A surge of more than 350 runners, walkers, and families filled Lewis & Clark Park on Thanksgiving morning for the annual Turkey Trot, a community tradition that raised more than $17,000 this year for the Columbia Gorge Food Bank.

This year started out optimistic and full of hope. New opportunities, new goals, and the kind of early-season promise that makes a farmer stand a little taller. But if life — and agriculture — have taught me anything, it’s this: don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.

Let The Holidays Begin - Northern Wasco People’s Utility District crews were out on Monday, Nov. 22, attaching trees to light poles in downtown The Dalles. We’re in deep now. D21 students have the week off and Dufur finishes off this afternoon. That leaves a lot of time to catch that turkey before Thursday. And good news, forecasters are calling for partially sunny skies the next two days.

US postal deliveries this week have already rivaled volume during the week before Christmas last year. Our hats are off to our mail carriers this Thanksgiving. This also reminds us to shop local whenever possible. Like Dean Dollarhide said in a letter to the editor last week, we all need to support our neighbors and friends as we push into the new year as we hope for new beginnings and greater health for all.

Thanksgiving is multicultural and families from different cultures have put their own spin on the holiday with bold flavors, authentic ingredients, and recipes that have been in the family for generations.

Like the gathering of family at the holidays, an old friend will return to us this Friday when a young boy will light the Woolsey Christmas tree east of Sorosis Park the day after Thanksgiving.

Thanks, COVID... No, really! No sarcasm here. If you ask people how COVID-19 has negatively impacted their lives, they could undoubtedly list off a slew of examples. So what about when people were asked about how COVID-19 has positively impacted their 2020 year?