IT’S TODAY: Starting tomorrow, there will be free parking in
Bradford’s retail districts throughout the Christmas holidays.

Aah. … It’s the little things in life that give us something to
be thankful, isn’t it? And we appreciate some of the big things,
too.

If you ever have a heart attack, you’ve got to appreciate having
a hospital in your own little town. And Bradford Regional Medical
Center is in the process of making itself bigger and better with
its addition and renovation – which will be a huge benefit to the
entire region.

We appreciate having a beautiful movie house right on Main
Street that plays films (like Casino Royale) when they are first
released, and also offers independent films throughout the
year.

Speaking as a downtown business, we at 43 Main St. are very
happy to have a new neighbor – a furniture store – right next door.
Better yet, the owner plans to open a bona fide “Espresso Bar”!

We are grateful for having the Main Street Mercantile with its
unique gifts, and admire daily the evolution of old City Hall.

We appreciate the Seneca Nation’s casino in Salamanca, N.Y.,
giving out turkeys to its customers over the past week or so,
wondering if perhaps they are delivering a secret message. What
better way would there be to celebrate that first Thanksgiving?

Let us be thankful that on Black Friday we will be working and,
thus, able to avoid the mobs of shoppers at WalMart and other
stores in town and at distant malls.

Other things to be thankful for? How about the resurgence of
Bradford’s oil industry, bringing in much-needed jobs, a boost to
the economy, and hope for the future.

These, too: Pitt-Bradford, Bradford Creative and Performing Arts
Center, Allegheny National Forest, renovations at Wolf Run Marina
on Allegheny Reservoir, the Bradford Owls’ championship football
season, a new SPCA, the Friendship Table.

We at The Era appreciate being in a town and region that produce
what seems like an unbelievable amount of local news.

Our thanks to the doctors, policemen, ambulance drivers and
firefighters, radio DJs, ministers, nurses, mini-mart clerks, gas
station attendants, waitresses and bartenders and cooks – all the
people who have to work on Thanksgiving.

A special thanks to the reporters, editors, pressmen, and
delivery people who are laboring on this holiday to make sure you
have a Bradford Era tomorrow.