Custom made

Hi , readers. Welcome to this year’s Fall Family Guide—my first as special projects editor for the Reno News & Review. The start of fall always makes me think of what to expect in the coming months—seeing my breath in the air during the first cold snap, trick-or-treating as a child, and, now, as an adult, participating in the annual Zombie Crawl downtown, listening to my British mother complain about Thanksgiving turkey, and having oyster stew for Christmas dinner. With this in mind, I chose “traditions” as this year’s theme, and in the following pages, you’ll find a celebration of local and even personal ways to mark the changing of the season.

Since I was born and raised in Reno, it felt only right to talk about how we Nevadans maintain the practice of commemorating our state’s birthday every year. In “The Nevada way,” you’ll find out what to expect from this year’s 80th annual Nevada Day Parade in Carson City, along with a few local customs that celebrate our statehood. (Ever hunted for treasure in the desert?)

Speaking of Nevada traditions, fall means a large segment of our population has returned to the halls of our land-grant university. Contributor Andrea Heerdt has put together a collection of traditions venerated by University of Nevada, Reno students—some of which I remember partaking in not too long ago— that story’s called “Campus customs.”

News editor and army veteran Dennis Myers spent some time reflecting on a national tradition that few seem to remember—the past observance of Armistice Day on what has long been referred to as Veterans Day. You can find his thoughts on the changing meaning of this holiday in the story “Missing peace.”

Finally, as many families know, some revered customs are hardly institutional. From a neighborhood-wide breakfast, a multi-cultural Thanksgiving menu and watching Clue on Christmas, our editor-in-chief and two contributors share their personal holiday traditions in “Unorthodox.”

That’s all for now, readers. Thanks for picking up this week’s issue and for reading my note—the first in what I hope will be a long-standing tradition of my own.