To the editor:

Happy holidays! This time of year I spend a great deal of time thinking about all the things in my life I am thankful to have or experience. I also attempt to express sincere appreciation to my family, friends, co-workers and others who touch my life throughout the year.

I wanted to say thanks to members of my community for making Lawrence/Douglas County a great place to live and raise a family. An excellent example of what makes Lawrence special was the annual Old-Fashioned Christmas parade that was almost cancelled. Thanks to the leadership of CornerBank and other concerned community folks, the 2004 parade was fabulous. Another example is the generosity and Christmas spirit of my friends at Huxtable and Associates (Journal-World, Thursday), who adopted 42 families for Christmas. Wow, what a great place to live. Thank you, Lawrence, for caring!

Kathy Clausing,

Lawrence