Editorial: Thanksgiving is more than turkey

On Thursday, families will gather together to observe Thanksgiving Day, eat some turkey, and plan what to do about their long week end and Black Friday shopping. Also, Thanksgiving is about looking around and being appreciative for all the little and big things we enjoy.
In the Belleville area, these are some of the things for which we are thankful:
• The volunteers who work long, hard hours to put on the festivals and events for our communities, as well as the special projects, like new night wear for residents of an extended-care facility or special goodies sent in boxes to those in the service in Iraq;
• The local people who are digging into their pockets for their hard-earned money to assist the district library board in its efforts to put amenities back into the plans for the new library building, after they were removed for budget cuts. This library could be in place to serve the tri-community for 100 years, they say. Let’s make it as nice as we can;
• The police officers and fire fighters in our communities who reach out and do more than is expected, regularly, to help tri-community residents;
• The teachers in our schools and the school bus drivers on our roads who reach out to help those who need coats or hats or an encouraging word; and
• All those who say, “Have a nice day” or “Have a good one” to underscore cordial leave-taking.
Happy Thanksgiving Day.