As Thanksgiving nears, we’re looking for some holiday homecoming stories

The leaves are turning; the nights are cooler. Good heavens, Thanksgiving cannot be far away.

Yes, Thanksgiving, and I need your help.

For a column to be published the day before Thanksgiving, I’d like to write about the holiday as a time for homecomings, one in which adult children come back to where they grew up.

The returns are loaded with rituals, everyone sitting where they sat before, the food the same as it ever was. I remember when my brother-in-law added sour cream to the mashed potatoes. What was he thinking? We never had sour cream in our mashed potatoes.

In returning for the first time — be it from college or any other new life — people often find themselves caught between two worlds, the old world they grew up in, the new world they just joined. It’s a balancing act that sometimes goes well, that sometimes didn’t.

I was full of myself that first Thanksgiving home from college, burdening my high school friends with what little I had learned about Plato and the ancients. I soon learned to dial it back and became the person I had been before leaving town.

Please share with me your Thanksgiving homecoming stories. Did you brave a snowstorm? Did Uncle Jack have too much to drink, again? Had you changed? Had your friends changed? If so, how so? Were there moments — sad or happy — that still stand out?

I’ll share your stories with the world at large, one way of noting the holiday. Email me at jmemmott@democratandchronicle.com; or write me at P.O. Box 274, Geneseo, NY 14454.

Pulling his Bills bucket hat out of U.S. Senate race

Last week, I wrote about the relaxation of the U.S. Senate’s dress code. Contemplating a run for office, I noted that I could wear my Bills sweatshirt to work, were I in the Senate.

I filed the column early in the week, before the Senate stymied me by returning to its old dress code. Thus, were I to serve, I would have to don a coat and tie, basically look nice.

Given the needed wardrobe, I have decided to drop my candidacy. Though, to be honest, there weren’t of a lot of people hopping on my campaign bandwagon.

No worries. It was early days, and I hadn’t even ordered lawn signs.

For the time being, I’ll stick to writing columns. There’s no dress code for that kind of work.

Remarkable Rochesterians: Carolyne and James Blount

A happy birthday to Alice Holloway Young, who turned 100 on Sept. 29. She’s on our list of Remarkable Rochesterians, recognition of her contributions to education here.

As the Democrat and Chronicle’s Justin Murphy noted in his story on a birthday party honoring her, in 1961, Young was a founding trustee of Monroe Community College. In 1963, she became the first Black principal in the Rochester City School District.

Young was a pioneer here, as was James S. Blount, a fixture of local journalism who died on Sept. 28, at age 80.

Along with his wife, Carolyne S. Blount, Jim Blount put a positive spotlight on the contributions Black people have made to life in Rochester. For their accomplishments, let’s add the Blounts’ names to the list of Remarkable Rochesterians that can be found at: data.democratandchronicle.com/remarkable-rochesterians/:

Carolyne S. Blount (1943 – ) Along with her husband, James M. Blount, she assumed ownership of about…time magazine in 1972. Founded two years earlier, the publication (now quarterly) celebrates the accomplishments of Black people in Rochester, telling stories not told always in the mainstream press. A native of Richmond, Virginia, and a graduate of Virginia State University, she was a librarian at Morgan State University before joining IBM in Owego, NY, in 1967 and moving to Rochester in 1970. While serving as the magazine’s executive editor, she has also been on a variety of boards, including that of the Gateways Music Festival, and she has received numerous awards, including the Howard Coles Communications award.

James M. Blount (1943-2023): Along with his wife, Carolyne S. Blount, he assumed ownership of about…time magazine in 1972. Founded two years earlier, the publication celebrates the accomplishments of Black people in Rochester, telling stories not always told in the mainstream press. A graduate of Virginia State University, he was a member of the U.S. Navy Reserve from 1965 to 1971. He worked for IBM in Owego, NY, before being transferred to Rochester in 1970. At about… time, he served as publisher. He also served on the board of the Rush-Henrietta Central School District, as well as those of numerous other organizations, including the Arts Council of Rochester.

From his home in Geneseo, Livingston County, retired senior editor Jim Memmott, writes Remarkable Rochester, who we were, who we are. He can be reached at jmemmott@gannett.com or write Box 274, Geneseo, NY 14454

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Share your Thanksgiving homecoming stories with us