Editorial: Thumbs

To Culligan Water.

First, we commend Noah Hawkes, general manager of Culligan Water in Albert Lea, for noticing that a blank wall was unsightly after the neighbor’s building was torn down. Many business leaders just let unsightly exterior walls stay unsightly, not wanting to bother with them.

Second, we commend him and his business for using the space as a mural rather than an advertisement of the business. Such a move is wise because it produces a lot of goodwill in the community. Goodwill is a valuable commodity. Plus, more people, as they motor down Main Street, are more likely to look at public art than a billboard. And many of them quickly note and appreciate which business that beautiful art belongs to.

Moreover, we hope Culligan’s move sparks other businesses to do the same. There is grant funding and volunteers out there to make it happen. Albert Lea is a beautiful place. Murals enhance that beauty.

To the new memorial garden in Glenville.

It was quite appropriate and poignant Thursday for students and staff of Glenville-Emmons High School and members of the Glenville community to dedicate a memorial garden Thursday to 17-year-old Kayla Koch, who died in July when a dune buggy she was in rolled over.

The garden also was dedicated to Christa Moffitt and Kelly Maher, girls from Glenville-Emmons High who died in separate car crashes back in 2004.

Teenagers still are children. Losing a child can be one the toughest, bewildering parts of being a parent, a friend, a family member and an entire community. The garden is a symbol that those children will not be forgotten. In fact, they will be missed much.

To the Shell Rock River Watershed District.

Progress made on cleaning Pickerel Lake is clearly noticed by the Albert Lea community. The clarity of the water indeed reveals a wonderful turnaround, considering how green Pickerel was (and still is on the old satellite photos used by Google Maps). And the effect a cleaner Pickerel has on Fountain Lake was noticeable this summer. It is all thanks to work by the watershed district, a goal many Albert Lea residents have sought for decades. Happy canoeing!