Last Tuesday night, Darlene and I sat and anxiously waited for our son to pull into the dooryard. Josh hasn't been home since the summer. He's bringing a very special young lady with him who has never been up here and we played a pretty important role in her life. The reason I bring that up is this is the time of year when family and friends get together. We come together to celebrate in a whole variety of ways. I know that for Darlene and I, having Josh home is a very important part of the Christmas season, as I'm sure everyone else has family and friends that they look forward to coming together with.

It's a wonderful thing to watch and see so much caring and charity. I think that we're all very fortunate to live in this town. We think of it as giving, but it really is about fellowship. It's about us coming together and sharing what we have and enjoying each other's company as only we know how to do.

When I'm counting my blessings, I'm continually amazed at how Fort Fairfield consistently finds constructive ways of solving problems. Obviously, that's part of my job; I'm very, very involved in what I'm doing and it's clear to me, as I'm sure it's clear to all of you, that there are no easy answers. There's never one right answer to any issue we're dealing with and there is no silver bullet. What I really have felt is that what makes us successful is not so much the decision that we make, but the manner in how we make it. I just have this sense of pride for this community because we consistently find ways to communicate in a positive, proactive manner.

Because life is a work in progress, I believe those who are successful are the ones with the capacity to stick together during the tough times, sharing scarce resources and simply finding ways to make it work. We do that in fellowship and I find that to be profound and very powerful.

Dan Foster is the town manager for Fort Fairfield, Maine