It happens every year – the good cheer and merriment of the holiday season becomes a distant memory as we round the corner to the New Year. The sentiment is often: Thank God Christmas is behind us for another year!

We manage to pack a lot into the holiday season, with salutations offering good cheer, joy, and peace. It’s a friendly time of year when all seem to really try to make right with the world – relationships restored, and visions of peace and harmony seem to resound at home, work, school, community, and world.

I knock myself out each year – baking goodies that I make only once per year, writing cards to people who would never hear from me if it weren’t for Christmas, entertaining more people in one month than in the other 11 months combined. It is both joyful and exhausting, and it leaves me asking: Why not spread out this merriment?

Buying time during the Christmas season is what many, no doubt, wish for. I’m always delighted to remind my friends who receive their Christmas greetings after the start of the New Year that I’m actually not late – there are 12 days of Christmas, and the counting doesn’t start until Dec. 25. So, now the pressure is on until Jan. 6 to get all those cards in the mail!

Christmas seems to bring out the best in people. The demands of the holiday call us to work a little harder to pack more in. It can feel like an endurance test, leaving you feeling exhausted, and wishing the season to end. For those who feel this way, it is the equivalent to running a marathon that you failed to properly train for – and you can put me in that camp – but after it’s all behind you, you look back and feel accomplished, and perhaps reflect on how you can do better next time.

So, if Christmas were a marathon, perhaps the best thing would be to train a little bit all year! Set your course, plan, and feast your eyes on key dates that keep the great merriment momentum going – quality time with family and friends, fostering peace and harmony, and reaching out to those in need and sharing gifts, will make our home, community, and world a better place. In the spirit of community, I encourage you to open your calendars, and make some plans!

Don’t have a 2006 calendar? Ace Hardware, Brown Fox Printing, or Town Hall can take care of you. For a $12 donation, Scarborough calendars are available. These calendars are a great way to plan your year, and learn the history of your town. And, all of the money raised will pay for Scarborough’s 350th anniversary being planned for 2008.

Don’t let winter get you down. Come to Winterfest Saturday Jan. 14. There will be an assortment of indoor and outdoor activities starting with a community pancake breakfast at Scarborough High School at 7 a.m. and running throughout the day – there will be skating, broom ball, a craft fair, and a family concert. If you were unable to connect with your friends over the Christmas holidays, this activity will make up for it!

If you would like more information, or are interested in volunteering, please call Community Services at 730-4150.

Mark your calendars – Saturday, Feb. 11, 6:30 to 11 p.m., Project G.R.A.C.E. will host their annual Valentine’s Day dance and auction at St. Maximilian Kolbe Church. This joyful celebration will feature the Wavelength Band, great food served up by Hannaford’s, Gary McCourt and others, and honorary host Bill Nemitz.

Donations of auction items are being graciously accepted. Just when you may have thought that the demands of the holiday season were behind you, your help is needed and is greatly appreciated. Anyone interested in donating an item for the auction and/or reserving tickets for this fun, festive, community event should call Project G.R.A.C.E. at 883-5111.

When the tree comes down and the Christmas decorations are packed away, it may seem as though the party is over, and we can forget about Christmas for another year. But why do that when there’s so much more to look forward to? Bringing people together in peace and harmony, and helping those less fortunate in a fun, celebratory way, will keep the spirit of Christmas going throughout the year. Happy New Year!