I will begin my tenth year of writing this blog in January and I have written a Thanksgiving Day commentary each year.  I have so much to be thankful for on a personal level I will not list them all.  Suffice it to say that in so many ways, I am a fortunate and blessed individual.

But the subject of this piece is all about you.  Yes, I am writing directly about you.

When I began this blog in 2012, I had no idea whether anyone would have any interest in reading the blog.  After all, there is so much material available on the Web, why would anyone bother to read a local news blog centered on Fishers, Indiana?

The only reason I started this volunteer project upon my retirement from the civil service was to find my volunteer niche with more time on my hands.  So I began attending town council and school board meetings locally.

Within a few weeks, people began approaching me because they had been reading the blog.  There were at least a few people reading, which told me something important – people want to know what is happening in and around their local community.

I just reviewed my analytics for this year, and the numbers are incredible.  This year, this site has over 103,00 views (number of times any person accessed my site) and more than 51,000 unique visitors (individual people accessing my site at least once during the year).  And the year is not over yet.

For a small volunteer operation that does a minimal amount of marketing, those numbers are special for me.  And that’s why I am writing this Thanksgiving message for 2019.

I want to thank you.  Whomever you are, you have done something special for me.  You think enough of my material that you have given me the honor of writing for you, and you have been kind enough to read what I am writing.

My thanks this Thanksgiving Day goes out to you for taking the time our of your busy existence to read my blog posts.  You are the only reason I have made this endeavor my retirement volunteer activity.

I love all the messages I receive from my readers, even when you complain about something I wrote or you are correcting me.  You are reading, and I am honored by the fact that you choose to read my blog.

While I’m at it, let’s talk about my podcasts.  They began in February of 2016 and continue to this day.  They consist of local interviews and discussions, along with the Arts&Fishers series of film and other arts event reviews.  I still produce an occasional film podcast with Adam Aasen in Carmel, Hamilton County Goes To The Movies.

I looked at my data on the podcasts, and over the past year, there have been more than 15,600 times when someone listened to most of all of one of my podcasts.  I had to look twice and verify that number but it is correct.  A very special thanks to my many podcast listeners.  If you don’t mind, take a moment some time and comment on my podcast on iTunes or whichever platform you use to access my podcasts.

So, this one’s for you.  My readers and listeners are special to me, even if you want to disagree with me.  After all, this is America and we are allowed to respectfully look at things differently.

I celebrated my 68th birthday a few months ago,  and honestly do not know how much longer I can write this blog and produce my podcasts. At least for now, my health and stamina are such that I plan to continue the blog and podcasts into 2020.

The only reason I continue to do all this volunteer work is because you read and listen.  And I thank each and every one of you.