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When my kids were younger, one of their favorite holiday videos was “Elmo Saves Christmas.”

In the 1996 movie, which should have been in serious consideration for an Oscar for Best Picture, Elmo wonders why it can’t be Christmas every day. He makes a wish and voilà — Christmas comes every day of the year.

At first everything is great, then things quickly begin to go wrong. The enthusiastic carolers got sore throats and couldn’t sing, Santa got a bit cranky, the Easter Bunny felt greatly impugned upon, and the elves started making sub-standard toys.

Elmo learned that he couldn’t have Christmas every day but could keep the spirit of Christmas alive every day in his heart.

In this edition of Farmville The Magazine, we looked for those in our community who have learned that lesson already and have demonstrated the spirit of giving all through the year. There are people in our community who contribute their time, energy and talents all year round no matter what the season.

We tried to highlight a few of these people. I’m sure we missed many, but Farmville has many more kind people who regularly give of themselves than any single magazine issue can hold. Inside you will find stories about Steve and Mary Smelcer, who help with fundraisers for the SPCA, Sarah Dunn, who regularly advocates for veterans, and Ann Simpson, who set up a clothing closet in her church to help victims of domestic abuse.

While we celebrate Christmas once a year, it is those who keep the spirit of giving the entire year who make our community a special place.

Also in this edition, Marge Swayne takes a look at the Christmas tree business with John Young’s J & J Treeland in Prospect. It has certainly been a busy holiday season for them.

Jim Jordan takes us back in time to revisit Farmville’s Great Blizzard of 1940, and Michelle Hertzler shows us how she makes a scrumptious Flourless Pumpkin Cake.

Thank you for reading this edition. From all of us here at Farmville the Magazine, we hope you have a safe and joyous holiday season.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Roger Watson is editor of Farmville the Magazine.

His email address is Roger.Watson@FarmvilletheMag.com.