Many people have a four day weekend, and there is no shortage of holiday-themed activities to choose from.
There are free Thanksgiving dinners on Thursday. Give Back Cincinnati's Fall Feast is expected to serve 3,500 people at the Duke Energy Convention Center, from 11 am until 2 pm. Another 2,500 meals will delivered off-site. The Cincinnati Recreation Commission is hosting its 22nd annual Thanksgiving meal at the Evanston Rec Center, at 3204 Woodburn, from 11 am to 3 pm.
The Church of Cincinnati, which is actually 100 different churches, will be distributing about 90,000 meals to families across the area on Thursday. From Monday through Wednesday, the Freestore Foodbank gave out Thanksgiving meals to more than 9,000 households, feeding an estimated 24,000 people.
And because not everyone eats meat, the group VeganEarth is holding a potluck dinner Thursday afternoon at the Clifton United Methodist Church, 3416 Clifton Ave, starting at 2 pm.
Post offices will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday, however Express Mail will still be delivered. Normal services resume on Friday. Rumpke is not changing its garbage pickup schedule, but the City's garbage customers will have to wait a day.
Queen City Metro will operate fewer buses on the holiday schedule Thursday, which is essentially the same schedule as Sunday. Metro's Holly Jolly Trolley, a free Downtown shuttle, starts running on Friday.
Thanksgiving Day starts for many with a 10 kilometer run through Cincinnati, Covington and Newport. That will mean some Downtown and Northern Kentucky streets, including the Taylor Southgate and Clay Wade Bailey bridges, will be closed from 8 am until noon. The ice rink at Fountain Square will be open Thursday from 9 am to midnight. For the rest of the season, it will open weekdays at noon, and weekends at 9 am.
On Saturday, the Cincinnati Squash Academy opens with an exhibition match in Over-the-Rhine. That's from 4 to 6 p.m. at 13th and Race Streets.
Cities and business districts across the area are kicking off the holiday season this weekend. Dayton starts with the annual tree lighting, the Grande Illumination, and Children's Parade Spectacular in Lights on Friday night at Courthouse Square. Cincinnati's tree lights up Fountain Square on Friday evening as well. On Saturday morning, the Cincideutsch Christkindlmarkt, a German Christmas-themed market, opens at Fountain Square. Downtown Cincinnati Incorporated starts its weekly firework display Saturday night, with Santa rappelling down the side of a building.
On Sunday, Mayor John Cranley lights up the tree in the Westwood Town Square and opens a craft fair.
