Thanksgiving is just under a week away and plans for Christmas celebrations are looming.

The holiday season is about to kick into high gear and we would like to encourage you to support efforts in Cassopolis and Edwardsburg this year.

Christmas in Cassopolis will get the holiday started Dec. 5.

Plans for this year’s event can be found on this week’s front page, along with a decorating contest for businesses sponsored by the Cassopolis Vigilant.

Through the efforts of the Main Street Committee, Christmas in Cassopolis will continue for a fifth year.

There is nothing more exciting than watching a community come together to celebrate the seasons.

Christmas is a special time of year where everyone is a bit nicer to each other and it truly is a time for giving, which is important in the world we currently live in.

So we would like to invite you to get out and give yourself this holiday season.

Volunteer to help make Christmas in Cassopolis a success.

Decorate your downtown business, which will help make the season just a bit brighter.

In Edwardsburg, community members will gather for the annual tree lighting celebration Nov. 28.

Beginning the day after Thanksgiving, the Edwardsburg Lions Club will be selling Christmas trees for the 51st year.

Buying a tree from the Lions Club is a great idea as it is the group’s largest fundraiser and allows them to continue the great work they do in and around Edwardsburg.

You can read all the details of when and where you can purchase your tree on the front page of this week’s Argus.

The Lions Club, along with the Knights of Columbus, Edwardsburg Presbyterian Church, Hope United Methodist and Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church need your help raising money for a great cause.

Those groups have once again combined forces for the third annual Winter Wonderland Christmas Party, which will be held Dec. 12.

Those groups need donations so that they can go out and purchase gifts for needy children.

Last year more than 200 people attended the party and more are expected this year.

More details are available at www.leaderpub.com.

For those who think that only adults get involved in the holiday season need only look to the Edwardsburg National Honor Society to see that it just is not so.

The NHS is out collecting donations from area businesses to help fund their “Operation Christmas” service project.

National Honor Society members are paired with less fortunate kindergarteners and first graders in the community. They spend the day with the students, purchase them a gifts for family members and having lunch with them at a local Chuck E. Cheese.

To find out more about this project, go to page online at www.leaderpub.com.

As you can see, community and student groups are shifting into high gear as the holidays approach.

We would love nothing more than to see a huge outreach of community support for all of these events and fundraising drives.

 

Opinions expressed are those of the editorial board consisting of Publisher Michael Caldwell and editors Ambrosia Neldon, Craig Haupert, Ted Yoakum and Scott Novak.