As the temperature drops, Chesapeake Country’s needy citizens depend on our help to stay warm.        Aha! you might think: Time to get ride of all my old clothes. Not if you want to do some good. Before you take your worn jeans and old T-shirts to donation boxes, the charity-driven folks at Hope For All suggest you think about the needs of people in need.

What We’re Thinking in Chesapeake Country Anne Arundel shifts from economy to crime and drugs       Crime and drugs are the most important problem facing Anne Arundel County, according to an October survey of 655 countians by the Center for the Study of Local Issues at Anne Arundel Community College. Nearly a third, 31 percent, call those threats their biggest issues. 

Anne Arundel ­Conservationist of 2018 En-Tice-Ment’s Deana Tice earns that honor       Community involvement, environmental preservation and family: These are the qualities that make a conservationist.        En-Tice-Ment’s Deana Tice earns recognition as the 2018 Conservationist of the Year, chosen by the Anne Arundel Soil Conservation District because of her commitment to community growth.

      Perhaps this is the year you’d prefer to give thanks for not cooking? Bay Weekly has gone hunting to report where you can eat out on Thanksgiving and what’s on the menu.   Brian Boru Buffet-served carved turkey, giblet gravy, ham, roast beef, filet of fish with lemon, shepherd’s pie; multiple side dishes; pecan and pumpkin pie, traditional Irish bread pudding.

Friday November 16 Dashing Through the Snow 5K See the SPCA’s Lights on the Bay displays up close running with the Annapolis Striders, with Santa, hot chocolate and cookies at the finish line. Choose from a Fun Run of 2.2 miles or stretch your legs for a full 3.1-mile route. Gates open 5pm, $55/carload or $15/person, rsvp: http://bit.ly/2Ppp5Dd. Saturday November 17 Festival of Lights Trot for a Turkey

       The Ghost Fleet emerges from the graveyard of Mallows Bay on the Potomac River at low tide. More than 200 wrecks wallow here in the nation’s, and one of the world’s, largest and most densely packed repository of old wooden ships.

For John Lederer

      When we moved into our home 12 years ago, people asked me if we had a ghost.      “Of course not,” I scoffed. “Not every old house is haunted.”       Just as often, I would hear, “Your house. It has this feeling to it, doesn’t it? It’s a very happy place. It’s very inviting and warm.”

Election Day Comes Early You don’t have to wait until November 6; vote from October 25 to November 1      Election Day is November 6, with polls open statewide for all registered voters from 7am to 8pm.       Can’t wait that long?

       You know the season has changed when you look across the sprawling fields of the Walter family farm, dotted brilliant orange with autumn’s signature crop: pumpkins.          There Nick Walter is happily knee-deep in his element, harvesting the fruit of his labor.