It’s here! My favorite holiday is just a few days way!
It’s no secret, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I have great memories of food and family and parades and football and desserts.
This time of year, I get such a hankering for pumpkin — mostly pumpkin pie, but anything pumpkin will do. Of course, years ago, the only pumpkin anything were pumpkin pie and pumpkin roll.
Today, there’s pumpkin everything on the market and you don’t see pumpkin items too long on the grocery shelf after Thanksgiving.
This past week, I walked into the grocery store only to see a pallet of frosted pumpkin spice mini wheats. I’m kind of a fan of regular mini wheats so, as I breezed past the pallet, I took two steps before backing up and grabbing a box.
I got home, ripped into the box and started to down those mini wheats like they were mini marshmallows. At first, I couldn’t taste the pumpkin nor the spice, but after I consumed 10 of them, the flavors kicked in. I was in pumpkin heaven!
Now that we are in the final stretch for the holiday, I’m starting to put my focus on the day at hand.
My family is not as large as it once was and, with my siblings either living away or tending to their own families, the holiday doesn’t have the zest it used to have. But I will try to make the best of it.
At the risk of sounding selfish, having my parents and grandparents around was the special part of the holiday for me. Being surrounded by so much family and eating until I was exhausted was the best.
Eating a big meal followed by dessert and immediately dismissing myself to find a couch or chair was also a part of the big day.
Often times, we would gather around the 25” TV to watch a football game or two.
The crazy thing was … a few hours after eating, the food would come back out for supper.
No matter how you celebrate Thanksgiving Day, I hope you have a great one and make lots of memories.
Thank you, Rev. Breese
Rev. James Breese of the First Baptist Church on Water Street, Pittston, will be at it again feeding hundreds of people in what I believe is the most successful Thanksgiving meal giveaway.
After 11 Thanksgivings, Rev. Breese and his gang have the system down pat. In the early days, there was a lot of trial and error but, as the congregation grew and more and more people got involved, the process has gotten better and better.
Today, in its second year of partnership with Meals on Wheels, members of the church congregation will roast about 30 turkeys, pounds of mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and vegetables for those in need of a good meal or a chance to dine with others instead of eating alone.
Rev. Breese is the real deal and, as he told me, it was early on during one of the Thanksgiving food giveaways he realized God pointed him in the right direction.
If you’ve never had the chance to meet Rev. Breese, make it a point to do so even if he’s not of your faith or denomination. You only have to talk to the guy for 10 minutes and look into his eyes to know he’s a man of God and a man of his word.
Small Business Saturday
For many, the day after Thanksgiving is the real holiday. Black Friday is a crazy day for Christmas or Hanukkah shopping.
Like Thanksgiving has changed over the years, so has Christmas shopping. If you told me 20 years ago that a giant online shopping company like Amazon would rule the world or QVC would still be going strong after 33 years, I wouldn’t have believed you.
More and more people are shopping online than ever before and all those online companies are making it easier to shop, as well. Years ago, nobody wanted to buy clothing as a gift because you couldn’t be sure it would fit. Today, you can order something and, if it doesn’t fit, you can send the item or items back free of charge.
The other benefit of online shopping used to be that you could save on sales tax. That little perk is now gone as most online sellers add on sales tax.
Small Business Saturday was designed to help the mom and pop stores in your area cash in on sales and, in a tiny way, combat the malls and online shopping.
This year, the Pittston Downtown Partnership and the Greater Pittston Chamber of Commerce have teamed up to bring shoppers downtown by creating an incentive – a scavenger hunt with at least 18 merchants participating.
Those merchants will have additional savings on Small Business Saturday as well as taking part in the scavenger hunt.
Check today’s edition for more information on the downtown scavenger hunt; it really looks fun.
Adding to peak interest, it was decided to combine Pittston’s Christmas tree lighting and Santa parade on the same day. Both are set for Saturday, No. 30.
In essence, the downtown should be bustling from 10 a.m. until at least 8 p.m. so you can start the day shopping and end it with Santa Claus at night.
Quote of the week
“If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily.” – Gerald Good
Thought of the week
“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” – Aristotle
Bumper sticker
“The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.” – William Blake
