Our special guest, H.E. Kevin Rex, the Canadian Government Ambassador to Latvia, provided insight into his first year in the role of Ambassador to the Baltic States and the recent changes and growth at the Canadian Embassy in Riga and its offices in Tallinn and Vilnius, mentioning the recent addition of Michael Eyestone, the recently appointed Canadian Trade Commissioner who will be stationed in Tallinn but serving the Baltic region. Ambassador Rex also provided some background about the Canadian Thanksgiving mentioning that the first celebration of Thanksgiving in North America occurred during the 1578 voyage of Martin Frobisher from England in search of the Northwest Passage. Thanksgiving has been officially celebrated as an annual holiday in Canada since November 6, 1879. The date varied by year and was not fixed. On January 31, 1957, the Governor General of Canada, Vincent Massey issued a proclamation stating: "A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed – to be observed on the second Monday in October” which has been the case ever since. Ambassador Rex added that Canadian Christmas, Canadian New Year and Canadian Easter will take place on the normally scheduled dates, and that there is a practical reason for celebrating Thanksgiving earlier in Canada than the US – pumpkins are normally frozen in Canada at the end of November.