Thanksgiving: Time for positive thoughts

CINDY WOOD/independent feature writer

Times are tough. Unemployment is high. Families are faced with foreclosures. Many residents of this county are just happy to put food on their tables.

Despite the dreary economy, the Penn State scandal, the war on terror, and the headlines that make us cringe every day, local families are looking at this season of Thanksgiving as a way to focus on the positive, and be truly thankful for the little things in life that are oftentimes taken for granted.

Van Wert High School graduate Ronna Drane recently arrived back home from a Habitat for Humanity missions trip to Mozambique and, while there, Drane said she witnessed the devastating effects of poverty and lack of clean water.

“It really put life into perspective,” she said, adding, “We have so much here.”

As families everywhere gather around the dining room table, or in front of the television to take in the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, thoughts will turn to good health, family or, in some cases, the ability to make a living.

“I’m really thankful to have a job I enjoy and overall for the many blessings God has given me,” said Cheri Oechsle, marketing director for the Niswonger Performing Arts Center of Northwest Ohio.

Along with two local theater groups, the YWCA, the YMCA, a library that recently earned national recognition, and a blossoming art center, residents of Van Wert County feel blessed to be surrounded by cultural activities and performances that take place right here in the county.

The multi-million dollar performing arts center has served as a boon to not only families who enjoy entertainment typically found in bigger cities, but also students who have used the center for drama productions, choir concerts, or assemblies.

“Many parents have expressed thankfulness for the opportunities their children have received from having the facility here in the community,” Oechsle said, adding that the NPAC staff is extremely thankful for its core of volunteers who help keep performances running smoothly. “They help with seats, programs, concessions, and the box office, and our volunteers have received numerous compliments from our patrons.”

Aside from the cultural benefits, the NPAC has served as a boon to local restaurants, which see an increase on performance nights, Oechsle said.

“Hamburger Alley has said they are slammed on show nights, and the hotels have certainly seen traffic throughout the year with the amount of patrons that come in for an evening show and stay over in our community,” she said, adding that local retailers have also noticed an increase in CD sales for artists who perform at the center.

Van Wert High School junior Morgan Lammers agreed with Oechsle, and pointed out that she’s grateful she has the opportunity to receive her education in the new high school, and for the ability to have assemblies in the PAC center. “I think all of our students are proud of the kind of school we have, and some of my friends from out of town see the performing arts center and they are amazed by it,” Lammers said. “I’m thankful the community supports our school, and I’m thankful we have teachers who truly care about us and support us.”

Local resident Kay Sluterbeck is thankful for many things this year, but mainly it’s the simple things in life that put a smile on her face.

“I’m most thankful for the basics: a roof over my head, food to eat, friends, family, pets and stuff like that,” she said. “There are so many people who don’t have these things.”

VWHS graduate Karl Gingrich, now a resident of Findlay, sees many people who don’t have the even basics during his mission work in Tanzania. Gingrich said he is thankful his father taught him valuable life lessons he utilizes during his missionary work. Gingrich related that his father, Fred, an employee at the Greenville Dayton Transportation Company at the time, often brought strangers home with him for Thanksgiving dinner.

“He would go to the Inn Hotel and find people sitting in the lobby and would ask some to come and share our dinner,” he said, adding, “if they looked like they were lonely or needed a good meal, he would ask them to come. He was a very sharing person who I learned a lot from.”

Gingrich said he is humbled by the generosity he witnesses in Tanzania from people who have very little, but share so very much.

“I see families there who share what they have with others so freely,” he said. “Many families take in HIV/AIDS orphans, and I know that they find it difficult to provide for their own families. It’s then when I think of my father, who was a good Quaker Christian man.”