It has been quite a while since we last had some Cheers and Jeers in this column. Surprisingly, no one has mentioned that they missed seeing these lately, but no matter. Here is the latest bunch of Cheers and Jeers.

I have to start off with a great big Cheer to the United South Central girls softball team, and their remarkable season and incredible State Tournament Championship. In fact, they deserve three big Cheers for this accomplishment.

If you want to learn more about just how remarkable this accomplishment is, you can find out more by reading Kevin Mertens’ Snap Shots column this week.

We also want to give out a bunch of Cheers to the accomplishments of our area high school athletes, especially those that won at Section and advanced to State. That includes Blue Earth Area golfer Katelyn Storbeck, USC golfers Brennan Olson and Emma Heggen, and USC-Alden Conger track team members Brant Blosser and Jayden Barnick.

We also want to give a big Cheer to other students, including three BEA art students who went to State Competition, USC FFA students who did so well at State Competition, and the seven BEA Business Professionals of America students who did well at State and then went on to National Competition. We do have a lot of talented students in our local schools.

Some Cheers go out to John and Cindy Herman who were recognized for having hosted 14 USC exchange students over the years, and a Cheer to Roger Schoenfelder for receiving a much deserved BEA Teacher of the Year Award.

A Cheer goes out to the Blue Earth Wine Walk Committee for not only putting together a fun annual event, but because they donate the proceeds to a local worthy cause. This year they gave $6,000 to the Blue Earth Inclusive Playground Committee. Over the years the Wine Walk Committee has donated over $45,000 to local groups.

Cheers then should also go to the Inclusive Playground Committee itself, for their efforts to raise funds for this vegetable-themed playground that will be at the base of the Green Giant and will be able to be used by people of all abilities.

The biggest Jeer I have ever given out goes to the anonymous letter writer who thinks it is funny to send out nasty, disgusting and totally hurtful letters to various individuals in the community.

People, including me, are pretty fed up with this and we hope this will go away, or the person is found out and punished.

Jeers also go to the fact that both Elmore and Kiester had to close down their municipal liquor stores recently. But Cheers to those cities for finding someone to purchase the buildings and open up businesses in them.

Cheers go to the Blue Earth Kiwanis Club and First Bank Blue Earth, and to all the businesses and individuals who support their scholarship efforts. That resulted in more than $100,000 in scholarships again being awarded at the program.

Cheers to the city of Winnebago for their creating their new Hearts Art Program, which will help promote community spirit in the “small town with a big heart.” Cheers to the city of Blue Earth for their new decision to have a lot of memberships in the Community Swimming Pool be for free.

Cheers to the members of the Bass Lake Association who are continuing their efforts to clean up the water quality in their lake. They are making it a united effort.

A small Jeer goes out to the CADA House organization for shutting down their office in Blue Earth. While we do understand that loss of funding requires reorganization, we are disappointed to see it close, but happy to learn they will still provide this valuable service to Faribault County victims of domestic violence – and that deserves a Cheer.

A Cheer goes out to Randy Anderson for successfully finding some mammoth fossil bones that have been missing for about 100 years, and getting them returned to Faribault County where they were first found.

And, a great big Cheer goes out to Tim Murray and all the others who are involved with the creation of the Bravo Zulu House that is located outside of Winnebago.

The facility, which is opening soon, will be home to veterans who are suffering from PTSD and other afflictions.

It was a massive undertaking and we are happy to see it succeeding.

Finally, one last Cheer to you, our dedicated readers, for your continued support.

May you have lots to Cheer about in the future.