As we head into the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, it's a good time to touch base on some smaller items at The Citizen that might interest some readers:

• It's hard to believe another Thanksgiving is here, but that means it's time for us to start thinking about our annual “Stories of the Year” package, which gets published on the last Sunday of the year.

This is always a popular feature, because it's fun to reflect on all that we've been through as a community over the past 12 months and because it's fun to debate the selections. Each year we hear from readers who felt some stories were missed, or perhaps they were put too high or low on the list.

As we start to put together the 2008 package, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Our main criteria are that the stories are local and that they proved to have widespread impact. We pick a top 10 list, and then look back with a retrospective summary that includes writing and photography.

At the same time, The Associated Press will be seeking editor input for the biggest stories of the year around the world (albeit from an American perspective). So if you have any thoughts on how I should vote in that one, by all means share them.

• Our sports department this week kicked off another round of high school sports all-star packages.

Be sure to check them out on the front of the sports section each day this week, and if you happen to miss a day, go online to auburnpub.com/allstars.

We do these packages three times a year - for the fall, winter and spring sports seasons. The sports department does a tremendous amount of logistical work to pull these off, but it's worth it because we get to highlight so many local boys and girls for their achievements.

• If your family is like mine, one Thanksgiving tradition is to scour through that day's newspaper looking at all the retailer inserts, with their door-buster specials planned for Black Friday. We then like to argue about whether it's worth it to get up that early, but the die-hard shoppers in the family always do go out somewhere (and occasionally manage to drag the rest of us out of bed).

This year it's going to be even more of a debate. The Thanksgiving edition of The Citizen this year has the most retailer inserts we've ever had. Clearly, the stores are doing all they can to get us through the doors this year.

Also, within the paper itself that day, look for a contest form that could lead to some big gift card winnings.

So when you're out grabbing that forgotten can of cranberries, you might want to consider a 50-cent investment in the paper.

Executive director Jeremy Boyer's columns appear Saturdays in The Citizen and he can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 231 or jeremy.boyer@lee.net