free christmas trees!

yesterday morning, bright and early, we (the station...meaning me and Corey) ventured to the south side of Goshen to broadcast the fact that my client was giving away Christmas trees. the client, The Car Company, had 250 trees stacked up and ready to go on a Sunday morning. in our part of the world, car sales are prohibited on Sundays...damn blue laws...just like being able to buy alcohol or drink at a bar...ahem. pardon my rant...

no car sales so no one could say this was a promotion kinda-thing to drum up car sales. (we did have a guy call the station and ask "so what's the catch?) it was just to help out the community. they've been doing this for the past FIFTEEN years. 15 YEARS of helping those who wouldn't have a Christmas tree if not for Marlin, Jamie and all the folks at The Car Company.

the broadcast was from 9am to 11am. i pulled into the parking lot at 8:29 am, pulling around the cars already lined up for the 10am start.

Jamie and Marlin were already going from car to car, handing out candy canes, hot chocolate, coffee, doughnuts, cookies and other yummies. cars pulling into line every minute, jam-packed with people listening to our station. just before 9am, it started to snow, making the whole thing even more festive, even more Christmas-y.

some of the people i talked to had been there every year, knowing there would be no way for them to be able to give their kids or their elderly neighbors a glimmer of the holidays without this generosity. it felt warm (even tho it was FREEZING outside!) and wonderful to be a part of it.

the guys started loading trees into cars/trucks/vans/s.u.v.'s/RV's at 10am sharp. Corey and i finished the broadcast at 11am. i believe i pulled out of the parking lot at 11:25am. at that time, there were approximately 25 trees left to be handed out and the line had dwindled to nothing. i was told the trees would be gone when people got out of church and headed over to the lot. this was the fastest they've given away the trees...ever...even with snow pounding down. it's been a rough year for this county. the highest unemployment rate in the state due to high gas prices, economic downturn in the RV industry, too. yet, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, there was sun shining.

i marvel at the way life works. i have been a part of something similar to this almost every year of my radio existence. each year brings different stories and different people with hardships. each year brings a renewed gratitude for my life and the people around me. i am happy to be warm and fed, but i am most grateful for those people in my life who love and support me on a daily basis. whether or not they are physically near me each day is irrelevant. their love and thoughts are there even if they aren't.

maybe this is what every DAY should be about, no?