Our Thanksgiving gathering and meal was wonderful. Over 30 relatives and friends gathered at the Southport Town Hall and brought more food than was consumed. The ages of those attending ranged from 3 to 83 and it was great seeing all the familiar faces once again.

We hope your Thanksgiving gathering was just as wonderful.

Now it's on to the Christmas season. Lights are hung outside and the tree is standing in the corner of the living room. We usually don’t put the tree in this early but we have a busy three weekends ahead. Purchased a new tree stand this year and it's not much better than the old one -- a lot of wrangling to get it to hold the tree (although we must secure it with wires in case the cats go wild!). Some Christmas, I will secure the tree in concrete. That should do the trick!

Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday are over so now it's time to get into the real spirit of Christmas — giving to others.

I can honestly say that seeing others' delight in the gifts they receive at Christmas gives me more pleasure than the gifts I receive, especially if the receiver gets what he or she wants or needs.

We read a blog this week on "What is the Christmas spirit?" and the writer was "right on" in saying that Christmas should be for the poor. I believe this more than ever now because I don't need anymore stuff. Poor people need stuff -- clothing, food, heating assistance and more.

Get to the Y today and take one of the ornaments off the Tree of Giving and supply a needy child with a gift. Donate to the Boothbay Region Community Resources Council's fuel assistance fund. Or donate food or money to the Boothbay Region Ecumenical Food Pantry, or the Wiscasset Feed Our Scholars program.

Helping those in need. That's the best way to find and spread the Christmas spirit.