Giving thanks

(Nov. 21, 2012) Tomorrow, Thursday, Nov. 22, is Thanksgiving Day, a national holiday for giving thanks. President Abraham Lincoln established the official observance in 1863. The annual event falls on the fourth Thursday of November.

Thanksgiving is traditionally a day for families and friends to get together for a special meal which often includes a turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, pumpkin pie and vegetables. It is a time for people to give thanks for what they have. This year we in this part of New Jersey are especially thankful for a minimum loss of life due to last month's hurricane. We are grateful also for our homes, most of which escaped the fury of Superstorm Sandy despite widespread destruction of the landscape and resulting long power and telephone outages. Thanks too for the tree and electric company workers who came from all over this country to help restore our power.

Thanksgiving Day parades are held in some cities and towns on or around Thanksgiving Day. Some parades or festivities also mark the opening of the Christmas shopping season. Some people have a four-day weekend so it is a popular time for trips and to visit family and friends, making it one of the busiest travel periods in the United States.

Most government offices, businesses, schools and other organizations are closed on Thanksgiving Day. Many offices and businesses allow staff to have a four-day weekend so these offices and businesses are closed also on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day. Public transit systems do not usually operate on their regular timetables.

Check your Recorder Community Newspaper for details on holiday observances and festivities. Fifteen newspapers can be found right here online at newjerseyhills.com along with their 60+ blogs with personal and community organization messages. Anyone interested in joining this group may call me at (908) 832-7420 or e-mail panderson@recordernewspapers.com for information on this free communication tool.

Back in business

(Nov. 12, 2012) More than two weeks ago, at the start of Superstorm Sandy, Jack and I moved to son John's house in Chester. Our area had lots of high winds, but thankfully not much rain, so no flooding. Then before the nor'easter snowstorm, we came back home to no electricity, no phones, no Internet. We're in a dead zone for cell service too. Dozens of trees are down and tangled in power lines so we didn't expect power to be restored until this weekend. And last night, wow, everything was restored. So we're back in business.

By the way, in our neighborhood the tree workers from Ohio and the power company personnel from North Carolina, Virginia and Georgia were top-notch. A big thank you to them for coming here to help.

Our generator, which which we used conservatively because of the gas shortage, is stored back in the garage, hopefully not to come out for a long while. We still have lots of cleanup, but first two weeks' of laundry, insurance notifications, telephone messages, e-mails, etc. The weather has calmed down, actually rather pleasant and unseasonably warm.

Our prayers go out to the shore communities who faced much greater challenges and water destruction, in fact still have a long recovery ahead.

Through it all, Recorder Community Newspapers has been keeping readers abreast of what's happening in their local areas, despite power outages. In addition to Sandy's hit, Halloween was canceled, standard time resumed, Veterans Day was observed. Check out your newspaper online, including the 60-plus bloggers who share their personal stories and community bloggers who write about their organizations. Anyone interested in joining the group is invited to contact me at panderson@recordernewspapers.com or (908) 832-7420.