“I’ve got big plans for Thanksgiving. I’m going to make a 7layer cookie and homemade apple strudel to go with the turkey for the feast Thursday.”

My mouth watered as I listened to my co-worker Alex describe the tasks involved in making the 7-layer cookie. The cookie features two layers each of chocolate chips, peanut butter morsels and coconut topped with a graham cracker crust.

The apple strudel had something to do with crescent rolls baked in the oven with apple slices. He lost me at the word strudel. I was still pondering the 7-layer cookie and the prospect of the annual Thanksgiving meal.

Thanksgiving has become the biggest meal of the year for Americans. Many residents will be on the road or flying to destinations all over the country this week for the official start of the holiday season.

Every tradition has its start somewhere. I did some research today with the goal of finding out more information about Thanksgiving before sitting down later Thursday for the big meal.

Here’s what I learned.

Historians believe the first Thanksgiving was held in 1621 some time between Sept. 21 and Nov. 11. It was originally a 3-day event based on English harvest festivals.

Colonists suggested celebrating Thanksgiving as a single day nationally during the American Revolution.

New York became the first state to celebrate Thanksgiving Day annually, starting its tradition in 1817. Many other states had jumped on the turkey bandwagon by the mid-19th century.

President Abraham Lincoln is the one to thank for why we celebrate Thanksgiving this time of the year. He was the one who decided to make the holiday dinner fall on the last Thursday in November.

Yet I’m sure the Pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving meal was nowhere near as large as what you will find in homes today. With time travel not being an option, one can only guess what was actually served at the first feast.

Most families center their Thanksgiving meal on the turkey.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates 256 million turkeys were raised nationwide this year. Minnesota is tops in turkey production (and I thought they were known mainly for frozen lakes and ice fishing).

Other USDA production statistics of note regarding foods commonly served at Thanksgiving meals: cranberries (649 million pounds), sweet potatoes (1.6 billion pounds), and pumpkins (998 million pounds).

The average American consumed 13.7 pounds of turkey in 2003, according to the 2006 Statistical Abstract of the United States. Much of this turkey was probably eaten at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.

What would a discussion of Thanksgiving be without talking about football, shopping or town names? The U.S. Census shows three places in America named after turkey.

Those places are Turkey, Texas (496 residents); Turkey Creek, La. (357 residents); and Turkey, N.C. (267 residents.)

We have “Black Friday” right after Thanksgiving. It gets this nickname because many retailers go in the black profitwise on the biggest shopping day of the year.

Football will be an important part of Friday night locally with Gaffney hosting Dorman in the Big 16 state semifinal at The Reservation.

Fate is my only explanation for why Gaffney and Dorman will have a rematch of their season opener. We could go another 30 years without ever seeing another ending like Gaffney’s thrilling last-second victory over Spartanburg last Friday.

My nerves can’t take a similar finish this week.

Clemson and South Carolina will begin playing their rivalry game on Thanksgiving starting next year. I think this is a worse decision than the original plan not to show the big game on television for the first time since 1986.

The rivalry game will just add more spice to the Thanksgiving holidays as we attempt to recover from 7layer cookie desserts and too much turkey long enough to hope for the right result on game day.