This is the 13th time I have written about Thanksgiving Day since starting this volunteer Fishers local news blog in 2012.  Giving thanks is something I attempt to do in my own mind each and every day.  At my age, I am mostly thankful each morning I awaken to another day.

My wife Jane, daughters Allison & Mary, my siblings and many in-laws are all special people and worthy of thanks for being in my life.  I value my many friendships.  But being grandpa to Dakota, Callie and Maya is such a joy, it is carved-out for special thanks.

I sometimes reflect on the time I started this blog in January, 2012.  There wasn’t much media covering the (then) Town of Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools at that time.  Having spent many years in the 1970s & early 1980s as a local news reporter, I decided my volunteer activity as a retiree would be writing a news blog with original reporting, based on attending local meetings and speaking with local people.  In early 2016, I started the podcast series featuring local people.

At the outset, my goals were modest.  If I could get just a few hundred readers for this endeavor, I would call it a success.  I greatly underestimated the demand for local news in Fishers.  My audience grew over the years.

In my view, the most accurate measure of a blog audience is unique visitors, measuring how many people access the Web site at least once during a calendar year.  I went from hoping to get an audience of a few hundred, to the thousands, to the tens of thousands.  With one month to go in 2024, I have already exceeded last year’s record-setting number for unique visitors.  If the trend continues, I could reach 100,000 unique visitors in 2024.

That incredible number tells me you, the readers of this blog, find what I write of value to you.  For that, I am just so thankful.

I have tried to quit this blog twice, because it is a lot of work.  But each time, the outcry from you, the readers, convinced me to stay with this.  I will admit, at age 73, there are days I wonder how much longer I can continue this project as a one-man-band.  But I think of you reading this and realize my work is important.  For that, I am thankful.

I wish everyone reading this has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.  I plan to stay home and away from all shopping areas on Black Friday.

Thanks for reading!