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Dear Families:
Many countries celebrate a national holiday to commemorate a founding, an important military victory, or another significant anniversary. These holidays foster national pride and build ties between citizens. For Americans, annual celebrations on Independence Day and Constitution Day serve this purpose.
But few countries designate a national day for giving thanks. For centuries, Catholics and Protestants alike have designated special days throughout the year to thank God for their many blessings. Our United States deliberately pauses once a year to praise God for our blessings and our heritage.
American Thanksgiving celebrations long pre-date the Founding, but President George Washington’s National Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1789 formalized the occasion—a tradition that has since stood the test of time. Washington demonstrates the importance of faith to the young nation:
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“…Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be—That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks—for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation—for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war—for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed—for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted—for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.”
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On this Thanksgiving Day, I am grateful for the many blessings bestowed by God upon our Embers community–the beautiful students, their loving families, our stellar teachers and staff, our devoted parent volunteers, our Annual Fund supporters, and our future Sparks. Thank you all for making Embers Academy a truly great school.
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Sincerely,
Christopher Goffos
Headmaster
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