I think it is time once again for some of those Cheers and Jeers. I mean, after all, it has been quite a while since we have handed out these accolades to those who deserve them, and some admonishments to those who deserve those, as well.

And, for the first time, some of our Cheers come with an accompanying Jeer.

For instance, a Cheer goes out to the Blue Earth City Council for stepping aside from its involvement with those Three Sisters downtown buildings. Now it is all up to the owners, the Project 3 Sisters group, to get this rehab work done. The Jeer comes because the council seems to have not followed the recommendations of its Economic Development Authority. Those two entities need to work together, in our opinion.

Likewise the Winnebago City Council gets a Cheer and a Jeer. The Cheer goes out because the council realizes they need to make a significant hike in the property tax in order to keep the city operating and making progress. The Jeer is that any increase in the 25 percent to 30 percent – or even higher – rate is extreme. Hopefully the council can work that number down to under 20 percent, which it appears they will.

The Wells City Council also gets one of these Cheer and Jeer notations. The council gets a Cheer because it was finally able to pass a resolution for a conditional use permit to allow Jake’s Pizza to expand a building at a new location. The Jeer is that they nearly had to stifle the town’s only restaurant, which had suffered losing their former building, because of city regulations.

These double Cheers and Jeers just go to show that it is never easy being a small town city council person. So, one more Cheer for those who are willing to serve on a council. It is not always an easy job.

A Jeer goes out to a recent census report which shows a significant loss of population in Faribault County. Of course, we all pretty much knew this was coming, but it is still hard to accept. On the plus side, Wells did show an increase and both Wells and Blue Earth are making some investment in new housing.

A Cheer goes out to Marissa Benz, the Blue Earth Area girls tennis player who made her way to the State Tennis Tournament this past week. No matter how she does at State, Marissa deserves a big congratulations for getting to the Big Dance. She had to battle her way to State – and that certainly deserves a big Cheer.

A Jeer goes out to whoever it is who is stealing mail from Faribault County residents’ mail boxes. Just when you think that is one thing that would never happen in our area, it has become a big issue. I suppose next we will have to get locks for our mail boxes.

It goes to show that crime is not nonexistent in our rural area.

A Cheer goes out to the Blue Earth Area Mentors, and the Blue Earth Area Schools Foundation. Both are putting on fundraisers which are also fun community events. I hope everyone supports these efforts and attends the Tour of Tables and new Maroon and Gold Gala.

A Cheer to the Blue Earth City Council for their willingness to invest in recreational facilities in the city. Specifically this Cheer is for their recent new playground equipment at Third Ward Park and the proposed new tennis courts, which are still a work in progress. Again, these types of things are what can help attract folks to come and live here.

A Cheer to Jim Wehsener, the 91-year old, 1949 Blue Earth quarterback, who traveled from San Diego, California, to Blue Earth to watch the BEA versus Fairmont football game – and stayed through the hour plus rain delay to watch the Buccaneer victory.

Not only was he probably the person who traveled the farthest to see the game, he might have been the oldest person there. And, maybe the happiest, as he watched the Bucs avenge Blue Earth’s loss to Fairmont in 1949.

That, my friends, is a true fan, and is something to Cheer about.

We will end with another double Cheer and Jeer. This one goes to the infamous COVID-19 pandemic, something we have Jeered in the past.

The Cheer is for the fact that we have returned to a fairly normal life. Just looking at the pages of the Faribault County Register these last couple of months, it is nice to see photos of people smiling with no masks on. And, to see photos of all the events and activities we went without last year. The Jeer, of course, is that we still have plenty of COVID cases, and deaths, in our county, area, state and country, and that it might never go away.

One final Cheer, to all of you, our readers, advertisers and supporters. Thanks for reading us.