‘Peanuts’ characters, Charles Schulz appear in special Thanksgiving edition of The Press Democrat

One of our biggest newspapers of the year will hit driveways and front porches with a thud Thursday morning when The Press Democrat’s Thanksgiving edition arrives.

In addition to our comprehensive local report, you can look forward to 18 sales inserts touting Black Friday and Thanksgiving weekend sales and promotions, as well as last-minute lists of local restaurants that will be dishing out turkey and all the sides.

We’ll also publish the handiwork of young artists who “dressed” their turkey in our annual coloring and decoration effort.

We also have invited Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the entire “Peanuts” gang to make a special appearance in a 24-page section celebrating the life and legacy of their creator – Charles “Sparky” Schulz.

Nov. 26 would’ve been the acclaimed cartoonist’s 100th birthday, and The Press Democrat is showcasing his half-century of “Peanuts” with an in-depth look at his humble beginnings in Minnesota, early struggles and successes, his relocation to Sonoma County in 1958 and the incredible impact he’s had on so many lives around the world.

We’ll examine everything from the business empire that Charlie Brown and Co. launched to the artwork and artifacts found at the Charles M. Schulz Museum & Research Center in Santa Rosa.

Our staff worked for weeks to capture intimate details about the Sparky Schulz that so many here in Sonoma County knew and still remember. Our section will pay tribute to the man whose keen observations about faith, unrequited love, sports, friendship, loss and so much more graced funny pages in 2,000 newspapers – and still do today in papers like The Press Democrat.

It’s all in Thursday’s special Thanksgiving edition.

If you’re not a subscriber, it’s not too late to get the Thanksgiving edition delivered to your home. Call us at 707-575-7500. Or go online at subscribe.pressdemocrat.com

All of us at The Press Democrat wish you a very happy Thanksgiving.

Richard Green is executive editor at The Press Democrat. Reach him at rick.green@pressdemocrat.com.