It has been a long time.

In fact, I was a little bit shocked when I looked back and saw just how long it has been. It has been such a long time that I wonder how that could possibly have happened.

In case you are not sure what I am referring to, it is that it has been a long time since I last did those infamous Cheers and Jeers in this column space. In fact, if my records are correct, it has been since the middle of June. And now, believe it or not, it is going to be October next week.

Where does the time go? It used to go by rather slowly, then it sped up. Now it seems to go by at the speed of light.

So, I am going to hit a few of the things that happened over the summer and early fall that were worth Cheering – or Jeering – about.

First off, a big Cheer to our local schools in Faribault County for their reports of very smooth starts to the school year, having full staffs, and also that enrollments are up at both United South Central and Blue Earth Area.

Another Cheer goes out to the fact that those two schools both approved a new cooperative agreement that will give a boost to the sport of gymnastics. Cooperating together is usually a good thing. We will give out one more Cheer to the fact that both schools are hosting exchange students again this year. That is another good thing to be doing, for several reasons.

A Jeer goes out to Mayo for suddenly closing their clinic in Wells. However, a Cheer also goes out to United Hospital District for their ability to have a clinic in Wells to serve that community.

A Cheer goes out to the fact that since June, we have been able to do six stories about new businesses, or new owners at businesses in the county. And, we have a list of about six more new businesses that we are going to do stories about in the coming weeks.

That is definitely a good sign for the local business community.

It is not all good news, of course. We have to note a Jeer to the sudden news that Healey Homes suddenly shut down operations in Blue Earth. They provided homes and services to many people with disabilities, as well as employing a large number of local folks.

It was a blow to the community, for sure.

We need to give out a Cheer to the Relay for Life committee and the fact that they again had a successful event to support cancer research. It is such a worthy cause and the committee does a great job of putting on the event each year at the fairgrounds.

We also give an annual Cheer to all those folks who put on summer celebrations in all of the towns in Faribault County. If you are not involved, you may not realize just how much effort goes into putting on such an event.

While we do not send out a Jeer to the members of the Blue Earth Lions Club, we do have a Jeer to the fact that it became necessary for them to dissolve the club itself. They did a lot of good things for the community, and we hope others will step up and help fill that void.

A big Cheer goes out to all those who were honored with awards at the Faribault County Fair this past summer. That includes the Centennial and Sesquicentennial Farms, Cindy Lyon as Farm Person of the Year, the Sahr family as the Farm Family of the Year, Glenn Gaylord for his support of the Faribault County Historical Society, and others. A special Cheer to Dominick and Nathan Casias for receiving the Lifesaver Award from the Sheriff’s Department for their helping save their mother’s life.

A Cheer to all those who have donated towards the Inclusive Playground project being planned for Giant Park. We have had several photos of donations being made to the committee over the past few months, which is good. But they need a lot more support.

A special Cheer to the community of Delavan, who years ago took in an immigrant family and now years later received a thank you plaque from the Sam Hernandez family.

We’d like to think that kind of community welcoming spirit still exists.

A Cheer goes out to Blue Earth Light and Water and their new $19.5 million water treatment plant. It will improve the water for the community, and they are having the majority of it funded through a grant.

A Jeer goes to Mother Nature (not sure who else deserves it) for the collapse of the road to the Riverside Town and Country Golf Course, for the second time. We hope a solution to this issue can be found.

And one last Cheer. It goes out to the Minnesota Vikings. They went from one of their worst games in recent memory, to last week having one of their best performances in some time.

I think I can take some of the credit for that. Last week I wrote about their pathetic game against the Atlanta Falcons. I blamed part of it on the fact that they were on national TV, and part of it on injuries, but I was pretty mean to them.

I think someone in the Vikings organization reads the Faribault County Register and cut out that column and posted it on the bulletin board in the Vikings locker room with a note that said, “Let’s show this (blankety-blank) editor how wrong he is.”

OK, maybe that did not really happen.

Still, since I basically gave them a great big Jeer last week, here is a Cheer this week.

Now let’s see what they can do in Dublin this Sunday, and in London the next. Both games are on national TV, again.

Not good…