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Lots to be thankful for this year

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XENIA — It’s the time of the year when families and friends gather around a table and gobble up some turkey and mashed potatoes and all the trimmings.

Before digging in, many will share for what they are thankful this holiday season.

City of Xenia leaders took a few minutes from their busy days to share their thoughts with citizens.

Mayor Sarah Mays

“Psalm 116:17 talks about a ‘sacrifice of thanksgiving.’ Over this last year, I have thought a lot about that verse and what it means in my life … being thankful for even the really hard things. When I am thankful even in the difficult chapters of life, it brings about contentment, peace, and joy. So this year, I am choosing to be thankful for learning more about reconciling relationships, choosing to be thankful for learning about being flexible during changes, and choosing to be thankful for learning to listen even if it’s hard to hear. I am so thankful for my husband and kids, my family and church family, my pastors, and our city’s leadership team. I am thankful to live in this community and call Xenia home. Happy Thanksgiving.”

City Manager Brent Merriman

“I’m thankful for so many new opportunities in our community, and for a year of relative peace and safety in Xenia. I’m also thankful for the police officers, firefighters, dispatchers, and public service workers who keep serving through our holidays so we can celebrate quietly and peacefully with family.”

Development Director Steve Brodsky

“I am thankful for the many partnerships we have formed to continue to move the city forward. We have seen these partnerships transform the city with projects like the REACH Center, with partners Kettering Health Network, YMCA Of Greater Dayton, Xenia Adult Recreation and Service Center, Clark State Community College and Central State University; and the new retail development anchored by Aldi, a partnership with the city, Greene County, and private development firms BSM and On Site Retail Group. We have also increased programming and community outreach with partnerships with Xenia Community Schools, Downtown Xenia Now, the Xenia Rotary Club, OhioMeansJobs-Greene County, Kroger, Greene County Public Health, the National Park Service, Greene Memorial Hospital, Xenia Bouncy Castles and many others. It is this commitment by so many people and organizations that will continue to help our community grow.”

Assistant City Manager Jared Holloway

“I am thankful for my wife, Hillary, and our two girls. They make life a delight, spending time with them is one of my favorite things. I am also very thankful for our church family at Emmanuel Baptist Church. It is a joy to live and serve the Xenia community with them. I am blessed to be able to work for the City of Xenia, and serve the community of friends I have grown up with. Xenia is full of so many positive people, encouraging friends, and opportunities to serve. It is easy to be grateful for all the blessings of living in Xenia, Ohio. I pray we all take the time this Thanksgiving season to count our blessings and thank God for all we have been given, and share with others as we are able.”

Finance Director Ryan Duke

”I’m thankful for my beautiful wife, Erika, and our four sons. They are a blessing to me each and every day bringing lots of joy, love, and some entertainment too. I’m thankful for the great people I work with at the city and for the opportunity to serve this wonderful community I’ve called home for most of my life. I’m thankful for my amazing church family who encourage, support, and challenge me to pursue God and his best for me; but most of all I’m thankful for a loving God who is always faithful, and who gives blessing and grace that I could never earn and certainly don’t deserve.”

Councilmember Levi Dean

“I’m thankful for: family, friends and life.”

Councilmember Will Urschel

“I’m thankful we have a merciful God who chose to love us even when we were running hard from Him, and paid our debts with the life of His own son. I’m thankful that we have the privilege to live in a country where we can worship Him freely, and have freedom to love and care for our families and communities without interference from our government. I’m thankful for the faith community in our city, and the love this community shares with each other and the less fortunate around us. I’m thankful for our city and county employees, who serve all of us every day of the year, often without fanfare and thanks. I’m thankful for the men and women in our military, many of whom will spend these holidays far from home — some under the seas, some sailing on them, some in a fire base on the side of a mountain or in a jungle, some on an isolated runway or high in the air — all serving in difficult situations far from home so we can have peace at home with our loved ones.”

Your friends at the Xenia Daily Gazette

“We are thankful for all of our readers, carriers, and advertisers. We also are thankful for all of the businesses, schools, elected officials and government bodies who support us every day and make our jobs easier with your cooperation.”

Mays
https://www.xeniagazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2019/11/web1_Mays.jpgMays

Brodsky
https://www.xeniagazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2019/11/web1_Brodsky.jpgBrodsky

Holloway
https://www.xeniagazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2019/11/web1_Halloway.jpgHolloway

Duke
https://www.xeniagazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2019/11/web1_Duke.jpgDuke

Dean
https://www.xeniagazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2019/11/web1_Dean-1.jpgDean

Urschel
https://www.xeniagazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2019/11/web1_Urschel.jpgUrschel

By Scott Halasz

[email protected]

Contact Scott Halasz at 937-502-4507.