Well, we are getting pretty far into the year 2026, and we have yet to have a round of everyone’s favorite column, Cheers and Jeers, in 2026. Of course, the last one was in the Dec. 26, 2025 issue of the Register, so it has only been two months.

But, as I looked back, there is a whole lot to Cheer about in these first two months of 2026.

So let’s get right to it.

The Blue Earth Chamber of Commerce announced and saluted Gary Armon as last year’s Community Service Award honoree, Welcome Stitchery as Business of the Year and Ryno Repair as the Rising Star awardee. Cheers to all three.

As is true in most cases for the Community Service Award recipients, Gary Armon thought he did not deserve it, that others did more for the community, when the facts show that he, like others before him, do a long list of things for the community where they live.

Blue Earth Area High School and United South Central High School both announced their Triple A Award recipients (Academics, Arts and Athletics).

At BEA it was Jessica Moore and Devin Haase, and at USC it was Jaelyn Stangler and Kolt Bullerman.

All four of these students deserve great big Cheers. I hope you had a chance to read the stories about these students who are very, very active at their schools – and out in their communities as well.

With sometimes negative news about our schools being written, it is great to see that there are kids who are excelling at school. And that reflects on teachers, coaches, administration and staff.

Cheers to all of them.

There are more things to Cheer about at our schools.

A Cheer goes out to the FFA Clubs at both BEA and USC, since this is FFA Week. We have two very strong FFA organizations locally. And a Cheer to the BEA BPA Club (Business Professionals of America), who once again are having a very good and productive year.

In fact there seems to be several new and old clubs at the schools, that help out with giving students a full opportunity to grow and explore.

In sports, we need to send out a rousing Cheer from the bleachers for the new BEA-USC co-op gymnastics team that has had a great season, winning the Gold Division of the conference and sending two members to the State Gymnastics Meet. Special Cheers to Mariah Anderson and Parker Stallman.

Two Blue Earth Area wrestlers and one from Maple River/United South Central made it to the State Wrestling Tournament. So a big Cheer to Chase Gambell and Timmy Nagel of the Buccaneers and Noah Gonzalez of the Longhorns.

And we need to add another Cheer to BEA student Ava Peterson who has not once, but twice, been selected to the All-State Choir. You can read all about her accomplishments in a story on page two of this week’s issue of the Register.

We need to give a Cheer to three BE firemen who recently retired – Steve Browm, Jeff Nowak and Kim Meyer – who between them had 80 years of service. In fact, all volunteer firemen deserve a big Cheer from all of us.

How about another big Cheer to Mike and Tami Hoffman, who recently made a $1.5 million donation to United Hospital District in Blue Earth. That gift will help keep our already great hospital and clinic on a level that is an unbelievably big asset for a small town. So both a Cheer and a giant thank you to the Hoffmans.

A Cheer to Dikken’s Decorating for having been in downtown Blue Earth for 50 years. Congratulations and a thank you go out to them.

Another Cheer to The Clothes Closet in Wells. They were just selected as the Volunteer of the Year Award by the Wells Chamber of Commerce, for all they do for the community.

One last Cheer goes out to the Faribault County Register and its staff for once again receiving five awards at the Minnesota Newspaper Association annual convention and Better Newspaper Contest.

I know, I know. It is sort of like patting one’s self on their own back. But still, the FCR dedicated staff deserves a Cheer for what they do.

And while we are at it, we need to give out a Cheer to all of you, our readers, subscribers and advertisers. You are what makes our hard work all worth it.

You have probably noted that there were no Jeers in this column. Most of the things that need to have a Jeer or two tossed their way have to do with all the things going on at the state and national level. So how about one big Jeer for factions and groups blaming each other for all the bad things going on in this world and not working together to solve those problems and issues.

‘Nuff said.