By JOYANNA LOVE/Senior Staff Writer

Government leaders in Clanton and Maplesville took some time to talk about what they are thankful for this year.

“The main thing I am thankful for is health and family, my husband Bonny,” Clanton Councilwoman Mary Mell Smith said.

She was also thankful for the joy she has from her dogs, Max and Molly.

She celebrates Thanksgiving with her sons and their families at one of their houses with a big family meal. Smith’s favorite Thanksgiving food is dressing.

Clanton Councilman Sammy Wilson was also thankful for health. He celebrates with a Thanksgiving dinner at church and then with family on Thanksgiving Day.

His favorite food of the festive spread is the turkey and the dressing.

Clanton Councilman Bobby Cook said he was thankful for life, family and friends.

“We will have the grandkids and my daughter and her husband and Momma does all the cooking,” Cook said.

In addition to turkey and dressing, pecan pie and ice cream are the highlights of his Thanksgiving meal.

“I’m thankful to live in a country where we can express our opinions, and a city that is growing but still has its small-town feel,” Clanton Councilman Dr. Jeffrey Price said.

Price will be celebrating with family at his house. He and his sister always have a contest for whose turkey tastes the best.

“I have so much to be thankful for,” Clanton Mayor Billy Joe Driver said.

He is especially thankful for his health and to live in the United States with the abundance and the freedom of religion it has.

This year Driver will celebrate Thanksgiving at home and “watch a ball game or two.”

For Clanton Councilman Awlahjaday Agee, this will be the first Thanksgiving since his mother died.

“I’m just thankful that the Lord blessed me to have a wonderful mother for 67 years, and she was able to do a lot of good and help a lot of people while she was among us,” Agee said.

He said his family always gets together to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Maplesville Councilman Hal Harrison said he is thankful for “family, friends and being able to celebrate Thanksgiving.” His extended family is continuing a nearly 40-year tradition this year of the siblings and their children coming together at his parents’ house. The men watch football “and usually talk about the upcoming Alabama/Auburn game,” while the women look through the Black Friday sales and get a strategy together.

Harrison’s favorite Thanksgiving food is deep fried turkey because he likes it, but Thanksgiving is the only time he gets to eat it.

Maplesville Councilman Richard Davis said that he was thankful that despite everything that has happened in the state and country in the past year that Maplesville is still a “calm, quiet city in relation to crime.”

He said he is thankful that there is such unity in the town and that people know their neighbors. Davis credited the Maplesville High School football team with bringing the community together.

“I am thankful/ grateful that I live in a community that has such love for each other,” Davis said.

Davis will celebrate Thanksgiving with friends and family, eating and reminiscing. He said his family continues the tradition of everyone coming together.

His favorite item on the menu is a turkey leg and turkey dressing. The dressing recipe has been handed down through the generations and those who know it guard the recipe and are “reluctant to share it” Davis said.

This time of year is something Davis looks forward to because he said people “become more joyous.”