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Thumbs up to the Boy Scout fundraising efforts. Recently, the Twin Valley Council of Boy Scouts of America, which includes Scouts in Austin, Lyle, LeRoy and Adams, held its annual Scouting for Food campaign, gathering and raising over 44,000 pounds of food for local food pantries. In a day and age when food insecurity has become a main topic for discussion, this effort is worthy of being lauded.

Thumbs up to good mental health. The visit to Sumner Elementary on Wednesday by Miss St. Croix Valley Natalie Demos highlighted to third graders the importance of recognizing your feelings and good mental health. These kinds of visits make a difference and that was punctuated by the looks on the faces of the kids themselves when Demos, complete with her crown, walked into the room.

Thumbs up to safety. It’s sad to know there is a place in this world for a children’s activity book that helps them identify  landmines in a warzone, but we’re glad that there are people like Michael Varhola who are out there doing that very thing. “Warning, Danger!” will be delivered to children in war-affected Ukraine and will help them identify the dangers of landmines. We hope this makes a difference in keeping children safe in a difficult and unfortunate situation.

Thumbs down to continued drought. A news release issued earlier this week indicated that the drought conditions the state is currently experiencing will likely continue into 2024 in some fashion or another. With the entire state under some kind of drought, we will require precipitation to get out of our current conditions. Let’s hope we get that.