Thanksgiving Day To-Do List: Things To Watch, Read, and Consider

In time for Thanksgiving Day, we post five memorable quotes from five holiday movies, five things to watch on television, five facts to know about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and five quotes about giving thanks. 

FIVE MEMORABLE QUOTES FROM MOVIES TO WATCH THANKSGIVING DAY

• “I never thought it was such a bad little tree. It’s not bad at all, really. Maybe it just needs a little love.” — A Charlie Brown Christmas

• “I ask the court to judge which is worse, a lie that draws a smile or a truth that draws a tear.” — Miracle on 34th Street

• "Once, there was this day. . . this one day when . . . everyone realized they needed each other." — Pieces of April

• “My wife likes me. My customers like me. 'Cause I'm the real article. What you see is what you get.” — Planes, Trains and Automobiles

• “We may have been poor in worldly possessions but, at Thanksgiving, more than any other time, I think we knew, we really knew, how great was our abundance.” — The Waltons, the Thanksgiving Story

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH ON T.V. THANKSGIVING DAY

• Godfather (I and II), AMC, 11:30 a.m.-8 p.m.

• Happiness Is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown, FOX, 8:30-9:30 p.m.

• Miracle on 34th Street, NBC, 2-4 p.m.

• Macys 85th Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade, CBS, NBC, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

• NFL Football Miami Dolphins at Dallas Cowboys, CBS, 4-7:30 p.m.

FIVE FACTS ABOUT THE MACY’S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE

• Originally known as the Macy's Christmas Parade, the Thanksgiving Day Parade was started by Macy's employees and featured animals from the Central Park Zoo.

• The parade's first Mickey Mouse balloon appeared in 1934.

• World War II halted the parade for the first time; its balloons deflated and donated to the government due to rubber and helium shortages.

• The parade character with the most balloons in history? Snoopy, the Flying Ace, with six.

• More than 3 million people line the streets to view the parade with another 50 million television viewers. More than 4,000 volunteers are involved for a parade that stretches 2 1/2 miles through the streets of Manhattan.

FIVE MEMORABLE QUOTES ABOUT THANKSGIVING

• "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." — John Fitzgerald Kennedy

• "Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day." — Robert Caspar Lintner

• "An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day." — Irv Kupcinet

• "We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures." — Thornton Wilder 

• "Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving." — W.T. Purkiser