It is Christmas Day as I write this letter. My family is scattered far and wide and I live alone (by choice) in Jefferson. Last night, by the light of the near full moon and the fresh white snow on the field behind my house, I swear I could see Santa’s sleigh zoom across the sky headed South with a tremendous load of gifts.

If you want a cause to chuckle, and who doesn’t need one these days, try giving some small children a simple cardboard box and watch what they do with it. In short order, they could turn it into a fort, or a plane, a boat or a place to hide.

For decades now the Korean Conflict has been called the Forgotten War.

Sandwiched, as it is, in American history between World War II and the Vietnam War, it is little wonder the two-plus-year-long conflict gets the short shrift in the history books.

The patriotism you expressed during and following World War I and II, Vietnam, Korea, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan has all but disappeared. Parades are but a fleeting display of our patriotism and fife trucks. How soon we forget.

November 11 is Veterans’ Day and this old veteran remembers when it was celebrated with much more splendor and parades, but that was then and this now; now being more or less just a day off.

Tomorrow is Nov. 11, Veterans’ Day. It’s the special day when all Americans honor our brave servicemen and women for their service to our country. If it were not for them, America would not be the wonderful and free country that we live in and enjoy today.

The Great Salt Bay Community School held its annual Harvest Fair last Saturday (Oct. 30), and it seems to have been a wonderful success. As the parent of an eighth grader who directly benefits from this fundraiser, I’d like to thank everyone involved in the process of pulling the Fair together.

This weekend, 10 students from Wiscasset High School are going to make the long journey from home to Pleasant Point in Washington County where they will meet with members of the Passamaquoddy tribe.

We like it. We like it a lot.

Veterans’ Day is approaching and what do we do about it? Well, a few dedicated people meet, pray and acknowledge what they have done.

Having written several editorials from the perspective that Thanksgiving is truly the holiday to stop and give thanks for the bounty most of us enjoy, this year we thought we would make a light-hearted effort to dispel some of the long held myths of the holiday.

In short order, we discovered there are no end of websites and resources devoted to just that topic.

While vacationing in Maine this past October, I required Emergency Medical care and was blessed to have Miles Memorial Hospital at my disposal. I was quite ill and very nervous but the Hospitalist, Nurses, and Staff quickly and efficiently comforted me and were extremely kind and compassionate.

As we all celebrate this Thanksgiving and people say a prayer and are thankful for this abundance, how many include in their prayer a thanks for all our servicemen and women who can’t make it home for the holiday?

Where were the people of Nobleboro on Oct. 26 when we met at the Nobleboro Central School to discuss Gateway 1? The Maine Dept. of Transportation has a $30,000 grant to discuss the so-called traffic growth, planning and development of our little village. This is the first of three monthly meetings. The second is on Nov. 16 and the third and final occurs in Jan. 2011.

Wiscasset students spent a day on the road visiting the Passamaquoddys earlier this month and last Friday a “sizable crowd” attended a panel discussion on being Muslim in America.