As we take this issue of The Beachcomber to press, to be published on Thanksgiving Day, it seems only right to express our gratitude for the many people who have brought good news to our community this year.

We’re thankful to the Vashon Chamber of Commerce, and its tireless executive director, Amy Drayer, for creating joyous community celebrations throughout the year. As islanders, we all make indelible memories and see Vashon at its best during such events as Strawberry Festival, Halloween and WinterFest (see page 12).

We’re also awed by the ongoing work of the Vashon Eagles — who among many other good works, prepare an annual Thanksgiving feast and invite everyone in the community to partake, free of charge.

Vashon is beyond fortunate to have so many organizations like the Eagles working for the common good of islanders, and we urge those who have the means to support those organizations to do so during the giving season.

Our vibrant local art scene — filled with visual artists, performers and producers — also brings us together in joyful ways, beautifying our lives immeasurably. So we hope you’ll consider keeping your dollars on the island this season, by giving the gift of local art.

Our connections to each other, and to the land we call home, form the crux of much of our weekly news coverage in this newspaper.

Obituaries, high school sports, school board and community council meetings, stories about events and businesses on Vashon — these kinds of stories tell us, week after week, what our town is made of.

As we’ve told our readers many times, local news is important. We crave information about the place we live, and without the endangered institution of local news, we’ll look for it on social media sites where truths and falsehoods sit side by side, equally competing and fueling confusion and polarization.

So we are also deeply grateful for all the people who have helped make the weekly miracle of The Beachcomber possible this year, and to our readers and subscribers, who push us weekly to check our facts and do the best we can for our community.

Our heroes include Rick Wallace, the manager of VashonBePrepared’s Emergency Operations Center, who faithfully coordinates the publication of our newspaper’s weekly update from VashonBePrepared, keeping islanders informed about health and safety concerns on our island.

The newspaper’s army of helpers also includes Susan McCabe, working on behalf of the Whole Vashon Project, who coordinates our ongoing series of environmentally-themed commentaries under the banner of “Green Briefs.”

Our esteemed island historian, Bruce Haulman, provides stellar support to our paper in terms of endlessly answering our questions about local history — for instance, just last week, at midnight, he replied to an email asking him if it was really true that Vashon had just elected its first ever all-female school board, for instance. What was Bruce doing up at that hour?

And for many years now, Haulman and his colleague, photographer Terry Donnelly, have also contributed regular “Time & Again” articles to our paper, delving into Vashon’s past, that help us put our present times in perspective.

Just this year, Haulman and Donnelly won a long-overdue award from the statewide Better Newspaper Contest, put on by the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association (WNPA), for their Beachcomber article about the long history of the Vashon’s Portage Store, but more importantly, detailing both the cultural and environmental importance of the store’s site.

There are too many other Beachcomber contributors, supporters, and sources to name — but each week, The Beachcomber continues to roll off the presses, thanks to the efforts of so many. These importantly include our advertisers, who keep our newspaper financially afloat. We are grateful to all of them for believing The Beachcomber matters.

We’ll see you all at WinterFest, we hope.