The Pierson College dining hall filled with Canadian undergraduates, graduates and faculty members on Monday in celebration of the 19th annual Canadian Thanksgiving Dinner, hosted by Pierson College Master Harvey Goldblatt GRD ’78.

Goldblatt, who hails from Hamilton, Ontario, and Joshua Satok ’13, president of the Association of Canadian Students, gave welcoming remarks and led the national anthem — in both English and French — before the turkey dinner was served.

[ydn-legacy-photo-inline id=”460″ ]

After the dinner, Karolyn Smardz Frost. a Canadian bicentennial fellow with the University, presented the keynote address. Smardz Frost, a specialist in African-Canadian history, discussed the history of the school and settlement in Buxton, Ontario, which served as a haven for blacks who were fleeing American slavery before the Civil War.

Though Goldblatt has hosted the event for nearly two decades, Monday’s night event will mark his last: He announced he would step down from his position as master of Pierson College at the end of the 2012-’13 academic year.

Goldblatt also serves as the chair of the Canadian Studies Program.