wellington | today
WE HAVE MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR Our Community Is Very Blessed And Has Plenty To Celebrate This Thanksgiving Season
BY JIM BARNES, WELLINGTON VILLAGE MANAGER
Thanksgiving is a time to join with family and friends and give thanks for the blessings and freedoms that we enjoy every day. I am thankful for my loving family, and so appreciative of the opportunity to serve as your village manager. The strength of our village comes from you, our residents. I am thankful that we have active and caring people who are involved in their community. I’m also thankful for our village team members, who work hard every day to provide you with superior services and amenities.
A Time Of Gratitude Thanksgiving is about gratitude, as well as appreciating and respecting the blessings of the past year. As we begin the holiday season, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone in our community for their support, respect and understanding during the challenging times and good times alike. Your unwavering support, sacrifice and commitment have made our community stronger and demonstrated how resilient Wellington residents are in the face of adversity. As our nation formed through revolution, the Continental Congress proclaimed a Day of Thanksgiving in 1777. In the middle of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln declared a national Thanksgiving Day to be celebrat-
ed on the final Thursday of November in 1863. Despite the turbulent era, however, President Lincoln sought to unify the nation during the Civil War by reminding us of the blessings and privileges of our democracy. He issued Presidential Proclamation 106, which made Thanksgiving a formal, annual holiday. In the proclamation, Lincoln acknowledged the wounds left behind by war and appealed for the healing and restoration of the nation. Traditions varied in our country until late 1941, when President Franklin Roosevelt signed a bill fixing the day of recognition as the fourth Thursday in November, beginning in 1942. This year, I hope we all do the same, as we come together with our loved ones to pause and give thanks for the grace and kindness in our lives. It’s the challenges, after all, that we face as a whole
that make us even more grateful during times of joy and abundance.
Reasons To Be Thankful To the backbone of our community — our first responders, village team members and the Wellington Village Council — thank you for going above and beyond to meet the needs of our community. Your prompt service, courage and sacrifice do not go unnoticed. Your passion for this village continues to make us the benchmark by which other communities are measured. To our current and former armed forces service members and military families living in Wellington and the western communities, thank you for your service to defend our nation and freedom. Your presence makes our great hometown all that much better and rewellington the magazine | november 2023 49