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To the kickoff of summer events.

It was great to see the crowd at Fountain Lake Park Thursday night for the first of several Thursdays on Fountain after last week’s event got canceled because of rain.

The splash pad was also opened, and the city pool is slated to open today.

Many other events are planned for the weeks to come, and we encourage people to find out about all the opportunities in the Tribune’s Summer Times special section, which comes out next Wednesday.

Whether its a longtime Albert Lea favorite or a new event planned for this summer, we hope people check out the fun events being organized.

After everyone was limited in activities last summer because of COVID-19, we hope everyone makes this summer the best one yet.

To all the businesses nominated for the Tribune’s annual Readers’ Choice contest.

After a few weeks of accepting nominations, the voting round opened Friday for the Tribune’s annual Readers’ Choice contest.

Members of the community are encouraged to vote. People can vote once per day through July 7 on the Tribune’s website at www.albertleatribune.com. Click on the “Contest” tab in the upper left corner to participate. One participant will be picked to win a $50 Chamber certificate, and there is a short registration for your first vote.

Thanks for participating and making this fun for our area businesses, and we look forward to finding out the winners.

To the decrease in COVID-19 cases locally.

We have been pleased in recent weeks to see continued low numbers of new COVID-19 cases in Freeborn County and active cases are hovering around only 10.

Freeborn County COVID-19 vaccinations hit a new level this week as well, with over 14,000 people now having received at least one vaccine and almost 13,000 receiving the completing the full series, as of Wednesday, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

Though Freeborn County’s vaccination rate is lower than the surrounding areas, there is progress continuing to be made.

To the people who raised and donated money for Albert Lea’s fireworks.

Hats off to all of the volunteers who stood out Friday on the corners of Broadway and Main Street to collect donations for Albert Lea’s annual fireworks display.

The fundraiser is organized by the Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce and KATE Radio.

We also thank all of those people who donated, either individually or as a business. Without your donations, the fireworks would not be possible.

We hope we can all enjoy this Independence Day after limitations last summer because of the pandemic.