Thanksgiving 2020 in Santa Barbara, California will be very much like Thanksgiving here in 1918. That year, the festivities were somewhat subdued because as the local paper wrote, "the influenza ban that puts a quietus on all gatherings – and this applies rigidly to church. As a result, the usual Thanksgiving service . . . will be lacking.
"This year in Santa Barbara, there will be no means of holding the usual organized observation of the day, starting with church services extraordinary and ending with the festive . . . family . . . parties."
The only Thanksgiving church service that was held in the area was in Montecito. Churches had been ordered closed, but outdoor assemblies were apparently allowed. So, one church in Montecito held an open-air service. "The congregation assembled in front of All Saints Church with the doors of the church open so that the music of the organ could reach the singers without."