Pow-wow?

Once upon a time, our preschool hosted a Thanksgiving Feast, with preschoolers dressed in paper bag Indian vests, and construction paper Pilgrim hats. We ate turkey, dressing, and the rest, most of which went uneaten by the children. So the annual event became a "Pow wow". The children attend in their Thanksgiving regalia, but carry non-perishable food for a "campfire", food to go to a food bank right afterwards. This is a nice change because rather than cook and serve leftovers to the homeless, which is admirable but messy, we send food to a food bank for use after the Thanksgiving food coffers are emptied.

Over the years the pilgrims have disappeared! Pilgrim costumes are a pain in the neck to make, and Indian head-dresses and beads are easy, so teachers, ever looking for ways to cut after-hours labor, went all-Indian. Then one year, a class came as turkeys! They have been coming that way ever since.

This totally blew my literal mind. I kept thinking that dinner was coming to the guests, and that they were very happy about it! Fifteen smiling turkeys, and 40 or so hungry Indians wasn't my idea of the first Thanksgiving! But the turkeys dance the "turkey-pokey". Our class sings and dances "Turkey in the Straw". Another class sings ten little Indians and then does a politically incorrect war-whoop! Children cry (ever expected) and end up in Mommy-laps. Others crawl over the pile of canned food, and some grasp a favorite canned food and won't let go! It is a thorough mish-mash that parents love, teachers dread, and children, ever loyal and willing, endure.

Some version of this goes on in every preschool in America, some might be more coherent, but I doubt it. As surreal as it is, it satisfies a real need to mark a holiday for the families of a school, and for that, I am thankful.

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