Jane Nees BOP Regional Councillor www.janenees.co.nz

To everyone in the western Bay of Plenty, I wish you all a wonderful Christmas, an enjoyable holiday season and a prosperous year in 2013.

Christmas is a great time to take stock of what is really important in life. If you go online, there are many versions of Christmas poems and greetings. This one, slightly modified, expresses my Christmas wishes for you better than I ever could.

My Christmas wish for you, my friends
Is not a simple one
For I wish you hope and joy and peace
And days filled with warmth and sun

I wish you love and friendship too
Throughout the coming year
Lots of laughter and happiness
To fill your world with cheer

May you count your blessings, one by one
And when you add them all
May you find all you've been given
To be more than you recalled

May your journeys be short, your burdens light
May your spirit never grow old
May all your clouds have silver linings
And your rainbows pots of gold

I wish this all and so much more
May all your dreams come true
May you have a Merry Christmas day
And a happy New Year, too.

Positively yours, Jane