The past few weeks have been busy with holiday activities – schools raising money, and collecting warm clothes and toys to help out the needy in our midst; community groups selling Christmas trees and wreaths; and stores and email in-boxes filled with suggestions for gift giving.
As the holidays get closer, outdoor Christmas decorations are brightening the night on most streets, with gaily lit trees adding a festive touch to public spaces, and the weather has cooperated with a light covering of snow on the ground to better set the scene for a Norman Rockwell-style New England Christmas.
In our hearts we know that Christmas – and Hanukkah – are not holidays based on greed and amassing as much as we can; both carry the message of a miracle. And when the days grow shorter and the darkness lingers as the solstice draws near, bringing with it the longest night of the year and the official start of winter, we can take solace in knowing that it’s all downhill from there as we head through the cold into the promise of spring.
But if expectations seem unattainable and depression strikes, there’s help to be found in area agencies. And there are communal hot meals and opportunities to be with other people so that loneliness need not be a part of the holidays. Get in the spirit – it’s a great time to bake an extra batch of cookies and send them along to neighbors or co-workers… just because.
Money, after all, is not the basis for the holiday, but good will toward man – and woman – is.
For us at Nutfield Publishing, the fact that you are holding this newspaper in your hands is a tribute to all of the businesses in our towns that support a locally run, locally written, hometown newspaper.
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 and produced by people who make the Granite State their home. The owners, editor, reporters, sales staff, production staff – all of us live in southern New Hampshire, and are personally impacted by the ups and downs of life in this unique state.
Our newspapers exist because of advertising. And we encourage our readers finishing up their last-minute gift purchases to shop locally this holiday season and take advantage of what our towns have to offer.
We wish each one of our readers a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, and a very happy new year from the Nutfield Publishing staff.