Thanksgiving: Time to count our blessings

Thanksgiving is a time for fellowship with family and friends. It's a time for food and football. It's also a time for counting our blessings.

We here at the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, like our neighbors, friends and readers, are thankful for our own families and the good health and good times we share with them. As a business that has served the community since 1947, we are thankful for you, our readers, who continue to make us the No. 1 source of local news. It is a privilege - and a pleasure - we do not take lightly.

Just as we would be nothing without our faithful readers, we would be nothing, too, without our dedicated advertisers, who make it possible for us to do what we do three times each week. For this, we are thankful.

It is also something we could not do without the talents and dedication of our staff and the diligence of our free-lance writers and other independent contractors, all of whom team up to bring the news to your doorstep three times a week.

We are also grateful that we live and work in such a beautiful and vibrant community, where people are willing to help each other out and lend a hand when needed. We are reminded, especially, of the response during the August floods that brought destruction

to the community and left some homeless and

dispossessed.

On a related note, we are thankful for our emergency responders and all they do to keep us safe.

Likewise, we appreciate the &#8220smaller” things that enhance the quality of life for all who call the Valley home. Countless volunteers and public servants work tirelessly to make the community a better place to live and our educators equip our children to be productive adults.

It is easy to take our freedom for granted, and we remain deeply indebted to, and thankful for, the military men and women who valiantly protect that freedom. On this day of thanks, we particularly remember the families of fallen soldiers Spc. Jacob Melson of Wasilla, and Sgt. Kurtis Arcala and Spc. Shane Woods of Palmer. The sacrifice made by these families is one that no family should have to endure.

We are grateful to the families of all local servicemen deployed to a war zone, and join the community in keeping them in our thoughts and prayers.

As we inventory our personal and professional bounties, it is difficult to not remember those who are less fortunate. As we enter the season of giving, we are mindful of organizations like the Salvation Army, area food pantries and senior centers and others that rely largely on volunteer effort and public financial support to do what they do. We hope our readers will remember, too, that holiday outreach programs cannot exist without that support.

Today, and every day, we have so much to be thankful for. We hope our readers will each find joy in counting their own blessings today. Happy Thanksgiving.