Machipongo, VA - Along with great food, family and friends, this year's annual Thanksgiving Day Dinner hosted by the Vegetarian Society of Washington DC (VSDC) features a keynote address by United Poultry Concerns President Dr. Karen Davis.

Karen Davis's presentation "Living at Thanksgiving" explores celebratory themes from her book More Than a Meal: The Turkey in History, Myth, Ritual, and Reality published by Lantern Books.

"Celebration can include evolution," Karen Davis affirms. "In the religious realm, if we can substitute animal flesh for human flesh and bread and wine for all flesh, and view these changes as advances of civilization and not as inferior substitutes, we are ready to go forward in our everyday lives on ground that is already laid."

Karen will talk about the beautiful rescued turkeys who inspired her to write a book about them. "When you start seeing turkeys such as our Florence as friends instead of food, it really changes your outlook," she says. "I can tell stories that will melt the heart of every American."

VSDC's Thanksgiving Day Dinner takes place Thursday, November 28 at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda in Bethesda, Maryland from 12 Noon to 5PM. Reservations are essential. There is no walk-in registration. For more information, go to http://www.vsdc.org/calendar.html

United Poultry Concerns is a nonprofit organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl. For more information visit www.UPC-online.org