Turkeybiters are an old-fashioned form of community news when everyone read the paper to keep up with news of their friends and neighbors and their families. It's a Gazette tradition dating back to William Allen White.
Here's a typical Turkeybiter, written for my family this year:
Beloit was the destination for Greg, Gwen, Alex, Luke and Aaron Larson. The family joined Greg’s parents, Don and Jackie Larson, and Greg’s sister’s family, David, Kim, Liza and Randi Cooper of Salina, for a traditional meal and plenty of fun as the younger girl cousins are always entertained by the boys.
While there, they loaded up furniture for their new house near Americus. The furniture, including the dining set from Greg’s late great-grandparents, Fid and Neta McPherron of Clarinda, Iowa, was being stored until they had room. With that, the family is on the home stretch of getting settled in. They hope to have both Greg’s and Gwen’s families here for Christmas.
We'd like to have your Turkeybiters to publish beginning Thanksgiving Day. Don't worry — if you're headed out of town for the day or weekend, we won't publish your information until after you return. We'll begin publishing Turkeybiters on Thursday and complete them Dec. 2.
We need your information quickly, however. Click on my name above to send me an e-mail with your information. Please make sure we have the first and last names on everybody (We don't use Mr. and Mrs. construction — Greg and Gwen Larson not Mr. and Mrs. Greg Larson). Also, we won't use screen names. And please provide a phone number we can call if we have questions.
So, make your final plans, write them up and send them in, then sit back and enjoy the holidays.