As most of us age, we start realizing that happiness and joy is found less in material possessions than in the relationships that we build and life’s little moments.

Those moments can be in the beaming pride of new parents or a child’s eyes as they light up with joy when a Christmas wish comes true.

That’s what makes the Christmas season so special — the spirit of giving, modeled after the greatest gift ever given.

For 20 years, Christmas has been a little brighter for hundreds and hundreds of area youth because of one good idea and a lot of hard work and generosity.

Since 1990, Concordia Parish Sheriff Randy Maxwell and his crews — including inmate labor — have refurbished thousands of bicycles to give away to children who might otherwise go without their own bicycle.

Each of those bicycles almost certainly brought with it a wide smile and hours of fun for the recipient.

We applaud Sheriff Maxwell and all of the many people who help donate bicycles and bicycle parts or who donate money or labor to help make those childhood Christmas dreams come true.

It was a simple idea that just needed a bit of organization to get rolling and now it’s a Miss-Lou tradition.