Ask the Staff is a way for you to get to know some of the people that work for the Loyola libraries. In honor of Thanksgiving, staff members were asked to fill-in-the-blanks for our Thanksgiving “Mad Lib” story. A “Mad Lib” is a word game in which a person provides a list of words from a specific category (such as an adjective or verb) for a story unknown to them, thus making for a fun and entertaining read.

Below is the original story composed by Education Librarian Tracy Ruppman. The words that our participants substituted for in the blanks are highlighted in bold print. Read on to see how Loyola Libraries staff members re-shaped the story of the first Thanksgiving. Enjoy!

The First Thanksgiving, by Tracy Ruppman

The first Thanksgiving was actually a CELEBRATION of the first HARVEST by the PILGRIMS and their INDIAN friends in 1621. The PILGRIMS had come to AMERICA in December of 1620 and had suffered a difficult year. Now the CORN crops were ready to HARVEST and the PILGRIMS were preparing for winter. The INDIANS who lived nearby were FRIENDLY and eager to help the PILGRIMS. After the HARVEST, the leader of the PILGRIMS decided a CELEBRATION would help boost the morale of the n1 colonists remaining and invited the INDIAN chief and n2 of his people to join them. The CELEBRATION lasted three days and included wild TURKEYS and other fowl, venison, CORN, nuts and berries. Thanksgiving was not regularly a CELEBRATION until 1863 when Abraham Lincoln issued a national proclamation.

Words needed:

• a thing
• a thing
• a group of people
• an adjective, or a type of people
• a country
• a type of food
• a verb
• an adjective
• a number between 30 and 60
• a number between 70 and 100
• an animal