I was a David Cassidy fan. I liked his voice and his looks, and I can still hear him singing, “Wah think I love you.” And then there was the theme song that started each episode of “The Partridge Family” with the simple but artfully drawn bird family. If I could right now, I would have that theme, “Come on get happy,” playing out in the open over Wiscasset.

People are serious about their support of, concerns over and opposition to the state’s downtown project and the new court case over parts of it. In the past week, some have even stood in the cold in protest along Route 1. The project and the state’s and town’s handling of it have broad import that warrants the high interest. As our neighbors on the Boothbay peninsula experienced over the roundabout, changes to a main artery yield debate and they should, to reach the best result. Keep talking and listening to one another.

In the meantime, no matter where you fall on the project – whether it will make everyone’s summer drive better and make more people want to stop here, or if the loss of on-street parking and the Haggett building don’t wash with you — accept that by speaking your mind you are doing what you can, and day by day, don't lose your happy, Wiscasset. It’s Christmastime. Celebrate merchants coming together for Marketfest, enjoy the town’s holiday lights and property owners’ yard displays, and attend any of First Congregational Church’s Advent activities, all open to the public.

People from Bristol and Belgium joined in when Wiscasset lit its tree last weekend. Any time you get that many people in town smiling and singing, and having cocoa in a church together afterward, is cause to be happy.