Depending on when you read this, it’s either the day before Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day, a time when we traditionally give thanks for the blessings we have received during the year.

If you’re an Ole Miss or Mississippi State fan, you’re probably thankful the football season’s nearly over. Thursday night and Friday morning, one group of fans, depending who wins the Egg Bowl, will be grateful their team ended the season on a positive note that hopefully will carry over into next season.

If you’re a State fan, a win would also mean the Bulldogs are bowl eligible and could go to one of the many postseason classics played sometime between mid-December and after New Year’s Day.

If you’re one of the newly elected members of the Warren County Board of Supervisors, you’re thankful you won, probably still wondering, “What have I got myself into?” and looking forward to making a change that will improve Warren County.

Personally, I’m thankful my family and I have survived another year with no serious problems, and that my alma mater’s football team is having a winning season. Geaux Tigers.

When you sit back and look at this past year, there are a number of things to be thankful for in Vicksburg and Warren County.

Unlike many cities across the country, Vicksburg is solvent and the city budget is in the black. It received a strong, positive audit report showing the city is in a strong financial position. The county is also in good financial shape and able to pay its bills and continue operation.

Yes, we had a flood, but the area is recovering with the help of volunteers from faith-based and other civic organizations, and volunteers from AmeriCorps. The lessons learned from this year’s record-setting flood will be used by the Corps of Engineers to better combat future floods.

The area has seen an increase in jobs during the year and the opening of new companies like Unified Brands, which opened in the Ceres Industrial Park and is still hiring. The downtown area is growing and developing, and drawing more people to its stores and restaurants. More people are moving into the apartments being built either in separate buildings or over retail businesses.

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center remains a valuable asset for the area and is becoming more a part of the area’s economic development and growth.

While there are areas that still need improvement and problems that continue to haunt us as we grow, we can be thankful we live in an area that is changing for the better and has what appears to be a very good future ahead of it. We also are thankful for a progressive city government and what we hope is a progressive county government willing to take the steps needed to move this area forward.

So with that all said, I want to wish all of you a happy and wonderful Thanksgiving.

And with some football remaining to be played, I wish both Ole Miss and State fans good luck Thursday (I know too many people on both sides). To my LSU friends, Geaux Tigers! And to my Auburn friends, War Eagle!

John Surratt is a staff writer for The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at john.surratt@vicksburgpost.com.