Ryan “Pie” Truesdell was a good kid.

He was young, energetic and had lots of friends. These friends along with Ryan’s dad decided a softball tournament would be a good way to both remember “Pie” and also raise money for school scholarships.

This weekend on Saturday and Sunday the Ryan “Pie” Truesdell Memorial Sports Weekend will take place. This scholarship fundraiser has grown and now has not only softball, but volleyball and fishing as part of its events.

I encourage everyone to take part in, go to or donate prizes for the silent auction portion of this labor of love. To take part or help in any way please call Scott Truesdell at 383-1958.

I know that I will be out to watch the softball games and to donate a few dollars to this wonderful cause. On Sunday at 3 p.m. the county will take on the city, and that promises to be quite the game. So please stop out, have fun, and remember “Pie.”

Good job, parents

School started this week, and so, to all of the parents of school-aged children, I say congratulations on making it through summer, back-to-school shopping, and the 1 million questions about what book bag, book cover, lunch rule, No. 2 pencil, kind of color crayon you are allowed, what to wear, and who is my teacher. Great job. It takes great parents to make great kids, so please, take a bow!

An NFL update

I do want to point out that although I picked the Vikings to win the Super Bowl in my last column, I am still a dedicated Packers fan.

I was delighted that Sports Illustrated have the Pack going to the NFC Championship Game against the Bears. I think the NFC will be awesome to watch this year, with the Bears, Packers and Vikings all being very good.

I think that Brett Favre will be fun to watch on the Vikes, and I think that it puts a lot of pressure for the Vikes to not only win but to win the big games. I will say that if Childress and company do not at least get to the Super Bowl, they need to fire him and get a new coach and staff. So to my many friends who are Viking fans, I say good luck, and I hope you win all the games except the ones against my Packers.

Local exposure

Albert Lea has done it again.

“Good Morning America” was here again. Great job to Dan Buettner, Joel Spoonheim and the rest of the AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project crew for again shining the light on a great town.

I still am amazed that in the past year, we have had “Good Morning America” twice, “Nightline,” “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and a USA Today feature story on Albert Lea and Freeborn County and the great people we have. Congrats to everyone!

Go, girls

OK, sports fans, it is time to get out and support your teams! Albert Lea girls’ soccer plays at home tonight! Albert Lea football is here on Friday, and fall sports are taking off.

Take a look around and you will find lots of great athletes in area schools. We need to support them!

Tribune Publisher Scott Schmeltzer’s column appears every Thursday.