Thanksgiving 2012 and time to consider the good things in life. We don’t usually stop to appreciate the importance of people in our daily lives and the facts of warmth and food. We just take it for granted. But on this day we can pull back and while the smell of turkey roasting and the cutting of pumpkin pies fill our special day, we can remember the love of family and friends and the bounty of food that is shared across this nation.

Some are not so lucky to have the necessities but many individuals, groups and organizations provide a traditional dinner for those less fortunate. Many in Darke County will share in the day because of citizen generosity.

Then we move into the Christmas season! But I like Thanksgiving. I like the gathering of family and I like the traditional foods like sugared sweet potatoes and cranberry salads. I like the quiet afternoon and the second round of food later in the day. So lets not move this too quickly. This is an American holiday and we can savor the food and fellowship before launching into the yuletide season.

Students will be out on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Then Tri-Village resumes and basketball will be filling the calendars. Before leaving the fall sports however we need to congratulate Clayton Murphy who finished with a fourth place in the state cross country meet. He did an exceptional job all year and represented the Patriot colors with a great race. Clayton’s time was 15:32, his personal best.

A couple of dates to put on the calendar are December 4 and December 12.

The Friends of the Library will sponsor the open house at the New Madison Public Library on Dec. 4. Stop for a cookie and greeting and maybe browse for a good book to read.

Then on Dec. 12 volunteers for the library will be recognized. Hours of service time are donated annually. The logging of these hours makes the New Madison Public Library a special place in our community.

And before I end this column I wanted to call attention to a former student and Tri-Village graduate. Carl White is fighting cancer. He has just started a second battle with the cancer cells but he is fighting and determined and he journals a couple of times a week. You can check in on Carl and Anita (Hicks) and send a note to them via the internet. It is the caringbridge and the address is services@caringbridge.org and Carl’s site is www.caringbridge.org/visit/carlwhite74. Visiting his site and reading about his faith and fight is a real Thanksgiving message.

Shirley Dubbs is a volunteer citizen columnist, who serves Daily Advocate readers weekly with her New Madison column. She can be reached at psdubbs@embarqmail.com. Viewpoints expressed in these opinion pieces are the work of the author. The Daily Advocate does not endorse these viewpoints or the independent activities of the author.