Cookie grandma

Thumbs-up to Joanne Sunbury for her support of the Seymour High School cross-country teams. The 81-year-old earned the nickname “The Owls Power Cookie Grandma” by baking Owl-shaped, purple-frosted cookies for both the boys and the girls teams’ postseason meets. She traces the tradition to the early 1980s when one of her daughters was on a volleyball team and her son was on the high school cross-country team.

Forging a friendship

Thumbs-up to Seymour High School senior Michael Davisson and junior Leighanna Foster for forging a special friendship with fellow student John Spray, a special needs student with Down syndrome. Spray doesn’t communicate much verbally, but he didn’t need words to express an interest in skateboarding and his desire to be friends with Davisson and Foster. The two not only befriended Spray but are trying to teach him how to skateboard. They also were able to obtain a skateboard for him with the help of Matt Nicholson of B2 Bikes and Boards in Seymour and Pete Burgmeier with Advanced Fiber Technology. Foster also used her own money to purchase Vans for Spray.

Brick by brick

Thumbs-up to the group of people behind the Save the Medora Brick Plant effort. The brick plant provided about 50 jobs for the small southwestern Jackson County community for nearly 90 years and is a landmark in need of a little TLC — and funding.

Feeding the pantry

Thumbs-up to the student council members at Brownstown Central High School for collecting more than 1,200 items to donate to Anchor House Family Assistance Center and Pantry. The items were collected during the council’s annual trick-or-treating for Anchor House, a project that is more than 10 years old.

A love of the game

Thumbs-up to Kocolene Development Corp. for providing funds to purchase equipment and provide curriculum to teach golf to elementary school students in Seymour through The First Tee of Indiana program. The donation was made to honor the company’s former president, Gary Myers, who retired Sept. 3 after 40-plus years of service. Myers said golf has been a major influence in his life.

Showing compassion

Thumps-up to Ben Cramer, a reserve officer with the Brownstown Police Department. Around 1 a.m. Oct. 29, he was on patrol when he encountered a man and his dog sleeping in a tent on the side of the highway. After speaking with the man, Cramer learned the man and his dog were walking from California to Maine. Cramer transported them to the Jackson-Washington State Forest and paid for a campsite for the two for the night.