As the end of October nears, families and friends often begin to feel a transition into the next season. Pumpkin carving and cliché costumes are left in the past and the next holiday to look forward to is Thanksgiving.

Or so you would think.

As we fall back into autumn and the temperatures have just finally drifted away from the intolerable heat (living in the unpredictable state of Virginia), it seems as if we are already hearing the chimes of the bells outside of every store with Santa decorations and wrapping paper being advertised before even getting the opportunity to fathom what will be on the Thanksgiving dinner table.

In my youth, I don’t recall Christmas music being blared on six different radio stations as early as the day after Halloween. I would even be able to turn on the television and not be consumed by the hyper-intensive Toys R Us commercials forcing me to be reminded that Christmas is still almost two months away.

Walking around shopping just the other week, I couldn’t help but notice the Christmas wreaths nearly thirty feet in diameter towering over each store lined with the white lights that are notorious for staying up far too long after the holiday season is over. I couldn’t help but cringe and feel sorry for the seemingly forgot holiday fondly known as Thanksgiving.

With the weeks following Halloween leading up to Thanksgiving, I want to see the obnoxiously massive turkey inflatables in front of people’s yards. I want to see the infamous cornucopia being represented also as one of these inflatables or set on top of a bale of hay. I want to see commoners walking the streets as pilgrims handing out cans of cranberry sauce.

Feeling as if I was being irrational, I took to the streets to unravel the common opinion on this issue. One student, Cameron Brandon, stated, “Thanksgiving has become an overlooked holiday and seems to have lost its meaning while being forced to hide behind the seemingly superior holiday that is Christmas.” Another passionate student, Jeff Fisher, said with breathtaking passion, “The encroachment of the start of the Christmas season to the day after Halloween has all but overshadowed Thanksgiving.”

With these two examples, I was able to come to the conclusion that I am not crazy or alone in my thinking for my stance on this issue.

It is not time for the cliché hallmark movies to come on the television on multiple different channels or to wear the red Santa hats claiming that “Christmas is right around the corner”.

It is time to put an end to this madness. Thanksgiving needs to be put back on the map as November is a month for thanks, not reindeer and elves. It is a time for families to finally have a day together after rarely seeing one another, not for light tours and Fraser Fir trees.

Christmas season can take the back seat for a few more weeks – it is Thanksgiving season.