Message from the CEO | Giving Thanks and Honoring our Veterans

November has traditionally been the time of year our nation gives thanks.  President Lincoln officially declared the fourth Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving in 1863.  President Roosevelt temporarily moved the holiday to the third Thursday of November in 1939, (to add more holiday shopping days) but due to opposition, it was changed back to the fourth Thursday of November two years later.  

This year Thanksgiving will be celebrated unlike any we have celebrated before.  We will give thanks that the elections are behind us (almost).  We will break bread this week and give thanks for our health, our good fortune, and our industry but with immediate family units only.  The spiking COVID cases give new immediacy to delivering a vaccine that truly flattens the curve, and we will give thanks when our nation develops an immunity to this deadly virus.  It is under this unique specter of caution that I personally want to thank each of you for the sacrifices and dedication you have made for your families, companies, employees, and customers.  You managed to keep a major driving force in our national economy—the real estate industry—thriving.  As my small family unit gathers for Thanksgiving, my head will be bowed for a long time as I work through an extensive list.      

Another day of thanks in November that I hope you took the time to celebrate and honor was Veterans Day. This tradition started as “Armistice Day” on November 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I.  In 1938, November 11 became a legal holiday, and in 1954, President Eisenhower declared it as a day to honor American veterans of all wars creating Veterans Day.  I have honored my father in the past.  He served as a WWII P-38 pilot in the European theater.  The picture I’ve included is him gearing up for one of his 50 missions as he dons a “Mae West” life jacket.  If you need the historical reference, please contact me.  I also honor my brother-in-law, Lt. Colonel Paul Gosnell (deceased), a Vietnam F-4 fighter pilot; my nephew, Colonel Tim Gosnell (retired) an F-16 pilot who flew in the Gulf War; my niece, Captain Kelly Shea (retired); and her husband, Colonel Mike Shea (retired) who were also deployed throughout the Middle East, for their years of service defending our country. 

In 2020, I think it would be appropriate to also include the frontline workers—our nurses, doctors, paramedics, and EMTs (our health veterans) who have waged a “war” against the threats of COVID.  They are veterans of a new kind of war and deserve the same gratitude and honor we give veterans of all wars.   

Please be safe this Thanksgiving as you and your family share this special tradition.  We will get through the rest of this challenging year.  As you bow your heads, join me in a wish and a prayer that we will turn the corner in 2021 and move our country forward.  We will stop the spread of the virus, get our fellow Americans working, and take care of those who have been less fortunate this year.  As I stated last month, together we can make the new year—the best year. 

Thank you for all your support and trust in the FNTI team. 

Our company motto that we “…do business with those we know, like, and trust” still rings true.  It is a motto we live by.  We want you to know us, like us, and especially trust us.

Chris Phillips