Daniel Trotta

(Reuters] – Americans flocked in droves to football stadiums to see the spectacles. On Thursday they gathered for Thanksgiving Day celebrations.

This holiday is a tribute to Pilgrims from Europe, Native Americans and other Europeans who gathered together to enjoy the bounty of autumn. It was a time when goodwill prevailed before the Holocaust. Today, long holidays are a time when many families gather together to enjoy holiday meals.

Many people ate turkey dinners with Zoom last year as COVID-19 infections and deaths rose. The American Automobile Association estimates that 53.4 million Americans will travel to Thanksgiving this year, up 13% from 2020.

U.S. agents screened 2.31 Million people on Wednesday at the travel checkpoints. That’s 88% of all the traffic screened in the same day last year. According to Lisa Farbstein, spokesperson for Transportation Security Administration, it was the largest checkpoint volume ever since April 13 2020’s pandemic low at 87,534 (NYSE:).

Joe Biden called NBC to report on President Obama’s declaration that “back” the nation during the coverage of the 95th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, New York City.

My message to you is that after two years, I’m back. America has back,” Biden declared before visiting Nantucket Coast Guard station, Massachusetts. He wanted to say thanks for the service members around the globe. “There is nothing that we are unable to conquer.”

However, COVID-19 still affects 95,000 people per day. A Reuters count shows that COVID-19 has claimed the lives of more than 780,000 victims in America. However, deaths now occur in the hundreds every day and not the thousands.

Midnight on Thanksgiving marks also the official beginning of Christmas shopping season. It provides a glimpse of the American economy.

Online holiday “deals”, which retailers started to market as early as September of this year, were made possible by the supply chain jam that threatened to derail imports. Adobe (NASDAQ) Digital Economy Index says that bargains are not common.

A time to reflect on one’s blessings over Thanksgiving dinner, which typically includes a large turkey dinner and countless side dishes.

Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, like many other organizations, offered an annual food drive that allowed anyone who was in dire need of a meal kit to be picked up before the holidays.

Victoria Lasavath is the marketing manager for the food bank. She said that the pandemic has exacerbated the problem of food insecurity in Los Angeles County. According to her, the food bank and its partners are now serving 900,000.00 people per month. This is triple what was available before COVID-19.

Thanksgiving can be “a joyful time of year” for all. Lasavath explained that it could bring on a different kind of uncertainty for the food-insecure neighbor.

Hospital intensive-care units are no longer full, so restrictions have been lifted on social events. Detroit’s Ford Field stadium was packed with fans for Thursday’s first three National Football League (NFL) games. This restored a Thanksgiving tradition. There were not many fans last year.

After last year’s pageant, which was cut down to make it more accessible to the general public, New York’s Thanksgiving Day Parade saw a return of spectators.

The giant, glowing helium balloons with characters were displayed at the parade. They included Grogu, otherwise known to the Star Wars spinoff series, “The Mandalorian”, and Ada, who is a young scientist in the Netflix series, “Ada Twist, Scientist”.

This story was rewritten to change the food bank statistics to 900,000.00 per month and not per day.