In this last issue of 2022, which our media kit called “highlights of the hidden,” we have given a glimpse into a few organizations and people in our area who have done amazing things and yet, in many ways, their accomplishments remain relatively unknown. Christmas seems to be the perfect season to tell these stories.
I know it might be hard for us to believe in this day and age, but Christmas was not always the celebrated holiday that it is today. In a 2017 movie called “The Man Who Invented Christmas” Charles Dickens, author of many timeless novels, is the “Man” referred to in the title of the movie. (As a side note, it’s a great film especially if you love Dickens’ classic book, “A Christmas Carol.”)
The movie, like his book, deals with a theme of forgiveness and redemption. Apparently in 1843 England, Christmas was what one of the actors in the film called “a minor holiday.”
As Dickens, who is close to bankruptcy during this time, grasps for inspiration for his next book, his characters come to life, guiding him through. But it’s his own life experiences that ultimately lead him to the fifth stave of one of the most enduring bestsellers of all time. Dickens learns and teaches the message of Christmas through Scrooge’s changed life. After the first day of “A Christmas Carol’s” release, charitable giving in London doubled overnight, and the world was forever changed in how Christmas was celebrated.
These great organizations and people mentioned in this issue exemplify the value of people. Although much of what they have done has been behind the scenes, their work is still ongoing and continues to be on display in changed lives.
Isn’t that what we all want for Christmas? To make a difference? To help someone realize they are worth it?
I leave you with the final few lines of “A Christmas Carol” as the author summarizes Scrooge’s changed heart… and hopefully our own, “… He knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us, everyone!”
God bless you and yours,
Marty
Join us Sept. 29 for our third Power Breakfast of 2026 as business leaders share how they leverage decades of institutional wisdom. The Greater Fayetteville Business Journal invites you to join us for our third quarterly Power Breakfast, The Fam
Skyeton leadership have decided to look locally for a general contractor to head up major renovations for the 28,479-square-foot building they’ve selected as their new home. Fayetteville-based Critical Path Solutions LLC has been chosen as the primary contractor for bringing new life to the previous Black+Decker plant site.
From left to right: US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright with Antares Co-founder and CEO Jordan Bramble. Photos courtesy of Antares Nuclear, Inc. Antares Nuclear, Inc. recently announced that it has been awarded an Other Transactions Authority ag
