Communications Manager, Center for Rural Affairs This holiday season, will you shop at one of the 33.2 million small businesses that make up 99% of all businesses in the U.S? Up and down rural main streets in rural America, shopkeepers are readying their stores for the season. Business owners are stocking special gifts and rolls of wrapping paper to provide added value when you spend your money with a local retailer.

It’s Thanksgiving week, which means it’s time to think of all the things we have to be thankful for. Although this is something we should be doing every day, it’s nice to have a day dedicated to being grateful. Several students and staff at the Gregory School were asked what they are thankful for.

Since Thanksgiving is always celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November rather than on a specific date, why was Thursday chosen? Wouldn’t it make more sense to choose a Monday, like all federal holidays, or a Friday so that everyone could have a three-day weekend?

The 78th annual pardoning ceremony of the National Thanksgiving Turkey was scheduled to take place on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, at the White House. The two turkeys, raised in Nahunta, NC, were named Gobble and Waddle, names chosen from suggestions by North Carolina 4-H and FFA students.

The 2025 South Dakota State Volleyball Championships were especially meaningful for Beth Leber of Gregory. Not only was she a line judge at the tournament, working with her brother Brian, who was an official, but also she was recognized for 25 years of outstanding service and dedication in officiating volleyball games in the South Central Region.

Compiled by The Chartis Center for Rural Health, the Performance Leadership Awards recognize top quartile performance (i.e., 75th percentile or above) among rural hospitals in three categories of quality, outcomes and/or patient perspective.