Mayor’s Holiday Season Proclamation

WHEREAS, more than three centuries ago, our forefathers, after a time of hardship and peril, humbly and respectfully set aside a special time of the year during which to give thanks to God for their preservation and for the good harvest from which they had benefited and in celebration of God’s great gifts. Grave and unknown dangers remained. Yet by their faith, strength of character and hard work they looked to the future with a shared hope of better things to come; and

WHEREAS, this year, as we begin the holiday season, we look upon a past year of great anxiety in our country, and, as the year approach its end, awesome perils again remain to be faced. We are at war on two fronts. Our economy faces great challenges known to but a few in this generation. Yet we have, as in the past, ample reason to be thankful and to have hope for the future. In the words of the late President Kennedy “we are grateful for the blessings of faith and health and strength and for the imperishable spiritual gifts of love and hope; and

WHEREAS, we too give thanks, for our freedom as a nation; for the strength of our arms and the faith of our friends; for the beliefs and confidence we share; for our determination to stand firmly for what we believe to be right and to resist mightily what we believe to be wrong. And for the heritage of liberty bequeathed by our ancestors, which we are privileged to preserve for our children and our children’s, children.”

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Van W, Johnson, Sr., Mayor of the great City of Apalachicola, proclaim Friday, the twenty-eighth day of November of this year, as the official beginning of the holiday season. I urge all citizens to make this season not merely a holiday from their labors, but rather a time of consideration. Let us observe this time with reverence and with goodwill for others. Let us through our labor and thoughts demonstrate the strength and will to not only overcome our temporary adversities and preserve our blessings, but also to extend them to those among us who by providence are less fortunate.

HEREBY PROCLAIMED, at the City of Apalachicola on this 28th day of November in the year of our Lord 2008.

FOR THE CITY OF APALACHICOLA

VAN W. JOHNSON, SR., MAYOR