October 28, 2008 – Lebanon, Oregon – Homemaker and veteran home educator Carrie Franzwa and family are showing others how to relieve social stress this year through at-home time travel for Thanksgiving. By re-creating authentic era games, music, decor and table settings, the Franzwa family claims the holiday tradition can rescue weary minds through play.

“This all started for us because Thanksgiving was feeling like a burden,” says Franzwa. “Last year I decided it would be so much more fun and less stressful if I could skip the formalities and make the day feel more like a trip back to 1621.”

Even with her modest start Franzwa reports that it worked, and that the adults in the family were hooked.

At first the Franzwa children, then ages 17-22, weren’t sure what to make of the sudden change of Thanksgiving heart, thinking it was somewhat like school. “History never was my favorite subject,” says Daniel Franzwa, now 18. “But now I really like playing King James’ favorite card game, Mawe. I also got excited when I learned that pirates were part of the Plymouth story. I never knew that before.”

Franzwa admits that when she first came up with the living-history idea she knew very little about the actual event. She has since gained a deep appreciation for Native American history and culture, and even regards slavery as an integral part the Thanksgiving story. “Bringing our true ‘all-American’ history alive for the holiday offers our family a mini get-away that is good for the human soul on many levels.”

The Franzwa family will be teaching the public free of charge how to play Mawe on Saturday November 8^th, from 2:00 PM until 4:00 PM, at Cascades Elementary School, 2163 7th Street in Lebanon. Carrie Franzwa has also published a living-history how-to manual for Thanksgiving titled, The American Patriot’s Treasury of Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas, which she is working to provide free public access to in its entirety through Books.Google.com. The 150-page paperback is also available for purchase through Amazon.com and LetsPlayHistory.org for $19.95, or it can be special-ordered through bookstores, ISBN 1-4392-0586-8.

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Update September 28, 2009 – Expanded second edition, ISBN 978-0-557-08714-3  is now available through Amazon.com, $21.95.  Also available in PDF format for $7.99 through Lulu.com/TeachFromTheHeart Available wholesale through Bowker Books (Bowker.com).   Companion website:  IdeasThanksgiving.com

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