It’s easy to see the holiday spirit is in the air. Every good, fun and exciting thing people have come to expect with Thanksgiving and Christmas has taken over thoughts and minds.
Family gatherings, trips and plans were the talk all around town early last week as folks started gearing up for a long Thanksgiving weekend.
Then came the Christmas kickoff events.
McCaysville’s Light Up celebration was the biggest most folks could ever remember. A cool, comfortable night added to the festivities that packed the streets, restaurants and businesses.
Blue Ridge, as always, stayed busy Saturday as the 20th annual Light Up ushered in the holidays.
Then came the nighttime events, the parade and tree lighting. Even the rain that started when the parade began couldn’t dampen the spirits of participants and spectators.
But the bright lights, tree lightings and holiday festivities are no real reflection of the holiday spirit being shown all over the area.
That spirit shone brightly in the Thanksgiving meals provided by the Good Samaritans at Fannin County High School and the many churches that came together at First United Methodist Church of Copperhill. These were just two of such efforts scattered across Fannin County and the Copper Basin, efforts designed to brighten the holiday for hundreds who either didn’t have a meal or didn’t have someone to share a meal with.
The spirit kicked off long before Thanksgiving as groups began their Christmas preparations. Fannin County’s Empty Stocking Program and the sheriff office’s Shop with a Cop are two that come to mind.
There are countless others, anchored in churches, schools and various community organizations – all of them working to reach out to the less fortunate.
And all these efforts rely on two things, volunteers and donations. Christmas spirit, or some other driving force, has people stepping up to the plate in both cases.
When the time comes, even if that time is at the last minute, there always seems to be enough hands to get the job done.
The same can be said for donations. The money always comes through.
These successes, enough volunteers and donations to get the job done, take a community, a real community. This includes those of us who live and work here every day, and those who are only amongst us for part of the year or even just for a holiday season. It takes everyone pitching in, in whatever way they can. And everyone does pitch in.
That’s another one of the many assets that makes this community so great, like almost none other.
But as we look at our blessings, let’s not forget the real foundation of them and the spirit of giving – the birth of Jesus Christ.
Merry Christmas!
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Glenn Harbison is publisher/editor of The News Observer. He can be reached at 706-632-2019 or by email at glenn@thenewsobsrver.com.