Speaker:  Lianne Harris Racioppo

Topic: The Thanksgiving Story

The leaves change to a flaming gold, the fields are bare, and the last of the harvest is in.  Autumn is here, and with it, a day to celebrate our bounty and that we have made it through another year: it’s Thanksgiving.  

Explore the origins of one of our most beloved holidays as we familiarize ourselves with not only the Mayflower story and early colonial attempts to settle the New World, but also a look at the primitive roots of harvest festivals and how much we have to be thankful for.

This is Lianne's return visit to our Probus Clarington Club. Lianne was a former Social Studies / History Specialist with the Toronto District School Board, a guest instructor and workshop leader for many other school boards in Southern Ontario, and a curriculum advisor for Upper Canada College, having taught over 100,000 teachers and students (usually in authentic period clothing). She has been involved in various initiatives, including the Freedman Bank Records for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington and entrepreneurial artists and business start-ups in developing countries. In 2003, she was selected by W.O.M.A.D. as one of Toronto ’s Women of Influence, and in 2009, she was invited to contribute to the Canadian best-selling business/self-help book, ‘The Power of Women United ’ . She is the author of two medieval novels.  Appearing on TV and being interviewed on the radio many times, she is always happy to have a live or virtual audience.