As we publish this edition, set to arrive on Christmas Eve, we want to take the opportunity to wish each one of our readers a Merry Christmas, a belated Happy Hanukkah, and a very happy new year.
While the weather looks like anything except a northern New England Christmas – a forecast of 60-plus degrees for Christmas Day? – we’re sure the cold and snow of a typical year are still in our future. But the unseasonable weather hasn’t dampened the holiday spirit.
The fact that you are holding this newspaper in your hands is a tribute to all of the businesses in our towns that have shown their desire for a locally run, locally written, hometown newspaper. And in the process, we hope we have made each of those businesses feel good about how their advertising dollars are being spent.
Nutfield Publishing and its three publications – the Londonderry Times, Nutfield News, and Tri-Town Times – are community newspapers. We report on the good, the bad and the in between – what’s happening in town, written by people who live and work and shop in Southern New Hampshire, all personally impacted by the ups and downs of life in this wonderful state.
We’ve shown you plenty of Santa photos lately, and lots of stories about residents giving of their time and/or money to help their less fortunate neighbors. The caring we report on in our readers’ lives is truly a manifestation of the holiday spirit.
The sentiment underlying the season comes from the New Testament: “peace on earth, good will toward men.” With that in mind, as the national and international news brings us daily horrors, we must not lose our humanity or take out our fears on broadly defined groups of people. History is filled with the terrors experienced by people lumped together for no other reason than their homeland or heritage, appearance or religion.
In our hearts we know that Christmas and Hanukkah are not rooted in greed or hate; both celebrations carry the message of a miracle. And with solstice already past and the days growing longer once again, we can take solace in knowing that it’s all downhill as we head through the cold into the promise of spring.
Happy Holidays from the Nutfield Publishing staff, from our home at 2 Litchfield Road in Londonderry to yours.