Happy Thanksgiving!

**Bobby G** · 11-25-2009, 05:18 PM

Every year at this time I send a letter of thanks and gratitude to Autopia.org members. This marks my tenth year of this tradition, and it is perhaps the most important letter of thanks ever.

I started to send this out as an email blast, but my darn email server crapped out on me, so I will make it a slightly less personal post. The thought is the same.

Last week when I read that as many as 17.5% of all Americans are either under employed or not working at all, the depth of the current economic crisis really struck me. In my fifty years of life I have never known it to be so bad for so many. And, while I can only see with my own eyes what this crisis is doing to my family, my friends, and my neighbors, I realize that it is having an impact on millions of people around the world.

Americaâ€™s Thanksgiving tradition dates back to William Bradfordâ€™s 1620 journey from England to America. On his historic journey, Bradford and the other elders wrote an extraordinary charter titled the â€œMayflower Compactâ€.

When the Pilgrims landed in the New World, they found a cold, rocky, barren, desolate wilderness. There were no friends to greet them. No houses to shelter them. No inns where they could refresh themselves. In fact, on the first winter, half of the Pilgrims died of sickness or exposure. Though life improved for the Pilgrims when spring came, they did not really prosper.

The reason the early Pilgrims did not first succeed was because they were not on the right course. Poor planning, greed and political control were the culprits (sound familiar?). As we all know, the Pilgrims did finally succeed, and Thanksgiving was the celebration to give thanks to God, country, family and friends for the bountiful harvest.

I hope this holiday season finds you, your family, and your friends with everything needed to be prosperous in the coming year.

With Blessings from My Family to Yours, Happy Thanksgiving!

Sincerely,

David Bynon

Autopia.org Mayor