Reality Thanksgiving Revolution Rides Coattail of National Diversity Day; Declares Make-Over on All-American Holiday

Lebanon, OR, October 03, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Through sharing a unique Time Travel alternative for Thanksgiving, homemaker and author Carrie Franzwa hopes to inspire a cultural revolution in the way Americans celebrate the age-old holiday. Following the lead of National Diversity Day, Franzwa seeks to raise awareness about traditional Thanksgiving observances which are Euro-centric and stereotyped, and which fail to recognize the ethnic diversity of our founding history. Her novel approach invites Americans to trade up for the holiday by taking up the hobby of adding living history at home on Thanksgiving.

Franzwa contends that after generations of traditionalist K-12 history textbook whitewashing, Americans have developed the false impression that our history is boring and irrelevant. Coupled with the Aryan mindset that has prevailed in this country for centuries, and going hand-in-hand with the social impressions instilled by Buffalo Bill’s Wild West shows of 1883 to 1913, it can be argued that the traditional Thanksgiving holiday has long been out of touch with reality.

“Reality is always better than fiction,” asserts Franzwa. “If it wasn’t so, reality TV would not have become the phenomenon that it has in recent years. Americans just don’t realize that history study must include uncensored controversy to be of interest. Time Traveling for Thanksgiving provides Americans with a unique opportunity to turn things around, and get in touch with the interest and controversy of our diverse cultural heritage.”

Some of the missing historical pieces that Franzwa has re-introduced to her family Thanksgiving get-togethers include the French and Algerian pirates of 1620-21, the culture of the Wampanoag people, the direct connection with slaving practices, and English renaissance culture.

“We even commemorate the little known fact that the Spanish founded this country first, not the English,” said Franzwa.

To aid in the holiday diversity movement, Franzwa has launched a new concept website and blog at IdeasThanksgiving.com, and has released an expanded edition of America’s first how-to handbook for adding living history at home on Thanksgiving. The American Patriot’s Treasury of Historical Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas, Second Edition, is available in digital format for $7.99 through Lulu.com, and softcover for $21.95 through Amazon.com, Lulu.com, and retail bookstores, ISBN 978-0-557-08714-3 .

Carrie Franzwa is a veteran home educator K-8, and a living history enthusiast who has authored seven K-12 education titles. The Franzwa family maintains an online storefront at Lulu.com/TeachFromTheHeart, and organizes community Thanksgiving events in their hometown of Lebanon, Oregon. For more information about Carrie and the Franzwa family, or about IdeasThanksgiving.com and the historical Thanksgiving how-to guide, contact Carrie Franzwa at 541-259-6617days/eves, or 541-258-1566 Thursdays and Fridays from 10-5.

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