by Zachary Stalcup, staff writer

Everyone knows and loves the iconic image of Thanksgiving.  To some the story of a great feast between English pilgrims and Native Americans seems almost too good to be true.

But there are a handful of facts that would disturb present day Americans about what Thanksgiving really is.

Thankfully, far to the north, in a land called Canada, the real Thanksgiving still survives to this day.

Thanksgiving is not only an American holiday.  We share this day of thanks and feast with our friendly neighbors.

But Canadians didn’t nationalize the holiday until 1957, 94 years after president Abraham Lincoln nationalized Thanksgiving for America.

When Canada created its holiday, the date was moved to the second Monday in October, six weeks earlier than the American day of thanks.  The drastic change to the holiday has some Americans baffled.

“There’s a Canadian Thanksgiving?” senior Joe Abajian asked with a laugh.

There are many Americans who don’t realize the existence of the Canadian counterpart to America’s most beloved holiday.  But to some Americans, the problem lies deeper.

“I think it’s wrong,” said sophomore Serena Bandtell.  “It’s against American rights.”  Many Thanksgiving activists agree about the pressing problem of Canadian Thanksgiving.

“Canadians should have to disband Thanksgiving,” said senior Blake Daylor.  “Thanksgiving is American and Canada isn’t.  I am going to Canada on Saturday to kill all the turkeys and bring them back to America where they belong.”

To some Americans, an inactive approach is hard to imagine.

“I think we should reevaluate Canada as a test site for strategic missiles,” said history teacher Anja Klein, who uses the Canadian flag as a hall pass because it is “taken to the toilet.”

Canadians, on the other hand, seem to look at the issue in another light.

“They (Americans) are just jealous of us because we have maple syrup and free health care,” said senior Karel Bachand.

Born in Montreal, Bachand moved to America when he was one. Although leaving at such a young age, Bachand sees himself as more Canadian than American.

Some Americans don’t take Canada’s idea of Thanksgiving too seriously.

“I think it’s cute,” said Klein. “It’s like a Safeway brand holiday.”

While some see this as a generic holiday that other nations adopt, others see it as a holiday specific to their own country.

No matter what side of the fence you sit, Thanksgiving is always a happy time for feast and festivities.