1. Always, every day I am thankful for the wonderful water we enjoy in this county. Our Mad River aquifers, the rock and gravel layers beneath us that hold our water, are known as the best in the world. Well water is as tasty as bottled spring water, and the Enon water is often rated as the best tasting and least expensive in the area. Businesses are attracted here because of our plentiful pure water. Too often local residents take this abundance of water for granted. After living in a desert, cities and a foreign country, I truly appreciate this precious natural resource.
2. I am thankful that we are able to take care of our own to a certain extent. We are blessed with Impact Bethel, Enon Relief, Bethel Churches United, etc. and their dozens of volunteers who collect, organize, monitor and distribute the food. I appreciate every family and individual who donates money for purchases or who buys extra cans and boxes of non-perishable food. Our schools, churches, and many clubs sponsor needy families during the holidays. We are a giving community.
3. I’m thankful for our parks, clean river, and nature preserves. In addition to having state, county and city parks, we have a wealth of bike trails and historic sites. Every one of us, no matter where we live, is only five minutes from a free afternoon in a natural setting. I’m also thankful for Tecumseh Land Trust, BW Greenway Community Land Trust and others who work to save our rich farmland and wetlands. What a beautiful place we live in.
4. I am truly thankful for our variety of churches and places of worship. We can dress in our Sunday best or worship as we are. There are a variety of times, styles of services and different faiths. Some like Knob Prairie in Enon and Honey Creek in New Carlisle have been here more than 200 years. Others like the new Baptist church in Enon were built this year. These churches are often the centers of giving in our community and the centers for support groups like AA and child care. I’ve visited many of them and always been welcomed.
5. I’m thankful for our Fire and EMS and all those emergency volunteers who give so much of their time to keep us and our property safe. Not only do they race to our assistance, they spend long hours training and maintaining the equipment. We know that if ever we have a problem, a highly trained group of neighbors will get to us to help as soon as physically possible. This means so much. The phrase neighbors helping neighbors is real here.
6. I’m sure that I am not the only person happy that Route 235 at the north end of New Carlisle is finally done. It certainly took long enough, but it is so smooth when we drive on it now. I bet the businesses on the north end of New Carlisle are thrilled. I’m also quite happy that the bridge on Rocky Point over by Greenon is done too. As winter approaches we all need to be thankful for those who clean our roads and add salt on icy days.
7. As I do the fall cleaning, I am thankful for places that help us conveniently recycle. Meadowview had a bin for used plastic flower pots, which I have been throwing away until now. Some of the schools have paper recycling bins. Fire departments have aluminum can recycling. The money goes to help burn victims. And there are a few bins to donate clothing to be reused.
8. I am thankful for all the veterans and active duty military in this area. Since Enon is home of the founder of Honor Flight, Earl Morse, we know our positive support of our veterans has influenced veterans all over the country. Yes, we have so many because we are near the base, but we also have quite a few because our young people want to serve. They want to protect our way of life and we are so proud of them.
I know I’ve not listed everything, but I’m out of room.
Our economy and the whole world may be crazy these days, but we need to remember that we live in a tremendous place. And we need to work to keep it that way.
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