A Portrait Of Thanksgiving

A bird's eye view as Charlie Brown and his elusive football balloon float their way down New York's Broadway during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade Nov. 27, 2003, in New York.

The turkey balloon is seen coming down New York's Central Park West at the start of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Nov. 27, 2003.

Actor Harvey Fierstein, Broadway's most famous drag queen, appears as his "Hairspray" character, Edna Turnblad, dressed as Mrs. Claus, in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Nov. 27, 2003, in New York.

Technicians inflate "Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius", Nov. 26, 2003, in New York. Jimmy was one of the many balloons that were part of the 77th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

President Bush, with Jim Stocam, left, and Tom Fix, of Carthage, Mo., pets Stars the national Thanksgiving turkey during a ceremony pardoning the turkey at the White House Nov. 24, 2003. The presidential tradition of pardoning a turkey dates back over 50 years to Harry Truman and has ever since been a custom of the White House executive. Stocam and Fix raised the turkey.

Ashley Matt of Saint Ignatius, Mont., does a fancy shawl dance during a Native American Thanksgiving meal at the Flathead County Fairgrounds in Kalispell, Mont., Nov. 24, 2003. About 600 children from local schools were served a traditional Thanksgiving meal at the annual event which is organized by the office of multicultural services at Flathead Valley Community College.

Missy French, left, Kaley Hayes, 2, second from left, Ricky Hayes, 4, and Sony Hayes, right, have Thanksgiving dinner together at the Interfaith Community Preschool in Fort Smith, Ark., Nov. 24, 2003.

Madison McGuire, left, and Sara Wilson finish a song at the Champaign County YMCA's daycare Family Feast luncheon Nov. 20, 2003, in Urbana, Ohio. The YMCA's pre-school classes performed Thanksgiving songs for parents and grandparents before a meal of turkey and mashed potatoes.

Students from the Elysian Charter School look at a model of a turkey balloon during a tour of Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade studio in Hoboken, N.J., Nov. 18, 2003. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade floats and balloons are designed at the studio, with some being built there and then transported to New York for the annual parade.

Students from the Elysian Charter School look at The Big Comfy Couch float during a tour of Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade studio in Hoboken, N.J., Nov. 18, 2003.

Students from the Elysian Charter School look up at parade floats during a tour of Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade studio in Hoboken, N.J.

Trevor Petty, 3, of Keokuk, Iowa, looks at decorated candy canes Nov. 22, 2003, at the Candy Land display in Keokuk's Rand Park. Volunteers were at the park stringing up 300,000 lights on more than 100 displays in the park, in preparation for its grand opening on the day after Thanksgiving.

Bristol Central High School Bell City Choir members Annmarie Mercieri, Tom Bryda and Michelle Bouyea sing a jazz number during the school's Thanksgiving Dinner Nov. 20,2003 in Bristol, Conn.

Claire Pullen, 5, of Mount Lebanon, Pa., talks to the turkeys during her visit to the OohMahNee Farm in Mount Pleasant, Pa., Nov. 23, 2003. The farm, which is an animal sanctuary, was hosting a Vegan Thanksgiving Celebration.

M.C. Riley Elementary School first-grader Brianna Kingery continues to eat her Thanksgiving feast even though her ill-fitting paper Indian head dress fell over her eyes during the school's Thanksgiving Dinner for students and their parents Nov. 20, 2003, in Bluffton, S.C.

Members of the First Thanksgiving float are seen waving to the crowd at the 2003 Plymouth Thanksgiving Day Parade in Plymouth, Mass, Nov. 22, 2003.

Matthew Richardson, foreground, a volunteer, carves a turkey during a preparation for Thanksgiving meal for elders who live at Anna Bissonnette House in Boston, Nov. 23, 2003, as another volunteer Karen Lynn-Jones, background, of Brookline also works in the kitchen. People Making a Difference, a charity group, organized the Thanksgiving meal for the Committee to End Elder Homelessness.

Sheila Esparza, left, of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, dishes out part of a Thanksgiving dinner Nov. 3, 2003, at the Red Cross shelter in San Bernardino, Calif. The Morongo, who for more than a decade have donated 10,000 meals to Southern Californians at Thanksgiving, brought the holiday early to about 1,000 wildfire victims still living at the shelter.

This turkey is not for eating. Ramon Ramos, 56, walks his turkey, El Valiente, down East Lincoln Avenue on his way to a friend's home southeast of Yakima, Wash., Nov. 3, 2003.

Peg, a border collie, works sheep on whistle commands from its owner, Tom Lacy, during the Virginia Thanksgiving Festival at Berkeley Plantation in Charles City, Va., Nov. 2, 2003.