Dear SCBA Members and friends,

In the past week, we celebrated Thanksgiving.   Historically, it is said that the first Thanksgiving was in 1621, after the Pilgrims had their first harvest in the New World.   The first official Thanksgiving was declared by President Abraham Lincoln on November 26, 1863.

There are many things to be thankful for but I think that being fortunate enough to have been born in the United States ranks up there near the top.   What other country has people trying so hard to get IN?

When I was actively employed, I was in the insulation contracting business.   Insulation manufacturers, to entice you to buy their itchy product rather than their competitor’s itchy product, would offer foreign trips as prizes.   Buy this many dollars  worth of a particular brand in a set period of time and win a trip to an exotic place for you and your wife.  

Over the years, we were able to go to Europe, Hong Kong, Africa and even Australia.    There was one thing that most of the people we met had in common.  They knew as much about the United States as many Americans do.   Wherever you went to shop, the sales people spoke English.  They knew our cities and often asked if I lived in New York.  

Whether you like or don’t like who is holding a particular political office at a given point is time, or what political party they belong to, isn’t all that important.   What is important is that there are over 6 billion people on earth and only 300 million of them live in the United States of America.   That’s one out of twenty.  

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, take the time to thank God for living here.

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas.  

Sincerely,

Larry Helminiak