2008 was the 31st consecutive year the Downers Grove Fire Department participated in the Keep the Wreaths Red Program.

Poor weather conditions did not keep people away from the memorial service for Madeleine Mochel Pedersen, who died about a week before Christmas at age 90. She was a founding member of the Downers Grove Oratorio (now Choral) Society.

Platitudes have their place — as do clichés, maxims, axioms, aphorisms and adages. I find them handy because I’m just not very original when it comes to making New Year’s resolutions or stating the philosophical ideals by which I aim to live.

Lest anyone think that Thanksgiving gets short-shrifted and is just something to be gotten through before we can begin celebrating Christmas, let us linger over giving thanks a little longer.

When we think about peace on Earth, do we think mainly in terms of preventing global wars? Perhaps. But unfortunately, there is violence closer to home. What about violence within the home? World peace should begin with a person’s own family, but too often it doesn’t. Victims of domestic violence and the volunteers and staff members who help them know this well.

The Reporter-Progress’ Nov. 12 issue published letters to the editor by John Carlin and Irma Pittroff. Carlin falsely accuses me of a “flip-flop,” claiming I pledged as a 2003 Park Board candidate “to oppose a pool” and that “now (I favor) it.” Carlin either confuses me with a more recent candidate or suffers from serious memory problems.

Holidays are celebrated, in part, with food and drink. From the Fourth of July barbecues with ribs and pink lemonade to winter holidays with turkeys, hams, cider, hot chocolate and eggnog, good eatin’ is a staple. No one would argue with that. Nor would anyone likely disagree that music is another important aspect of celebrating special occasions.

Want to hear something funny? Seriously. Although that sounds like the lead-in to a joke or amusing anecdote and often is, what I’m referring to here is Grove Players upcoming production of “A Funny thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” opening on Friday, Nov. 7, for a three-weekend run.

Working backstage to help make a live show happen can be as fulfilling and as exciting as being on stage. The current crop of Tivoli Theatre backstage volunteers can certainly attest to that fact.

Fall brings flurries, but not of snow. The flurries are of falling leaves and of activities. School is back in session, and all of the local organizations get back into gear with their first meetings and programs of the year. Other events — some of them once-a-year — also take place.

How many people in Downers Grove know that it is the site of an outstanding example of permaculture? How many people could even explain what permaculture is?

Vicki Nowicki, a recent past president of the village’s Organic Gardeners Club, holds this obscure knowledge. She and her husband, Ron, own the property referred to.

Erin Seal of Downers Grove subscribes to the philosophy that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. It’s a concept she said she learned early on.

Downers Grove resident Sue Stealey, who is seven-eighths Welsh, is involved in North American Festival of Wales.

From Montreal and Indianapolis to Denver and Nashville, members of the Downers Grove-based West Towns Chorus have been ringing chords on stage in the Barbershop World’s International Competition these past few years.

Although the Fine Arts Festival — a September event hosted by the village of Downers Grove for many years — is a couple of months away, it is not too soon for planners to be hard at work coordinating it. Even more impressive is the community’s efforts to promote local offerings.