Since Thursday is Thanksgiving, it only seems appropriate to take a few minutes to thank the many people, seen and unseen, who have been a part of the Create Huntington Chat 'n' Chews and made a difference in my life and in our community.

I'll start at the top. Mayor Wolfe, thank you for your willingness to accept the ideas and support of a bunch of grassroots volunteers.

To our hosts, Mark and Izzy Cross, and the staff of 21 at the Frederick, thank you for providing a great meeting place every week.

Richard Cobb, thank you for hatching the crazy idea that people would volunteer to pick up litter. Oh, and thank you to the 2,000 plus volunteers who are doing so.

A year ago, I had a vague and (as it turns out) incorrect notion of what community gardening was all about. To Jennifer and Casey Williams, Eve Marcum-Atkinson, and all of those who volunteer at the community gardens, thank you for your tireless efforts and your bold vision.

To Lynn Clercx and all of the artists involved in Gallery 842, thank you for seeing that vision through to reality and thank you for staying engaged.

Robin and Gene Howell, Will Holland, and all of the Huntington Area Revitalization Coalition volunteers who plant and maintain flower beds across town, thank you. Few people see the amount of time and money you put into the plantings -- but we certainly enjoy the results.

To those of you who read the article describing this area as the least healthy in the nation and decided to take action, thank you.

Last spring, Jessica Pressman, a person I've known for years, said that she'd like to raise some money so that she could donate trees to the community. Jess, thank you for starting Trees for Tomorrow. The 1,000 trees you're donating to the community will make this a very cool (both literally and figuratively) place to live.

I'm grateful that Evan Swedelson, a producer on the Jamie Oliver Project who stopped by several Chat 'n' Chews this summer to learn about Huntington, and thankful that those in attendance encouraged him to start the Food Revolution here.

To the great group of people who turned out last week to pick up the ball on recycling, to the Storytellers Group, and to the folks who are trying to stimulate the downtown retail economy -- WOW -- thank you.

Byron Clercx, thank you for persistently urging Create West Virginia to consider Huntington as the site for their 2009 conference. To Julie Hewett and all of those who volunteered to make the conference a success -- thank you.

To the musicians, artists, writers, lawyers, students, professors, architects, archeologists, retirees and everyone else who comes out every Thursday to be part of this experiment in community building -- thank you for engaging us, challenging us and making this a most amazing community.

Finally, I'm thankful that I live in a community where it is possible for regular people to make a difference; and I'm thankful that there's an army of people who have a vision for a better community, and who are willing to work hard to bring their vision to reality.

There won't be a Chat 'n Chew tomorrow night, of course. Everyone is invited to join us next Thursday for the weekly Chat 'n Chew, held 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the lobby of the Frederick Building. Happy Thanksgiving.

Thomas McChesney is a Huntington resident.

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