, state, and community. Here we have kind neighbors, loving family and friends, and brave men and women who sacrifice time with family to protect us and our freedoms.  

I am especially thankful for the wonderful opportunity to serve my Senate District, along with each opportunity to connect with you in whatever way that may be. I am always happy to meet in person in our district, in my office here in St. Paul, or even simply by phone. I am thankful for each and every one of you. 

Our nation’s first thanksgiving meal predates our nation’s founding and was first celebrated in 1621. That was the year that Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast after so many colonists starved the previous year. 

Over two hundred years later in 1863, in the midst of a difficult and painful Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November. In his proclamation, President Lincoln wrote of the “gracious gifts of the Most High God” that should be “acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people.”  

I sincerely hope for you to enjoy a thankful and grateful day and wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving with “gracious gifts of the Most High God.” 

Sincerely, 

Mary