Cranberries, Turkeys, Pilgrims Gratefully Feast at Thanksgiving, as we celebrate the holiday next week.
Our celebrations begin next week as many of us plan and may travel to visit friends and relatives as we gratefully count our blessings on Thanksgiving.
A Cranberry Harvest photo shown here was taken when my Mom and I visited the Glacial Lake Cranberries marsh in October 2010. We took a tour on the Berry Bus to go to the reservoirs during the harvest. This photo shows them moving the berries towards the conveyor belts, and loading them into the trucks for the beginning of their journey to our tables. The President of Glacial Lake Cranberries is a girlhood friend of mine, who lived not far from me in Wisconsin Rapids, Mary Brazeau Brown. She and her husband Phil are very active in the community and have a wonderful operation growing delicious cranberries. It was a treat to learn the history, how the fruit grows and is then harvested.
Cranberries are grown in sandy soil, and have been a staple of our country since before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock in the 1600’s . Their springtime blossom reminds of us of the sand cranes which live near this marsh. The name cranberry comes from the word ibimi – or bitter berry, later changed to crane berry (because of the blossom shape), and then cranberry. As they grow, they are a green plant with the berries. When it is time for harvest, the areas are flooded with water, the berries are carefully harvested with machines in the water, then shipped to processors on their journey to our tables. Many growers supply the Ocean Spray cranberries, which are available in many forms. Cranberries are a unique fruit, with unusual harvest processes, giving us wonderful berries to enjoy year round.
As we watch the fall harvest of cranberries, with the cooling temperatures, many of our readers are thinking of their holiday entertaining. We’re preparing our homes for Thanksgiving, organizing, cleaning, preparing a festive table and getting ready for our holiday time to gratefully celebrate our blessings.
Many readers have Hunter Douglas Silhouette®, Nantucket™ and similar window shadings and blinds in their homes, that have collected bugs and debris between the vanes over time that need to be removed. For that chore, we have developed and market CamilyWand™ Sticky Bug Removal Tool™. It is a simple extendable tube with a perpetually sticky tip which attaches to the pesky debris, easily removing it from the Silhouettes® or other blinds. It is an all purpose tool that will remove light weight objects form inaccessible places, such as ceilings, behind furniture, between tight places and many other places.
When the offending bugs and debris are removed, our readers will have a preserved view through their shadings. Their rooms will be ready for families and friends to enjoy the holidays with bug free views.
We at CamilyWand™ are gratefully wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving!