According to the accepted legend, the first wild turkey consumed at a Thanksgiving dinner was at the feast held at Plymouth Colony in 1621. The guests at that event were members of the Wampanoag Tribe who are still trying to open a casino in Massachusetts – so much for how we have thanked them for bringing a turkey to the first Thanksgiving meal.

After the holiday I am going to change somewhat the focus of this website because I want to spend more of my own writing time looking at the issue of hunting as it impacts conservation, wilderness and the whole question of the outdoors. Today’s column marks the 1,399th column posted on this website, so why not widen the perspective a bit?

Also, I just want to thank everyone who has contributed content to this site and encourage the current Contributing Editors to send more content as well as to encourage everyone else to consider joining the group. I make absolutely no editorial decisions about any column I receive in terms of length, topic or anything else. My only request is that writers refrain from profanity and personal insults – a request I make to anyone who wants to post a comment here as well.

All of that being said, please have a happy, safe and sober holiday.

Column #1,400 will appear on December 2nd.