About this time a couple of years ago now I spent several months running a single-copy route at The Walton Tribune.

For those of you who may not already know, I’m what I like to call a full- service proprietor. There is literally nothing I can’t or won’t do in order to make sure we are serving our readers and advertisers properly. Period.

If that means being a paperboy, I’m your guy.

Also for those who may not already know, a single-copy route involves putting newspapers in local store and rack locations.

This particular route took me all over Walton County. From Monroe to Loganville to Walnut Grove to Jersey to Social Circle. It’s basically a big circle, and because of its size, it takes me a minute to get back to where I started.

Those weekly travels gave me some time to reflect, particularly with Thanksgiving upon us, about how thankful and blessed we are to live in this wonderful community.

Here are just a few of those reflections, as well as, some new ones that have transpired since that time on the road:

• Holy cow! There are some incredibly nice houses and pieces of property all over our beautiful county. I don’t know what some of y’all do for a living, but whatever it is you must be very good at it. I’m thankful you have chosen to make Walton County you’re home.

• The growth we have experienced in downtown Monroe and throughout the city is tremendous, but it isn’t just happening in Monroe. There are signs of growth throughout Walton County, and we may soon have an announcement that will take that to a whole new level. I’m thankful there are so many quality places for local residents to work and start businesses so they don’t have to leave the county for their jobs.

• I very rarely see anyone in masks when I go into these various store locations. I consider that a good thing on two fronts: One, it means people are assessing their risk level relative to COVID-19 and determing they can do without. Two, I’m thankful we live in a community where we have the freedom to make that decision. Not everyone does, and the ones I’ve talked to that don’t absolutely hate it. I’m also thankful that COVID, to me anyway, feels more like a terrible dream now than a terrible reality.

• I’m also thankful the terrible policies of the current administration are about to be a thing of the past. The majority of the voters in the presidential election made it very clear they want a course correction in the direction of our country, and I for one don’t think that correction can come fast enough.  

• I’m thankful we have really hard-working carriers here at the paper. Although subscribers receive the paper through the mail, we still use carriers to distribute our single copy and shopper products. That’s 104 times a year for the newspaper and 52 times a year for the shopper. I probably don’t tell them thank you enough, and I’d like to begin rectifying that in this column.

• The same for our staff here at the paper. I’m thankful we have really dedicated folks who work very hard to give our readers and advertisers the very best newspaper in the state of Georgia. I promise you’d be surprised what all goes into getting a little newspaper in your mailbox twice a week. 

• I’m thankful for our readers and advertisers. Without them, there wouldn’t be a newspaper to produce and deliver.

• I’m thankful for my friends and family, especially little Cora Mae Crews who I get to spend a second Thansgiving with now. It won’t be long and there will be a grandson on the scene to share some turkey with as well, and I’ll be very thankful for that.

• I’m thankful for my dogs. I always say dogs are better than people, and my dogs remind of this fact every time I walk through the door.

• I’m thankful for the good Lord and the countless blessing he has bestowed upon me, my family and my community. Through Him, all things are possible.

I’m thankful.     

Patrick Graham is the proprietor and publisher of The Walton Tribune and The Covington News. His email address is patrick.graham@waltontribune.com.