:: Thanksgiving dinners served by St. Lauren’s shelter in 2005: 351
:: Thanksgiving dinners served by the Oak Room at the Ritz-Carlton in 2005: 138
:: Where both establishments have purchased their turkeys for the last 85 years: DiNardi’s Meats
:: Number of lights used in the Mabel Tripp Gardens annual Festival of Lights holiday event: 2.5 million
:: Total hours the lights will be lit November 19 – January 1, 6 pm to midnight: 258
:: Volunteer hours needed to hang the lights: 1200 (50 volunteers x 3 eight hour workdays)
:: Number of people who have portrayed Santa Claus in the city’s annual Thanksgiving Day Parade: 8
:: Number of these who actually claimed that they were, in fact, the real Santa Claus: 2
:: Number of women who have portrayed Santa in the parade: 1, longtime New York city councilwoman, Bella Abzug, in 1977, promoting a traveling exhibit of her hats at the Ragnot Museum of Art.
:: Number of calls in 2005 to the Community College home ec department’s “Thanksgiving Emergency Help-Line”: 22
:: Only subject in the city school system officially referred to by a British name: Maths
– R. White, C. Messick, L. Dinkins-White