Nothing bums people out worse than working on Thanksgiving. Or July Fourth. Or, heaven forbid, a religious holiday. If you must enlist people on such an occasion, make it pleasant, cheerful and quick. Make it up to them, sometime, somehow, and include spouses and family. You will win their hearts forever, especially if the situation was not of your making.
If your own inefficiency is to blame for pulling people in, you should be given switches and ashes and sent to bed. And if you were off celebrating while they worked, your own just desserts will come in time.