Thanksgiving Day

By Gabriel, 9 Kenter Canyon Elementary Los Angeles The cold wind blows, There's a winter breeze, The squirrels scatter and Freeze, freeze, freeze. Icicles hang all around the pier, And I know Thanksgiving Day is here! Outside is wet, inside is nice, Everyone has a time to rejoice. Families eat and people pray, Everyone likes our Thanksgiving Day! * November By Riley, 7 McGaugh Elementary Seal Beach Rushing blue water is coming down the river.

GREEN BAY (10-0) AT DETROIT (7-3) TV: Channel 11, 9:30 a.m. PDT. Line: Packers by 6. Over/Under: 55. Lowdown: The Packers have won 16 in a row, but their defense gives up a lot of yards, and their offensive ground game is limping. If it can keep the crowd in the game, Detroit is dangerous. Sam Farmer's pick: Lions 31, Packers 28. MIAMI (3-7) AT DALLAS (6-4) TV: Channel 2, 1:15 p.m. PDT. Line: Cowboys by 7. Over/Under: 44. Lowdown: The Dolphins, riding a three-game winning streak, are loose and playing with confidence.

Here is a list of some of the places where free meals will be served Thanksgiving Day. Donations of cash and food are needed as well as volunteers to help prepare and serve the meals. ANAHEIM La Casa Garcia 531 W. Chapman Ave. (714) 740-1108; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Vineyard Christian Fellowship 5300 E. La Palma Ave. (714) 777-4777; 9:30 a.m. to noon Bob's Burgers 2790 W. Lincoln Ave. (714) 527-3983; 2 to 5 p.m. COSTA MESA Someone Cares Soup Kitchen Rea Community Center 661 W. Hamilton St.

Black Thursday is becoming the new Black Friday. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation's largest retailer, will for the first time launch its holiday sale kickoff at 10 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, joining Toys R Us Inc., Kmart and other chains that have already thrown their doors open while holiday turkeys are still warm. Other big retailers -- including Target Corp., Best Buy Co., Macy's Inc. and Kohl's Corp. -- have decided for the first time to open at midnight. Chain stores have been advancing their opening times for several years, but analysts say it has reached a tipping point this season, with Thursday night poised to upend Friday morning as the official holiday kickoff.

People who plan to fly away for Thanksgiving Day weekend would do well to shop for airlines and airports. The thrifty traveler can save, depending on the destination, airport and whether the flight has any restrictions. The following chart illustrates round-trip air fares to Chicago, Honolulu, Miami, Phoenix and San Francisco from Orange County, Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Diego and Ontario airports. The fares are for departure on Wednesday, Nov. 22, and return Sunday, Nov. 26.

A woman and her daughter died after their boat filled with water and capsized during a Thanksgiving Day excursion near Miami, officials said. Another boater found the vessel after it overturned. One man was still clinging to the boat, police said, and the women were stuck in the cabin underneath. The daughter died at the scene, and the mother died later at a hospital, police said.

All city, county, state and federal offices in San Diego County will be closed Thursday. On Friday, only San Diego city offices and federal offices and courts will be open. Banks will be closed Thanksgiving Day, and there will be no postal delivery. City trash collections will not be made Thursday, and sanitation workers will make pickups on Friday and Saturday to catch up. Schoolchildren will enjoy a four-day holiday, and city golf courses and tennis courts will be open all four days.

Thanksgiving Day radio in Los Angeles features nostalgia music specials, ranging from the big band sound of Glenn Miller and Nelson Riddle to the '60s rock of Jimi Hendrix and Arlo Guthrie. Beginning at 7:30 tonight, KMPC (710) airs a three-hour tribute to the life and music of '40s orchestra leader Glenn Miller, hosted by actor James Stewart. At 1 p.m., KCRW-FM (89.9) broadcasts a three-hour special keyed to another orchestra leader, Nelson Riddle.

What music did the Pilgrims like? Plymouth Rock! Sebastian, 12 Emperor Elementary Temple City What does the iPhone tell the turkey on Thanksgiving Day? You are very APPetizing! Joy, 9, Carden Conejo Elementary Westlake Village

When: Through Nov. 27, including Thanksgiving Day. Hours and map available on http://www.laautoshow.com Where: Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 S. Figueroa St., 90015 Admission: Adults: $12. Children 12 and under are free when accompanied by an adult. Parking: $12 in Convention Center garages

Two beverages among the most likely to be sipped at a beach or summer barbecue ? margaritas and Kool-Aid ? are working hard to stay in the mix this holiday season. Sauza, owned by Beam Global Spirits & Wine, a unit of Fortune Brands Inc., is teaching women how to make winter margaritas. Kool-Aid, owned by Kraft Foods Inc., made its first appearance in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, with its Kool-Aid Man on a skateboard. Sauza is looking to benefit from a trend toward entertaining at home.

Eventually, talk turned to Baron Davis . More specifically, there were questions about his eventual return, since, after all, he hasn't been in a game since Nov. 9 at New Orleans. That's when Davis played 10-plus minutes, coming off the bench, and suffered a setback to his ailing and swollen left knee. Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro was projecting a Thanksgiving Day return for Davis against Sacramento, but that date can't exactly be considered firm. "The plan is to get him back here Thursday, and I won't have an answer until I see him in practice and see where he is physically and how his knee reacts, and then we can make that decision," Del Negro said Monday.

"Mom," Kacie said as she gazed out the kitchen window, "will Dad be back in time for Thanksgiving?" "Yes, he'll be here. " "But who will share with us now the Rays have moved? Oh, Mom, I see a little girl is in their driveway. Do you think our new neighbors have moved in? I'll ask her. " And Kacie ran out the back door, around the house and through the hole in the hedge by the driveway. "Hi," she said with a big smile "Are you one of the new neighbors we've been expecting?"

Sadly, Thanksgiving's feast lasts but a few days, depending on how fast you plow through leftovers. But at Dave's Chillin-n-Grillin in Eagle Rock, the traditional holiday meal is served every Thursday -- on a bun. It's called the Pilgrim: For $7, patrons get a French roll filled with grilled turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing and turkey gravy. In New England, where shop owner Dave Evans is from, the sandwich is especially popular after Thanksgiving. A hearty delight for lovers of leftovers.

Thousands of people -- needy families, single mothers with children, the recently unemployed -- converged on free Thanksgiving Day meals throughout Southern California on Thursday to feast and forget their troubles, at least while the food lasted. The lucky ones arrived early at charitable holiday banquets, where volunteers began ladling gravy and slicing pies before lunchtime. About 2,500 lined up at downtown L.A.'s Fred Jordan Mission for a 10 a.m.

The nation's retailers were hoping to persuade shoppers to spend less time eating turkey and stuffing on Thanksgiving and more time shopping -- whether online or in person. For the second year in a row, CompUSA Inc. was opening its doors on Thanksgiving. The company's stores were scheduled to open at 9 p.m. The exception were stores in Massachusetts, where local laws preclude holiday hours. CompUSA also added an extra incentive for consumers this year by providing pumpkin pie for those in line.