Last week was a week of Thanksgiving, both the holiday and a counting of blessings in our personal lives as well as within the community.

Thanksgiving has a way of helping your realize just how blessed you really are, once you’ve had a chance to sit down and actually count your blessings.

We are truly blessed as a community, and we hope each of you had a great thanksgiving with much to be thankful for in your own lives.

In addition to celebrating Thanksgiving, plenty of other good news abounded in the community last week.

Below is a listing of just a few of those good news items:

* In association with Thanksgiving, volunteers turned out to help at the Natchez Stewpot on Thanksgiving to feed needy and shut-in residents who otherwise would not have been able to enjoy a good Thanksgiving meal.

* Work is underway to renovate the former Natchez Eola Hotel building and owners gave our readers a chance to get a glimpse of the work by allowing a Natchez Democrat photographer to shoot photographs of the progress inside the building.

The interior of the building is beautiful even with the work in progress, and we are sure the results will make it even better.

* The classic Natchez Christmas display is back at the Natchez Visitor Reception Center, 640 S. Canal St., thanks to local restoration enthusiast Burnley Cook.

The display features the former International Paper Company’s painted wooden characters and Christmas scenes that once lined the business’ driveway until the tradition was halted due to the nation’s energy crisis in 1973.

* Natchez lighted a new Christmas tree in grand style Saturday in a celebration complete with pyrotechnics and a gumbo cook-off. The beautiful new tree is a sight fit for the holidays.

The new tree also is a reminder that now that Thanksgiving is behind us, we can turn our attention to Christmas.

Don’t forget to shop locally.