Just last week I finally got around to hanging the autumn wreaths on my doors at home, along with the fabric “ghosts” that my mother gave me years ago, to blow around as the wind whips onto my front porch.

The weather has gotten extremely “crisp,” seemingly overnight, and my dad recently pointed out to my husband that he doesn’t recall the leaves ever falling from the trees as quickly as they have this year.

Then, as I was cooking dinner this week, it suddenly struck me that it is a matter of mere weeks when I will be doing this — albeit on a much larger scale — for Thanksgiving dinner.

I haven’t made my fall trip to White House Fruit Farm in Canfield yet to pick up fresh apples and pumpkins, and at the rate I’m going, I might not get there until the snow is flying. Lately, my life has been extremely hectic, largely consumed with political candidate interviews and other craziness that seems to affect our newsroom this time of year.

But, I’m thankful to be able to do the job I love every day, and I’m thankful to be blessed with a wonderful family — one that understands and bears with me when I work until 8 p.m. most days.

This also is the time of year when our newspaper starts calling on you, dear reader, to tell us exactly what you also are thankful for.

It’s become quite a long newspaper tradition in which we invite local folks to submit to us what they are most thankful for. Then, we share those thoughts — every one of them — with our readers, free of charge, on Thanksgiving Day.

Incredibly, this tradition started 30 years ago in the Tribune Chronicle. We brought the concept over to The Vindicator when we took over operations of that newspaper in 2019.

I recall as a young reporter starting out and being required to decipher the hundreds of often hard-to-read, handscrawled submissions that had arrived to be printed in our annual Thanksgiving Day edition. Back then, the news staff would busily peck away at our keyboards, typing them for publication.

We still get hundreds of submissions each year, but thankfully, they now come mostly submitted digitally by readers.

The sentiment remains the same. And as always, we encourage everyone to take part. Sadly, our world is very polarized these days. It is filled with much hate, disagreement and dissatisfaction. We hope that makes our readers even more interested in taking part in our invitation to share positive thoughts in time for Thanksgiving.

Whether it’s a new job, love of family or a life-changing event, readers are encouraged to submit why they are thankful. Local schools, organizations, nursing homes, etc., are encouraged to participate. We do ask that groups send their submissions electronically. You can submit up to 35 words per person. After each submission, please list the person’s name. If it is a class project, please instead include the student’s name and grade. Also include the name of the school and community. Include the entire group or classroom into one email.

Usually, we get hundreds and hundreds of submissions, and we’d love to publish them all. That’s why we ask that they be brief.

Forms for writing thanks are published from time to time in this newspaper. Fill out the coupon, attach a separate piece of paper with your reason and mail it to the newspaper, Attn: Giving Thanks, 240 Franklin St. SE, Warren, OH 44483.

Or if you’d prefer, email it to givingthanks@trib

today.com.

Individual submissions should include a person’s complete name, phone number (not for publication) and the community in which you reside.

Please submit your “Giving Thanks” submissions no later than Nov. 6, so we have plenty of time to prepare them to publish on Thanksgiving Day or over that holiday weekend.

We’ll be waiting and looking forward to what you have to say.

Linert is editor of the Tribune Chronicle and The Vindicator.

blinert@tribtoday.com