I was pretty excited to hear about the compromise agreed upon by the Fountain Hills Youth Theater and the Community Garden team.

We always tell the next generation that sharing is important but, as adults, it can be hard to live by those words. If someone is offering you a hefty chunk of change, for instance, how willing would most of us be to split it with someone else?

But that’s exactly what the local Theater and Community Garden decided to do when it came to a rather impressive $10,000 grant from the Republic Rewards program.

Reporter Bob Burns gave us the scoop last week in his update from a recent Town Council meeting, where it was revealed that, upon winning this year’s grant, the Youth Theater and Community Garden had already agreed to split the reward.

Executive Director of Fountain Hills Theater, Suzu Henderson, reiterated that fact in a letter to the editor in this very issue, saying that the race to name a winner in the grant reward program went neck-and-neck right up until the end.

According to Henderson, the agreement to split the grant was made “so that the generosity of Republic Services and the true spirit of the award could have greater impact for all residents of Fountain Hills.”

How’s that for the spirit of giving, generosity and cooperation?

The Fountain Hills Theater has been providing an artistic outlet and a source of entertainment for the community for many years, whereas the Community Garden is just getting off the ground. Both entities could certainly use the extra cash, but this arrangement shows that they both see the value in the other.

That’s a fantastic example to set.

*****

Speaking of the community garden, that project is really moving ahead at this point.

The site has been leveled, water trenches have been dug and, this weekend, volunteers were busy weather-proofing some of the initial beds while Huds Flooring (offering another example of neighbors helping neighbors) built the things.

I love when a project reaches this point, because seeing the physical pieces coming together really drives home the fact that, yep, it’s really happening.

Get ready to get your hands dirty, folks. Everything is coming along nicely.

*****

While out and about this weekend, I also happened to drop by the annual Breakfast with Santa event at the Community Center.

That, coupled with the other festive events spread across the day, sure has become a fantastic way to ring in the holidays.

I was having trouble getting in the spirit of the season this year, but a room full of red and green sweaters, carols being sung and super excited kids hopped up on pancakes and a visit from the big guy in the red suit certainly helped move me in the right direction.