Salute

Thumbs-up to all of the men and women of this country who have made the sacrifices to keep us all free. There were plenty of services on Veterans Day and the days surrounding it to recognize those who made the sacrifices, but thanking our country’s veterans should be something that’s done every day.Warm hearts and toesThumbs-up to everyone who participated in the project to provide new shoes and socks for students who need them. Over the past four years, more than 400 pairs of shoes and socks have found their way to local children through the Warm Hearts Warm Toes project. The project was started in 2012 by Becca Hattabaugh with the help of her mother, Becky Wilson, and daughter, Brooke Hattabaugh, and Maureen Pesta. The Jackson County chapter of St. Vincent de Paul Society also helps out.

Sweet success

Thumbs-up to Immanuel Lutheran School sixth-graders Conner Sims, Kailene Cockerham, Shelby Self and Audrey Wiggam and history teacher Charles Smith for recently selling cotton candy at the Seymour school to raise money for cancer research. The students are members of Immanuel Cancer Fighters, a four-year-old Relay for Life team for students in Grades 6 through 8 that raises money for the American Cancer Society.InnovationThumbs-up to educators who continue to search for ways to use new technology to take learning to a different level and make it fun at the same time. It might not be Dick and Jane, but some of the new technology allows children to feel like they are a part of the stories they are reading.

Zoned

Thumbs-up to everyone involved in the process of implementing zoning in Brownstown for the first time in the town’s 200-year history. They include present council members John Nolting, Bill Sweeney, C.J. Foster, Bethany Brewster and Sally Cate Lawson along with former councilmen Ben Lewis and Dustin Steward. It took nearly four years to put together a usable ordinance that will serve the town for years to come, and that work was accomplished with some money and a lot of work by the members of the council.MuffledThumbs-down to motorists who drive without mufflers at all hours of the day and night and those who don’t know how to use their turn signals as required by law.