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The onset of fall and a return to classrooms always serve to herald seasonal flurries. Not the cold, wet crystalline kind featured on greeting cards and holiday movies, but a whirlwind of festive events — sporting contests, homecoming parades, festivals, trick or treating, pageants and the list goes on.

Whether we are planning, participating in or supporting all the festive activities aimed to enhance the spirit of the season, it’s important to retain focus on what’s really important so that we are not whisked off to “Oz” by a cyclone of stress and exhaustion.

Community members in Greenville are gearing up for a wide array of activities — the Butler County Civic League’s Oct. 19 Fall Banquet, several trick or treating events, Greenville’s Christmas parade and the “Home for Christmas” holiday concert at the Georgiana Opry House.

Countless organizers and volunteers contribute their time to make these events possible for community members to enjoy. And throughout the joyful time from inception to completion, it’s not hard to get swept away and lose our grasp on the celebrations such events are aimed at creating.

All three high schools in Lowndes County have hosted, or will shortly host, their homecoming parades. Following soon are the Christmas parades planned for Hayneville, White Hall and other close communities in “the 45,” each the result of endless hours spent planning, gathering, recruiting, organizing, advertising and reorganizing for the benefit of area residents.

Crenshaw County is no exception. On Oct. 25, vendors and visitors will enjoy the annual Friendliest City Festival, after which children of all ages will cycle through stations along Glenwood Avenue gathering enough candy to bring on a sugar-induced coma during Treats on Us in Luverne. 

And then, Luverne, Rutledge and Brantley will each host a Christmas Parade, interwoven through the December calendar among school and church programs emphasizing the reason for the season.

Many enthusiastic organizers have learned how much work is involved in these festive events. But the memories of sore muscles, sleepless nights and forgotten tasks on the “to-do” list rarely stops them from signing up, year after year, to do it again. Still, we urge these wonderful makers of magic to take time for themselves, enlist plenty of help and somehow find a way to enjoy the events they work so hard to create.

We also encourage community members to find a way to get involved in the magic making. After all, the effort is half the fun.