With the snowfall that started to blanket the Foothills on Tuesday, it truly is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
But looks can be a bit premature — there has long been a feeling of the holiday season despite the unseasonably warm weather in December. It’s a feeling that warms the heart even more than a Grade 1 student hollering “Ho-Ho-Ho Who wouldn’t know” at one of the many Christmas concerts at schools from Millarville to Cayley this season.
The Foothills community has once again opened their wallets and their hearts to provide for those who find the holiday season not much different than any other time — a grind to get through hard times.
Fortunately, through countless food drives and initiatives — from collections at hockey games, donations by students at virtually every school — volunteers will be stacking shelves at the food bank with care, like Santa was actually there. Whether it was with their wallets or with the guitars — and quite likely both — people gave and gave.
The 11th annual Okotoks Food Bank Charity Concert at the Okotoks Evangelical Free Church allowed fans to see the wonderful talents of singers Tanya Ryan, Michela Sheedy, Ellen Doty and others for a donation to the food bank. The added surprise of Juno Award winner George Canyon making an appearance may have been the worst kept secret since that Santa thing… but with the same magical result. The smiles on the artists and the fans went beyond ‘hey, this is great entertainment’ it was more ‘hey this is a good thing for our community.’”
That kind of excitement and joy — the kind of joy that an Amazon-drone can’t deliver — was shared from Longview to Heritage Heights.
So, Foothills residents, when you sit down for holiday turkey on Dec. 25, don’t be afraid to put something special in the eggnog.
You deserve it.
Have a happy holiday.
