This Thanksgiving, as we prepare to pass around the turkey and pumpkin pie, we at The News pause to tell you, dear readers, how thankful we are for you.

Day in and day out, all throughout the year, you give us stories to tell — some of heartbreak, some of triumph, some of humor. And, day in and day out, you share those stories with us so that we might share them with our readers of today and those who might pore through our archives 100 years from now.

We are thankful that we live in a country that allows us to tell those stories without fear or favor, and we are thankful to our many readers who have put on the uniform and gone to distant lands to defend that freedom.

We are thankful for every reader who, instead of anonymous online bashing, signs their name to a letter to the editor or guest column so that we might contribute to civil discourse on each day’s Commentary page.

We are thankful for every local business who understands the great value of newspaper advertising and chooses to advertise with us. We are thankful to every resident who shops local, supporting our entrepreneurs so that they can continue to buy those ads. And we are thankful for every reader who decides to pick up a paper at one of those local businesses or who subscribe to this newspaper.

All of you help us continue to serve this community.

In short, we are thankful for you, dear reader.

We do what we do for you, and you repay us in full every day of every year.

Happy Thanksgiving, Northeast Michigan.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)