It's a most wonderful time of the year! We hope to see you at the Lighted Boat Parade

On this Thanksgiving Day, we send good wishes to all – and set the record straight!

Every good Floridian, transplanted or not, knows that the first Thanksgiving in America was celebrated in St. Augustine more than half a century before the Pilgrims got together with the Wampanoags in Plymouth, MA, in 1621. The Spanish explorer, Don Pedro Menendez, claimed Florida for his country and his colonists broke bread with the local Timucuas. Father Francisco Lopez offered a Catholic Mass of thanksgiving. The picture above is an old post card that depicts the event.

Of course, it was the Pilgrims who got all the attention and so everybody (except real Floridians) celebrates the holiday with those colonists in mind instead. That mistaken, johnny-come-lately notion was helped along, of course by paintings like the one below by the American artist Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, who is best known for his series of paintings depicting important events in American history, and for being the nephew of the famed Hudson River School artist Thomas Moran.

Despite the popularity of Jean Leon's paintings, historians say he didn't always get his facts straight. In the case of the painting below, called The First Thanksgiving (1915), critics say the Wampanoags wouldn't have been sitting on the ground, nor would they have dressed like western Indians and worn feathered war headdresses. Furthermore, the Pilgrims wouldn't have worn those black outfits.

This time of year often brings a new Hallmark Channel-worthy commercial from Publix. The supermarket chain has one running now that warms the heart as a family prepares Thanksgiving dinner then sits down to enjoy it. At the end, Grandpa clears the table as Grandma reads to her little granddaughter. Awww!

It's sweet but our favorite Publix commercial was one from a few years back. Maybe you remember it. If not, it's below. And, yes, we realize that it stars those cute little Pilgrim salt and pepper shakers everybody used to put out on the table at Thanksgiving. Oh, well. Our Thanksgiving will not be diminished, despite knowing that most of the country has it wrong. No matter how you celebrate it, we hope you have a most wonderful Thanksgiving Day with friends and family.

Change is coming! It's how you deal with it that really counts so you'd better get ready

If you think things are changing fast now, stick around for 20 years or so. You ain't seen nothin' yet! The Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions at St. Petersburg College recently presented futurist David Houle, author of The Shift Age: AS Futurist's View of Life in 2040. Hope you enjoy it!

Gulfport Chefs Table grows and feeds multitudes to raise money for charity

Wow! What a turnout for such a worthy event. This wonderful and dramatic photo was in The Gabber showing the Chefs Table in downtown Gulfport. The event, now in it's second year, donates proceeds to Gulfport Montessori Elementary School. The weather was perfect. Some 360 diners enjoyed delicious dishes from 10 fine Gulfport restaurants. Debbie Wolfe did a terrific story and many wonderful photos. Check it out.

Yes, we DO have some of the best beaches anywhere and we're glad the interns noticed

So now that the weather is a little cooler and the sun isn't beating down as hard and the snowbirds haven't arrived yet, the beaches are a terrific place to be. Those facts weren't lost on the folks at the Tampa Bay Times. The editors sent out some of their interns to write about the beaches. Imagine? Well, several of our favorite nearby beaches made the cut. Here's a first-rate article that tells what the folks who live here already know: we have some darned fine beaches in St. Pete Beach, Pass-a-Grille, Fort de Soto Park, and Shell Key. Technology being what it is today, they even took a drone along and got some beautiful video and photos of our favorite beaches. Enjoy!

Super heroes and pop culture icons are the themes to celebrate for the 2018 Gecko Ball

Did you see the article on the Gulport Patch website the other day? The theme for the 2018 Gecko Ball next August will celebrate the comic book heroes and pop culture conventions that keep showing up in the Tampa Bay area. Gecko Con is the theme for the big dance next August at the Gulfport Casino Ballroom. There were a number of other ideas but that's the one that captures the judges' imagination. Looking forward to the Gecko Ball.

"It’s one of those nice little small-town things that I hope they keep doing." Aww!

We couldn't help but get a kick out of Gulfport Mayor Sam Henderson's comment about the annual Boca Ciega High School homecoming parade as reported in The Gabber yesterday. Hiz Honor was quoted in the paper as saying: “It’s one of those nice little small-town things that I hope they keep doing. It’s just a good reminder to the people who live here that we’ve got a good school with a magnet program and a strong athletics presence right here in Gulfport. So, it’s a good reminder to people to support our hometown school.” One of the things we love about Gulfport is it's small-town atmosphere. And the nice picture by LocalShops 1 captures the idea perfectly.