The issue of the paper you now hold in your hands, complete with our Holiday Gift Guide special section, had an early deadline, due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Putting out two issues of The Beachcomber during the week of Nov. 15 to 21 was not easy for The Beachcomber’s tiny staff, so here’s a special shout out to all the community contributors who made it possible.

Susan McCabe, Juli Goetz Morser and Phil Clapham all contributed insightful pieces for this week’s paper. This week’s columnists, Stacy Hinden, David Vogel and Chris Austin completed their work in record time.

And two cartoons in one week from the tireless Steffon Moody? No problem. Thank you, Steffon, for your boundless wit and talent.

As always, we are grateful for the partnership of Vashon’s Emergency Operations Center, which weekly throughout much of the pandemic has contributed vitally important public health information for this newspaper. Likewise, throughout 2020, Vashon Island Visual Artists (ViVA) has provided us with news from Vashon’s vibrant arts community, and island treasure Bruce Haulman has made sure we are regularly reminded about the history of this place we call home.

This brings us to the future: Last week, we launched an exciting new partnership with Vashon High School’s Vashon Riptide. We’re thrilled that we will now be able to present our readers with regular dispatches reprinted from one of the best high school newspapers anywhere.

This newspaper exists for the community, and the community has repeatedly, throughout the pandemic, been there for the newspaper. Thank you to all, most especially, our loyal readers.

Stay safe. Shop local. And oh yeah, Happy Zoomsgiving, everybody.

— Elizabeth Shepherd and Paul Rowley, Reporters,

Nov. 20, 2020