Message from the Mayor: Thanksgiving Message
Posted on: November 23, 2016 - 7:03am
Fellow Residents,
Thanksgiving is upon us, and in these tumultuous times, I take a moment to appreciate what we have here in our village.
Our two square miles on the Hudson were always linked to New York City by our proximity, and yet defiantly separate. We have never been been a suburban community - and remain something special. A defining characteristic of American society has always been a dynamic civil society - and Hastings remains a true hothouse for that even as this may be harder to find in our increasingly atomized nation. It's easy to fall into the electronic womb at home, heads down in phone and computer, facing a glowing screen. But TV, Facebook and twitter aren't real life - never have been or will be - community is engaged face-to-face on the sandlot and in the Village conference room and firehouse. This, we do really well here. We're, at heart, a village of activists, engaged in our community - many hundreds of volunteers spare time out of their busy lives to make this community thrive.
Tonight, I returned from the raucous joy of the Project Share Thanksgiving dinner, which fed over 750 homeless people a full Thanksgiving dinner, carved and served by volunteer students and adults, serenaded by live music. It's a remarkable thing to see, a beautiful thing to see. (For those of you who helped fund this donation-driven event, thank you - you made a grand and happy feast possible.)
Earlier this year, congregations and charities rallied and made a home for a Syrian refugee family that flourishes here. Later, residents came together to raise money to rehabilitate Reynolds Playground and Riverview Park, both now thriving community congregation points. Parents and coaches together sent a soccer team to win State finals (first time ever!). Hundreds of ambulance and fire calls were answered at all hours of the day by the volunteers that run our fire department. Volunteers put lunch on the table at a homeless shelter in Yonkers, as they have for decades. Other volunteers staff working groups that are addressing longstanding transportation issues or helping to redesign the waterfront, work through zoning issues, work on conservation issues and more. Another group formed this year to celebrate and protect diversity. Volunteers lop invasive vines and work on political campaigns and coach Little League and keep the synagogue and churches running and work with the elderly and put on art shows and help at the library and staff the Board of Education or work in the schools, beautify the Village and keep the Farmer's Market running and... and.. and if I have forgotten you, you will forgive me, but the thing is, you don't do it for the fame or the fortune, but because it feels right and good and connected and is what makes us human, a community, when we feel happiest and most alive.
To this, I raise my Thanksgiving toast, and know that a village built on the bedrock of people like this, we're have a good thing going here. For all this, Happy Thanksgiving. We're always grateful for those around us who create the fabric that weaves us together, friends and family and loved ones, but especially the volunteers. You do it out of love, unstained by cynicism, with full hearts and we feel it all.
Sincerely,
Peter Swiderski
Mayor