From the editor: Have yourself a merry little Christmas

On this Christmas Eve, I hope you’re all settled in for a long winter’s nap. Or maybe just relaxing at home now that the decorating and shopping are done.

For most of my life, I’ve spent Christmases going from house to house visiting relatives. As a child, it was admittedly fun because I received presents at each stop. As I got older and moved hours away from family, it got harder – sometimes because I had to work and other times because I simply longed to be at my own home.

While I plan to always make time to visit relatives around the holidays, I’m looking forward to Christmas morning this year. My husband and I will have already made our trip to Virginia to visit my family, so we can spend Christmas Day at home.

I’m excited to cook a big dinner, watch movies and enjoy a peaceful day. And I might even do it all in my pajamas.

So, however you choose to spend the holidays, I hope you find joy and happiness.

Speaking of holiday traditions, one of my favorite stories in today’s StarNews is the tale of the Christmas Flounder, which has lived on for generations. Whether fact or fiction, it’s a story that’s become important to readers.

One year during the COVID-19 pandemic, we neglected to publish the story. But readers had not forgotten, and they let us know that they weren’t happy about our oversight.

Lesson learned and I hope you enjoy this little piece of local lore in your newspaper.

Floundering in tradition: A Cape Fear Christmas story for the ages

I hope you’ll also take a few minutes to read the Q&A with community news reporter Cheryl Whitaker. She’s worked at the StarNews in a variety of roles for more than 40 years. She’s not only one of the nicest and most caring people I know, but she’s also the perfect example of what it means to change with the times.

As the newspaper industry has changed, Cheryl’s evolved and adapted along the way. She works extremely hard to produce stories about local events, people and places. I hope you appreciate what she does. I sure do!

Cheryl Whitaker: Still enjoying work after 40-plus years at the StarNews

Sherry Jones is the StarNews executive editor. Send her an email at sjones1@gannett.com to let her know what you think about the recent changes to the Sunday StarNews.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: From the editor: Have yourself a merry little Christmas