Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It is a cozy time of year to gather together with family and friends by a roaring fire enjoy delicious food and catch up. This year I had the good fortune to celebrate in Woodstock, Vermont with my family. Woodstock is a lovely historic town with quaint houses, beautiful churches, a covered bridge, and all the best aesthetic features that New England has to offer. But the thing I love the most about Woodstock is the tremendous community that lives here.
A few years ago I experienced the grace and generosity of this community when I was here for Hurricane Irene. The town suffered from tremendous flooding and it was a scary time, but as soon as the rain stopped everyone in the town gathered on the Town Green for a spontaneous potluck and a concert. Despite the fact that everyone was without electricity and water for a week, everyone continued to cheerfully gather on that Green, sharing what resources they had, and whoever had an instrument came to play in the continuous concert.
Every Thanksgiving I am reminded again of the enthusiastic compassion of this town when we gather for the Turkey Trot. The Turkey Trot is a 5k race that benefits Zach’s Place, a community enrichment center for people with special needs. Zach’s Place was founded in 2006 by the parents of Zach Frates, a teenager with cerebral palsy. Zach’s parents wanted to establish a center for people with special needs so they would have somewhere to spend time with their peers after school. Over the years the center has grown, with longer hours and more members each year. In turn, the community of Woodstock has embraced the center with greater and greater participation in the annual fundraising road race. This year the Turkey Trot featured more than 1500 runners and walkers. Considering only 900 people live in the Village of Woodstock, and another 2,000 in the town, that is some pretty impressive participation!
Over this past year Stefanie and I have built a community around GoKid, including friends and family who have been unflagging in their support, but also meeting many new people who have embraced our vision and offered incredible advice and resources. We feel so grateful every day for our communities and believe that collaboration is critical to every venture, and, of course, is the very heart of what GoKid is all about. On Thanksgiving, and every day of the year, we give thanks for our communities. We hope you had a great holiday.
