Next Stop: Clifford's Winter Solstice

Reader Hugh left a linky to this post by the Centurion in the Tasty Bits (TM) Mail Sack over the weekend concerning the PCification of Thanksgiving by Clifford the Big Red Dog:

The show we were watching was from an animated series called (I believe) Clifford the Big Red Dog. This particular episode was obviously a repeat of a Thanksgiving show, with the family of characters preparing their Thanksgiving turkey feast and then bringing it over to Grandma’s house for the big family celebration. But, oddly enough, the word Thanksgiving appeared nowhere in the dialogue.

Every reference to what should have been Thanksgiving Day was instead Fall Feast Day. The characters all wished each other Happy Fall Feast Day, they talked about their Fall Feast turkey, their Fall Feast pumpkin pie, the first pilgrim’s Fall Feast Day, and they all got dressed up in their finest Fall Feast clothes.

Huh? I’ve never heard this anywhere else. I checked with my family and it seems all of my grandchildren’s schools (in Nevada, New Jersey and New Hampshire) still celebrate Thanksgiving Day. Has anybody else heard of Fall Feast Day, or is Clifford the Big Red Dog wielding the cutting edge of yet another secular progressive incursion against cherished American traditions?

We long ago sailed out of the waters around Birdwell Island, Vermont (home to Clifford and his owner Emily Elizabeth). I don't recall ever seeing this episode, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least. Clifford was always pretty mushy in a manner typical of the sort of stuff served up by PBSKids. Not quite in the Calliou league maybe, but not all that far behind either.

(FWIW, I believe the show was cancelled when John Ritter - who voiced Clifford - suddenly died. So what the Centurion saw was a rerun from several years ago.)