Plenty of Reasons to Give Thanks

It’s difficult to think of much else these days in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Watching the ongoing horrors unfold on the news, I can’t think of much beyond how lucky we all are, including us here at the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC).
We often tell visitors about the remarkable life of the Physick house, built in 1879, the amazing story of its restoration to its former glory, and – considering its age – what great condition it’s in today. Imagine how heartbreaking it would be to lose such a treasure to a natural disaster like Sandy. Or any of the beautiful Victorian hotels and B&B inns in town.
Any of that pales in comparison to the personal, immediate loss of your home, as so many of the residents of shore communities to the north did, but it was a reminder, as I drove in to work late last week, how doubly lucky I was to still have a home and a place to go to work. Homes can be rebuilt and life can and will move forward, but you cannot replace the historic nature that is the heart and soul of Cape May.
Here at MAC, I think we breathed a sigh of relief at the end of summer that no such natural disaster visited our town, as Irene did last year just before Labor Day. We moved ahead with Halloween and are on the brink of holiday activities, and didn’t expect this so late in the season.
We’re right around the corner now from Holiday Preview Weekend, Nov. 16-19, when we host our annual Saturday night tree-lighting and free open house tours of the beautifully decorated Physick Estate for the community. We are planning to have our giant Christmas tree as the focus of the Carriage House Gallery exhibit again this year, only this time a veritable fantasyland of trains for the young and young-at-heart. It’s a great evening to enjoy with family, friends and neighbors, and it’s all free.
I think all of us working on these preparations will be doing so with thoughts of those who bore the brunt of Hurricane Sandy, and hoping that what we’re doing helps to bring feelings of normalcy to those who come to visit. We had some visitors for our Sherlock Holmes Weekend, the first weekend after the storm, who came from stricken areas for a brief respite from the stress and turmoil left in Sandy’s wake, and we sincerely hope that their time here helped them in some small way return to the enormous challenges that face them.
I hope you will join us on Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. as we mark the beginning of the holiday season with hope and gratitude.
Barraclough is director of marketing and communications at Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC)