Valley youth set fine example

As we plunge into the final days of this millenniums holiday season, the Frontiersman wants to commend the Valleys youth and young women and men for displaying the proper spirit of the holidays.

For several weeks, Boy and Girl Scouts in the Valley have been busy collecting food for the areas food banks; students at Colony High were busy making hundreds of clay and ceramic bowls which they sold off at the school bazaar last weekend to raise money for Mat-Su residents who need a helping hand this winter; the Future Farmers of America and 4-H Club members have also been busy with projects to help our neighbors, and there have been similar projects by Valley children, adolescents and young adults from one end of Mat-Su to the other and points in between.

Just about every school and youth group in the Valley, public and private, had similar projects under way. Often the ideas to do these projects originated with the students.

None of the young people participating in these endeavors did it for publicity none could know for sure if there would be any publicity, let alone if they would be included. Instead, these young people worked in one form or another for their less fortunate neighbors simply because it was the right thing to do.

They remind each of us that there is a higher purpose to the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays than shopping or hoping for a gift.

They remind us that the original purpose of the season is on a higher plane, one that demands little of us materially but, instead, encourages us to contemplate and bring forth such qualities as character, integrity, caring, and love of one another.

Their efforts remind one of the words on a sign in the sacristy of the Mother Teresa Hospice in New York City:

I sought my soul but my soul I could not see. I sought my God but my God eluded me. I sought my brother and I found all three.

The Frontiersman hopes other Valley residents will take note of the example set by our youth and open their hearts and spirits not just throughout the holiday season, but throughout the new millennium as well.

We believe a community is truly measured not by the number of new businesses and homes built, not by the amount of shopping done for the holidays, but by the way residents treat each other, by their compassion for their neighbors and their willingness to make the Mat-Su a decent place to live through their words and deeds.

As for the young people who participated, or are participating, in various programs to assist those who have fallen on hard times this season, the most appropriate comment is: Thank you.

Editorials are written by the Frontiersmans editorial board, consisting of Kari Sleight, William Kelder, Tracy Wilson, Casey Ressler, Eric Burkett, Rindi White, Jo Goode and Gene Jansen.