For Carol Hutterer of Catasauqua and her family, "the evening is spent remembering those who are no longer with us and tasting the five varieties of pies that my daughter makes," she says, recounting a day that also includes plenty of football -- Northampton versus Catasauqua -- and homemade cinnamon buns. Her daughter, Ann Marie Berner, also reads an old "Dear Abby" column reprinted each Thanksgiving, reminding the company to remember the sick, hungry, homeless and needy.

Jesus, he says, always prayed before meals, and Christians would do well to follow the practice. [Ralph F. Wilson]'s Thanksgiving meditation -- found, along with other holiday texts, at www.joyfulheart.com/thanksgiving -- cites an oft-repeated quote by Robert Casper Lintner: "Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day."

The Domyan family of Wescosville has wholeheartedly embraced that sentiment. They rise before Thanksgiving dinner to bless themselves and thank God. But Patricia Domyan, who was raised in an Eastern Orthodox home and converted to Roman Catholicism after marriage, says her family offers thanks before every meal, every day, at home or in restaurants.