As you read our pages this week,

you won’t have to take more than a peek.

To notice two words that make up this day,

Are two themes that influence our lives in an important way.

Across our valley generosity is all around,

 Good deeds, cheer and smiles abound.

Whether you teach, give smiles or volunteer,

Thanks for so much giving this year. . . .

Here are a few examples of giving we picked out from the Nov. 26 edition alone:

Through editing the opinion page, I saw a lot that showed how much good takes place each day. One letter expresses thanks from Barb Lyon, of Polson, whose purse was returned without a thing missing after she left it in a shopping cart at Wal-Mart. Her main message: I just wanted to let everyone know that there are still good and honest people in the world.

And a reminder that those, like Sheriff’s deputy Jeff Ford, who was diagnosed with leukemia, who help our community continue to be a safe place can need our help sometimes too. Luckily, he’s got friends like Dan Duryee and the rest of the department that carry them through the best they can.

Further into the news section, you’ll find the story of Dr. Steve Culp. He’s going  embarking on a trip in December that will take him into a South American rainforest where the people may have never seen a dentist before. When I was interviewing him for the story, we talked about how we may never know how much we take for granted living in the place we do.

Sasha saw more than one great act of giving in just this week of reporting:

For many in our community, giving is just another part of their daily lives. Even just this week there are many examples throughout the Leader of this generosity. Take, for instance, the Foster Grandparents throughout Western Montana who have volunteered thousands of hours of their lives to helping children in need with schoolwork and other mentoring. Or the Lake County Community Development Corporation, which uses grants it receives to help our local economy, and the businesses we rely on and work for.

It’s hard to imagine what our lives would be like without this tireless good work and giving from members of our community. It’s easy to overlook them, but today, thank them.

Aimee saw some great ways the people of our home were giving as well:

In our small corner of Montana, the willingness of community members to give and donate their time and money is inspiring. In St. Ignatius, the men and women of the schools are giving even more to ensure students from Mission have an opportunity to attend post-secondary education. They’ve already planned a coast-to-coast bike ride and have many more ideas in the burner.

In Pablo, the members of the SKC Campus Corps spend inordinate amounts of time planning and organizing events like food and clothing drives, health presentations and community dinners to benefit everyone in the community. Joni Bolman, the team leader, said she wants to be able to address the needs of the community in an effective manner.

Even in the sports world, cyclists and cyclocrossists from across the state converged on Polson this weekend to take part in an event that benefited the Polson cross country team.

Everywhere we look, our fellow community members are working and giving to make Lake County a wonderful place to live.