Check out our holiday edition of Franklin Living
The holidays are my favorite time of year, hands down.
I know I’m not unique in that. This time of year is special for most. It’s a time when we all make an extra effort to be kind to one another and nurture joy in our hearts.
Everyone has their own traditions and ways of making the holiday memorable. For me, the holidays have always been a time for family. We don’t do anything that’s over-the-top spectacular, I guess – no weeklong ski trips to Canada, no massive light displays that cast a glow into the sky. We have never had an Elf on the Shelf or made it a point to take our Christmas lists to a department store Santa each year. But we have always, always spent time together during the season, all gathered ’round the dining room table for a traditional holiday meal – turkey at Thanksgiving, ham at Christmas, with all the “fixins.”
I treasure these times of family togetherness more than I can say. My heart simply swells with thankfulness and joy, and I so look forward to our holiday gatherings.
Since I started working at the Franklin County Times, there is something else I look forward to each November/December: our holiday edition of Franklin Living.
I’ll be honest with you. This isn’t necessarily the easiest edition to put together for you each year. Because of our deadlines, we have to send our November/December edition to press the very first week of November.
That means I’m trying to write the stories and take the photographs in mid-October.
I don’t know about you, but I think most folks are like me – which means they aren’t really thinking about boughs of holly or winter wonderlands in October. That can make it difficult to line up great magazine features in time to meet our press deadlines. Beautiful holiday-themed stories come to light around mid-November, sure – but it’s hard to think holidays when you’re still figuring out your Halloween costume.
That challenge notwithstanding, I was and am so proud of our holiday edition this year.
It came out last week, and if you haven’t yet picked up a copy yet, I encourage you to do so.
It was a true pleasure to conduct interviews and take photos for the features in this year’s magazine. Despite the early deadline, we were able to put together several special stories to share with you to highlight the holidays.
I loved learning more about Toyland, Holly Day, Ginger Stone’s Christmas cookies and Susan Hall’s Christmas trees. They were stories that really got me into the holiday spirit.
From the bottom of my heart, I thank these folks who shared their holiday traditions with me in advance of the season. It was a treat getting to tell their stories – and I hope they put you in the holiday spirit, too.
