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The Middle of the Road: By Randy Peters, a middle-aged, middle-income, middle-school teacher I grew up on Mayflower Lane. All the streets in my modest tract of homes were named for characters from early American colonies. To walk to school I would follow Mayflower Lane to Winslow Drive, go up to Priscilla Lane passing Plymouth Circle and then turning onto Hooker Drive. I think this may add to why Thanksgiving has always been a strange mix of emotions and traditions for me. Sure, when I was very young and attending Catholic School, I received the traditional lessons about Thanksgiving. The nuns would help some of us make pilgrim hats and collars from construction paper. Others got to make headbands and glue paper feathers to the back. Then we sat at our desks and ate pumpkin cookies and apple juice as Sister Mary Matthew told us that pilgrims wanted religious freedom that's why America is great. It was a simple approach, but for a seven year old, I was satisfied. Perhaps it was my early Catholicism during a time that you were not allowed to ask many questions, but I filed the pilgrims in the same file as saints. "They did some stuff that led to some other stuff and lived a long time ago, maybe even together." Thanksgiving at home was always interesting: pictures of Norman Rockwell's idea of the holiday, ads in newspapers and my mom's magazines showing generations of people laughing as they gathered around the table for the feast of all feasts. It was a lot of pressure to put together a 20-minute meal with a lot of cleaning up of dishes that never go in the dishwasher. During my entire childhood, I only remember one loud argument between my parents. It was very early on the Please Help Support "Our Yucaipa" You're holding the fourth issue of "Our Yucaipa." I hope you've been enjoying the information and stories as much as we've enjoyed working on them. I'm always open to article ideas and would love to hear from you if you have any suggestions on how to make this magazine better. I also want to help local businesses as much as possible, which is why we devoted a large portion of this magazine to highlighting several businesses in town. However, we won't be able to continue to create, print and 14 OUR YUCAIPA | NOVEMBER 2013 distribute "Our Yucaipa" without the support of businesses through advertising. So, if you enjoy receiving "Our Yucaipa," tell the manager or owner of the next business you patronize. Let them know that you want to see them support this great new publication in town buy buying an ad. Give them my office number, 909797-3647, and tell them to ask for Courtney. Also, please use businesses who advertise in this magazine. I want to make this work for everyone. Thank you! ~ Courtney