Every year at Thanksgiving time there are plenty of reasons for Whidbey Island residents to be thankful. All you have to do is look at the pages of the local newspaper over the past 12 months, and the reasons are almost limitless. Here are 42, but there are plenty more if you give the subject some discussion time around the dinner table.

1. Whidbey Island Naval Air Station hosted many happy homecomings from Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

2. The Oak Harbor Wildcats won the state 4A football title in 2006 for the first time ever.

3. We survived 12 inches of snow Nov. 26, with wind and ice.

4. We survived a 70 mph windstorm that hit Friday, Dec. 15. No power Saturday either, even in downtown Oak Harbor.

5. We survived up to five inches of snow Jan. 10.

6. The number of kids sentenced to the new Juvenile Detention Center was lower than predicted.

7. Adding variety to life in Island County, we got a Democrat as a commissioner.

8. Police and sheriff’s deputies keep arresting criminals and protecting the public.

9. A $1 million Oak Harbor city budget hole disappeared, at least for a while.

10. The giant Garry oak on Fidalgo Avenue the city says can be pruned nearly to death hasn’t been pruned yet.

11. A new road through the Island County Fairgrounds will better prepare 4-H youth for the long jump.

12. The abandoned orange Copeland Lumber building was torn down to be replaced by a new mixed-use development.

13. Despite budget woes, we kept our elementary school art and P.E. teachers.

14. New Wildcat Memorial Stadium opened and the football team responded with its first undefeated regular season ever.

15. Most areas of Whidbey Island are still dark at night so we can enjoy the stars, planets and passing comets.

16. The P-8A Poseidons are coming to Whidbey Island.

17. Our wallets survived (barely) another session of the Washington State Legislature.

18. Coupeville’s “Frankencop” helped direct traffic on Highway 20 during a power outage, until the DOT killed it.

19. Authorities arrested an Oak Harbor mother who voted for her daughter, thereby protecting our sacred junk mail voting system.

20. Thanks to inflation, we save more money each year by not building the pier.

21. Holland Happening keeps on happening.

22. All polling places were closed, so we no longer have to meet our neighbors or eat those fattening cookies.

23. Several child molesters were sent away to prison.

24. Oak Harbor police made some progress in convincing local Internet users that they don’t really have any friends in Nigeria who want to give them money.

25. Snohomish County PUD may build a power turbine at Deception Pass. In response, Island County may try to harness Snohomish County cows for methane gas production.

26. Washington State Parks announced plans to cut down trees that block the view at Deception Pass, setting up the possibility of clearcutting the entire state so we can see the mountains better.

27. The Whidbey Camano Land Trust is still working to save Island County. Case in point: 52 acres at Hoypus Point purchased.

28. The Steel Electric ferries serving Keystone might leak, but they don’t sink, at least not yet.

29. Working magic, the assessor keeps property values going up while sale prices decrease.

30. The city was nice enough to give Scenic Heights residents a $2.4 million sewer project they wouldn’t pay for themselves.

31. Tourists finally got something neat to do on the water when Deception Pass Tours opened.

32. Coupeville’s new high school opened on time and on budget.

33. The Navy put an EA-18G Growler on display for the first time at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. It won’t be long until they’re here, guaranteeing the Navy will stay for years to come.

34. Lonely islanders will soon have a new visitor — the friendly septic system inspector.

35. Thanks to new signs, visitors can now find their way around Oak Harbor.

36. A mom and her daughter escaped a fire that destroyed a house at Dugualla Bay.

37. For those courageous enough to indulge, there’s nothing more refreshing than a dip in Puget Sound.

38. Whidbey Island sent three more graduating classes of bright, energetic young students into the real world.

39. Whidbey Island students continue to be generally above average on the WASL scores.

40. Thanks to Navy, city and civilian volunteers, a Prowler and Intruder now welcome visitors to Whidbey Island.

41. Local kids with cancer found help with the creation of the Believe Foundation. Check it out at www.thebelievefounda

tion.org.

42. Oak Harbor’s Old Fashioned Fourth continues to be one of the best in the region.

43. There are so many bald eagles on Whidbey Island and elsewhere that they were removed from the endangered species list.

44. Help House has been feeding the hungry on North Whidbey for 30 years.

45. Island Thrift has been helping Whidbey Island’s needy for 30 years.

46. A few were sickened but nobody was killed by e. coli in Island County over the past year.

47. Island County’s emergency services organizations are working together to be ready for a major disaster.

48. Thanks to a dedication to cleanliness, Whidbey General Hospital stays one step ahead of the superbug.

49. A lot of us don’t have to fight the traffic on the mainland.

50. Some nights on Whidbey Island are so quiet that you can’t even hear a car or an airplane, just coyotes and owls or waves crashing ashore.

51. Thanks to a tiny sales tax increase, the mentally ill in Island County have more help available to them.

52. Whidbey Island firefighters and EMTs are always there when we need them.

53. The Whidbey Island Marathon keeps growing.

54. People can still see orcas and gray whales from the bluffs of Whibey Island.