Imperial Valley press., 1935-11-28
Offering Thanks for Today's Blessings,
America Pays Homage to Men of Vision

without vision, life would be a sorry
sort of makeshift
In his visions, man coined the word.
tomorrow. 1t is vision that carried
him into the future with courage to face
the problems and difficulties of today.
and vision is the cornerstone upon which
civilization is built Every forward step
the world has ever taken was made be-
cause some man hoped, planned and
worked to transform his dreams into
reality.
When America gives thanks for the
things Americans have received, the ma
tion is Joined in Thanksgiving for fulfill
ment of visions. In the very Thanks
giving for those things brought to us in
the past is renewed vision for the things
that may be carved out of the future,
things that will come from our own ef-
forts and the efforts of our friends and
neighbors. There can be no Thanks
giving unless man at the same time looks
forward to greater accomplishment. for
there is no past when hope is gone and
no future when vision is lost
Today, replete in history of accom-
plishment and rich in promise for the
future, is no less a day of Thanksgiving
for the people of America as whole
than for the people of Imperial Valley.
Imperial Valley was among the first to
begin the upward climb of business now
general in the nation With the measure
of vision common to every man, we in
Imperial Valley can see greater, strong
er upward surge in the years Immediate
ly ahead, but for the things in which we
ejoice today credit is due to the finer
vision of that little band of men and
women who pictured on the desert early
in thp cprtlry tho 6rpap1 tbat hoe ho
come reality.
Surveying the arid stretch of valley
below sea level and tracing in his mind
the course of the Colorado river, man
visioned a great system of irrigation to
transform the desert. Boulder Dam and
the All American canal resulted. Even
before they were assured, a slender
thread of water traced across the face of
the desert, and an agricultural empire
came into being. Today Imperial Valley
pauses in its work to give thanks for
these things, and in so doing finds inspir-
alton for greater progress born of the
knowledge that what man can dream, he
can do.
Vision alone is not enough. There
must be perseverance. Dreams remain
nothing but dreams without the salt of
perspiration that goes into the creation
of any worthwhile project. The Imper-
ial Valley of today, dream at first, was
made into reality only through gruelling
labor. In its visions for the future, the
valley cannot forget that action is an
important ingredient of progress.
Even in taking stock of its own full
larder, the valley cannot forget either,
that its people today join with their fel-
lows in every part of the nation in
Thanksgiving. Just as Thanksgiving
Day is typical American holiday, all
Americans find common reason for off
ering thanks. Their reasons, too, are
intertwined with the visions which made
possible full development of the coun-
try's resources and which carried the ma
tion through financial despair to a firm
footing.
Two Americans imagined that man
could soar through the sky. Others in
other countries had dreamed the same
vision, but it was left for the Wright
brothers to put wings of wood and fabric
on the framework of their dream, and
send the first crude flying machine into
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