The holidays are here with friends and family and gifts and celebration of the dark slowly yielding to the light.
This year we offer our wishes for gifts for all in The Valley, Vermont, the nation and the world.
For Syria, we wish peace and protection for civilians and humanitarian aid workers trying to get them out and treated when they are wounded. We wish for peace and for the world community to do more than express outrage.
For the world, we hope for less plastic in the oceans, fewer species lost to extinction, fewer catastrophic storms, earthquakes and disasters.
For all the countries that have suffered acts of violence and terrorism, we hope for the gift of healing and learning to trust.
For our country, we wish for the gift of bipartisanship, lost now for over eight years. We wish for a calm, steady hand at the helm and we wish for sane minds to prevail. For retirees and pensioners, we wish the blessings of Social Security and Medicare to remain along with sound environmental regulations.
In Vermont, we wish Governor-elect Phil Scott well and hope that his sensible cabinet picks reflect the sensible course he has promised to chart for Vermont.
To The Valley’s many charitable organizations, we wish you the gift of increased participation next year. For the Mad River Valley Interfaith Council, we wish the same.
To the member towns of The Valley, we congratulate you on your shared work this year and we offer specific well wishes to you.
Warren, we wish you luck with that timber crib dam decision and the transportation path on the access road. Waitsfield, we wish you luck on everything but especially the Mad River Park rec fields decision.
Moretown, have a great year, and Fayston, keep up the good work. Duxbury, great job recovering from road washouts and better luck next year with those road washouts.
Happy holidays, enjoy the gifts of the season and the journey back to the light.
