The Chatter Box
By Deborah Bennett

The Millen News will be closed for the Thanksgiving holidays Thursday, Nov. 27, and Friday, Nov. 28. I wish each of you a safe and happy holiday.

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Here is a little Thanksgiving trivia that I came across that you might enjoy.

1621 - Pilgrims and Native Americans celebrated a harvest feast in Plymouth, Massachusetts; 1630 - Settlers observed the first Thanksgiving of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in New England on July 8, 1630; 1777 - George Washington and his army on the way to Valley Forge, stopped in blistering weather in open fields to observe the first Thanksgiving of the new United States of America;1789 - President Washington declared November 26, 1789, as a national day of "thanksgiving and prayer;" 1800s - The annual presidential thanksgiving proclamations ceased for 45 years in the early 1800s; 1863 - President Abraham Lincoln resumed the tradition of Thanksgiving proclamations in 1863. Since this date, Thanksgiving has been observed annually in the United States; and 1941 - President Roosevelt established the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving.

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The question on our webpage last week was, "How will the declining economy affect your holiday spending?"

Responses, as of Monday morning, were: Spend less - 22; Spend more - 0; and Spend the same - 5.

To participate in this week's poll go to http:// www.themillennews.com.

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Happy birthday this week to: Rhonda Godbee, Jacob Burke, Richard Lockhart Jr., John Kenneth Bragg, Sally Kirkland, Victor Sweat, Faye Black, Roy Cheney Sr. and Tammy Troisi.

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Celebrating wedding anniversaries are: Mr. and Mrs. Don Ivey Burke.

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Military Active Duty List: Lance Cpl. Patrick Barnette, U.S. Marines, Twenty Nine Palms, CA; Sgt. Adam Demshar, 44th Signal Battalion, Baghdad, Iraq; Lance Cpl. Lee Ogden, U.S. Marines, Radio and Communications, Bahria, Iraq; 3rd Class Master at Arms Eric B. Kelsey, U.S. Navy, NSA Naples, Italy; Airman First Class Charles F. Woods, Moody Air Force Base, Valdosta, GA; Stuart Burrus, U.S. Air Force, Barksdale AFB, Bossier, LA; SPC 4 Travis D. Motes, 1st Calvary Division, T. Hood, Texas; Capt. Donald Slade Burke, 735th Air Mobility Squadron Detachment 1 Commander, Richmond Royal Australian AFB, Richmond, Australia; Staff Sgt. Gilbert C. Sheppard III, 48th Brigade, 118th Field Artillery, Iraq; Petty Officer 3rd Class Jamie A. Yager, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps Base Hawaii; Petty Chief Officer Andy D. Crosby, U.S. Navy, Elroy Destroyer, Norfolk, Va.; Stephanie Crosby, R.N., U.S. Navy, Lafayette Destroyer; Jimmy Cooper, U.S. Army National Guard, 878th Engineering Battalion-Augusta, Persian Gulf ; 1st Lt. J.R. Taylor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Iraq; SPC. Daniel Stuart, 18th MEDCOM, 121 General Hospital, Seoul, Korea; Jeffrey Sweat, U.S. Navy, USS Kauffman, MM3 59/E-Division, A-Gang, Norfolk, Va.; Cpl. Larry Lamont Clark, U.S. Marine Corp, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Bagdad, Iraq; Khan Young, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Kitty Hawk, Persian Gulf; Robert Milton Jr., E-3, U.S. Army, Ft. Stewart, Hinesville, Ga., Mission Kuwait; Arnold R. Mosley, 2nd Lt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas; and Debra A. Mosley, Tech. Sgt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas; and SPC Charles "C.J." Amerson, U.S. Army, Camp Adder, Iraq.