Morrison Post Editorial

Editorial 10-29-07

Halloween is here! Please have a safe Trick or Treat experience and have fun. Watch out for cars. Parents check the treats. Don’t accept rides or treats from strangers. Oh man! I think I just had a grown-up moment.

Last week had auditor’s reports for both the city and the school district. Both reports showed that those entities are in sound financial shape. This is a pretty big deal, especially during times where our state is in dire straights money wise…Especially in a state where many school districts are struggling to find the money to pay their bills.

Our school district, under the leadership of Dr. Ware and this and the last boards of education, has done a great job making cuts and pinching pennies in order to make ends meet. But before I give out all the credit, we have to remember the people who made these cuts not as painful. Some of these cuts would have been downright devastating in some school districts. They wouldn’t have sports teams going to state tournaments, or even have sports teams. Extra curricular would be a thing of the past. How did we avoid some of these very painful results? Let’s start with parents. The school district has activity fees now that are pretty substantial. And parents have stepped up to the plate. Even the students have chipped in to help pay their activity fees with money that they made over the summer. Some families have had to choose which activities were most important to them. The pain doesn’t begin and end within the confines of the schools.

Other groups have stepped up to the plate too. A fine example is the Booster Club. This and other clubs have raised money to help pay for things that the district has chosen to cut. This really takes the sting out of making cuts. The end result is that the district has been able to make ends meet, and students have been able to enjoy most of the same extra curriculars that they always did. Clubs like the Boosters have shouldered some of the load by raising money from generous individuals and businesses. So or course…Kudos to the school district for making ends meet. But also thank you to those who stepped up to rescue some of the activities which would otherwise been lost.

All right. I thought that I was done writing about skunks. I hadn’t seen one for a while, and we are walking the dogs on leashes just to be safe. We saw lots of evidence of skunks digging for grubs in the yard yesterday. Maybe we will have fewer moles if the skunks eat all of the grubs! Anyhow, I was straining my eyes looking out into the dark yard this morning, and I saw a white streak. I decided to try a different method this time. It didn’t work either. Trying to shoot a skunk in almost complete darkness, holding a flashlight, being careful to stay out of range of his spray….Well, I guess I am just making excuses. I can tell you that a skunk is more fur and tail than anything. A rifle was probably not the best choice. I just don’t want to get very close. My wife likened the experience to Elmer Fudd trying to get the rabbit. At least I now know where he is living. He went under our lawn shed. At least I haven’t been sprayed.

Thanks to all of our loyal and new advertisers. And thank you to the local attorneys and municipalities who are running their legal announcements with The Post. You make it possible for us to bring our paper to everyone in and around Morrison and also to Fulton. Thanks for reading!

(by Ben Wolf, Guest Columnist)