The letters inbox is an interesting place. Beside rolling expressions of vile and vitriol are heartfelt messages of appreciation and admiration.

For the past 12 or 18 months, I’ve seized on those thankful letters that sit brightly outside the news cycle, collecting them like a magpie. Should an opinion page regularly include community thank-you notes? With my journalistic hat on, I find myself leaning “no.”

Cast off the hat, and I wish the section could be peppered daily with the gratitude that letter writers wish to be sung from the rafters.

In that spirit, here’s a compilation of some of the most encouraging and cheering from 2024 and 2025. Happy Thanksgiving and, crucially, thank you. — Siobhán Brett, opinion editor

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Everybody needs good neighbors

This past August, we were headed to Maine Medical Center at 5:30 a.m. for an operation when my car suddenly died in Windham. I tried to get a taxi but had no luck. I called AAA — not available. I then called my neighbor, Keith Deschambeault, at 5:30 a.m.

Suddenly, what to my wondering eyes should appear but Keith — like a knight in a big white chariot. He proceeded to jump start my car. I thanked him but he said, “No. I will follow you to the hospital.”

My car stalled out three more times along the way but Keith kept getting out in traffic to jump it. We were near the hospital when the battery finally died. He put us in his truck and took us to hospital. Thank God.

But that was not the end of this man’s help. Keith went out and bought me a new battery and put it in my car. Then he called my wife and delivered the car to the hospital. Are you kidding me? Unbelievable. Our thanks go out to Keith.

This was an early Christmas gift — actually, more like a miracle!

David O’Connor
Casco

Thanks for the lift, Portland

Thank you, good people of Portland and the region! As a visitor from the Hanover, New Hampshire, area, I was visiting a dear friend in Portland and we attended the No Kings rally at Deering Oaks Park on Oct. 18.  My co-attendee had a recent knee replacement procedure and was in a portable wheelchair, which I pushed.

Despite the huge enthusiastic throngs, people were unfailingly gracious, generous and accommodating. Everywhere we went at the park, attendees parted ways, smilingly waved us through and couldn’t have been more kind.

The park grounds were rough rolling for us, with uneven terrain, yet on a number of occasions — each time we were slowed by rocks, ruts or fallen branches — multiple (!) rally-goers sprung forward to help push or lift the chair with friendly goodwill. We were also buoyed by the energy of shared outrage in the context of loving community. Thank you again.

Bruce Levine
West Lebanon, N.H.

Stranger’s kindness saved my bike ride from disaster

I write to thank an anonymous stranger who helped me today. I was riding my e-bike toward the Two Penny Bridge when I lost control and fell into some rocks on the left. I was lying rather helplessly on my back when within seconds a young man came to my aid.

He righted my bike and lifted me out of the ditch. There was no serious injury, and I was able to proceed on my way home. Thank you, my friend.

David Austin
Winslow

Superstar service is Evergreen

I am sitting at Evergreen Subaru in Auburn, getting new tires for a family vehicle. We recently decided to get a small truck and bought it from another dealer, another company. We were just at the point we knew we needed new tires for the truck, then were motivated; my wife had a flat tire. Calling the other dealer, it was hard to get through.

Once I did, I was offered an appointment 22 days in the future. I called Evergreen Subaru and got an appointment for the next day. I recently had the same experience with an oil change.

I do not write to criticize the other companies but to suggest what a great business Evergreen Subaru of Auburn is. When I walk in, they know me and they know my vehicles. That really is all I ask and they nail it each time.

Mike McClellan
Raymond

Thankful for firefighters who answer the call

One Saturday night, I woke to sirens. Seeing what I assumed was the reflection of a fire truck’s flashing lights, I went to the window and my heart skipped a beat. On a street somewhere farther down Munjoy Hill, flames were shooting high above the tightly packed buildings that stood between my house and a burning structure.

As flames leapt and sparks shot skyward, carried by a brisk wind, I thought of the drought and wondered if anyone or anything would be able to stop the flames.

Yet, as I stood frozen with fear, the bright light of the flames ever so slowly diminished and finally turned to black smoke lit by the red lights of fire trucks. In that moment, I realized how lucky all of us in the city of Portland are to have a team of firemen ready and willing to risk their own lives to keep us safe. They are heroes.

I am so grateful to each member of the team working that night and thank them for their service. They go beyond the call of duty.

Anita Stewart
Portland

Grateful for doctor’s dedication

I am writing to express my sincere gratitude for the exceptional care offered by Dr. Matthew Hearst during my recent surgery. I am so grateful for his expertise and the positive impact it has had on my life. I am also truly grateful for his dedication and compassion.

Samira Al-Baldawi
Gray

The beauty of summer in the city of Portland 

This summer, as I’ve enjoyed free public music in Portland parks, eating outdoors on the sidewalks and enjoying all that summer in Portland has to offer, I’ve noticed all the wonderful resources, infrastructure and maintenance that makes this city special. I want to take a moment to thank all the people and organizations who contribute to the resources of our city.

I thank them for beautiful public parks, safe playgrounds, basketball courts, volleyball courts and tennis courts. I thank them for public bathrooms, free clean water fountains, a splash pad to cool down and healthy trees that provide shade. I thank them  for clean sidewalks and trash cans that get emptied regularly. I thank them for public art on lighthouses, utility boxes and bus stops, as well as for benches for resting and chatting with friends.

I thank them for a trail system that is kept clear and walkable, and for bike paths connecting the city and for access to libraries and public pools. All these resources and infrastructures make our city beautiful and livable. These resources are not a given in a city and should not be taken for granted. I’m grateful for all the organizations and thousands of people who work to make this possible and take care of our city.

Anna Weiss
Portland

Recognizing exceptional patient care

A shout-out to the pediatric floor (Barbara Bush) of Maine Medical Center for their superlative, multi-modal, comprehensive and compassionate approach to patient care.

That ranges from the patient, thoughtful, unflappable, well-humored and creative assistants and nurses to the phenomenal members of music, physical and occupational therapy to the determined and resourceful discharge planners and social workers.

It also includes the ever-energetic and whimsically entertaining nondenominational chaplain, the kind volunteers, flexible housekeepers and other ancillary services, not to mention the cadre of medical professionals, all responsive, cohesive, gracious and talented.

Here’s to all of you, with eternal gratitude.

Mia Marietta
Gorham

Fire department helped me out of a jam

I would like to send out a hearty thanks to the Topsham Fire Department for extracting me from an elevator at Extra Space Storage in Topsham. The elevator was stuck between floors and none of the buttons inside the elevator worked.

I placed a call by way of the internal phone, which did not work well. Finally, the person on the other end managed to get through to the fire department and they arrived after a short delay.

They had to figure out how to release the doors, which took some time. The whole thing lasted perhaps two hours.

Bart Chapin
Arrowsic

Community collaboration at its very best

At a time when everyone has an ax to grind about government and red tape, I’d like to give a real shout-out to the City of Portland Permitting and Inspections Department. We have worked closely with these great people over the past year to keep a historic family cottage from falling into Casco Bay.

Despite being swamped with countless other winter storm damage cases, they treated our multiple project applications with the deepest of care and urgency — Ann Machado and Duane Cote in particular. At every turn, they were responsive, reasonable and supportive.

We are neither rich people nor a corporation from away throwing our weight around. We are just the fortunate caretakers of an island cottage that has been in the family since the early 1960s. This truly felt like the best of local community collaboration and problem-solving, never like we were “fighting City Hall.”

Scott Allmendinger
South Portland and Peaks Island

Paper offers a welcome break from the chaos

After reading my May 23 edition of the Portland Press Herald, I felt I must respond to it.

With all of the chaos and negativity going on in the world, it took me out of it for a bit. It had to do with the letters to the editor and, on the facing page, the loving obituary to local hound Winston Norris-Fillmore, “Pug Chop,” who died at 16-and-a-half years of age. It all had to do with positivity and love, which is in short supply these days.

Thanks to all of those involved.

Phyllis Wolstenhulme
Windham

A bright spot on a gloomy day in Brunswick

A friend and I left a coffee shop on Maine Street in Brunswick to find a young woman bundled in scarves, a buttoned-up winter coat and gloves, sitting at a small table with a typewriter on it. A sign introduced her as Stevie, a street poet, that she would write a poem for you at whatever price you thought was appropriate.

My friend engaged her and gave her $5 to write about my nascent venture, Mainely Moss Gardens, or anything about mosses. I showed Stevie pictures of my gardens and talked with her about her “work.” I discovered she loves street performers, “buskers,” and since she doesn’t sing or dance but does have a typewriter and loves writing, she decided that’s what she would do.

What a wonderful encounter on a cold, gray day! Her poem, emailed to me a short time later, captures what I hope to bring to people with my moss gardens. I wish her well in these turbulent times and thank her for making my day brighter and more hopeful.

Prentiss Tubby
Brunswick