It appears that combining Thanksgiving and sports isn’t such a recent idea.
In 1862, members of the 48th New York Infantry celebrated their first Thanksgiving at Fort Pulaski with field day activities and a parade.
To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Grand Thanksgiving Fete and Festival, the National Park Service hosted its second Thanksgiving field day Saturday at Fort Pulaski National Monument.
An eye-popping 1,000 people visited the historic fort during the day, said Gloria Swift, a park ranger and curator.
Visitors, especially children, were encouraged to participate in foot races, sack races and wheelbarrow races.
In addition, both cannon and musket firing demonstrations were performed and guided tours of the fort were given.
The day ended with a dress parade in which guests were invited to dress in Civil War-inspired garb.
“The main thing is to do something that gets people interested in the history — something lively, hands-on and tangible,” said park ranger Mike Weinstein, dressed in a Union Army uniform, in explaining the purpose of the event.
The original Thanksgiving field day served as a respite for the garrison of Union soldiers who had seized the fort from the Confederacy and were then tasked with defending it for a year in near total isolation off the Georgia coast.
“For the soldiers here it was a relief from the tedium of being isolated in this fort. They couldn’t go to Savannah because it was enemy territory,” Weinstein said.
“It was basically an opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving which was a well-established holiday,”
It was common for soldiers to run three laps around the fort’s large parade yard in their version of a foot race.
Wheelbarrow races were often performed while blindfolded, Weinstein said.
For Saturday’s children — who ranged from age 3 to 9 — a 20-yard foot race served the same purpose and blindfolds were out of the question for safety reasons.
Instead of a $10 or a month’s salary as a first-place prize, winners on Saturday received gift shop items.
Nevertheless, fun times were still had.
“It’s all just cool seeing all the stuff they used and learning about how the fort was and what happened to it and its historical importance,” said Michael Cutchin, 12, of Richmond Hill.