Local Video
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| Chilly first week of the new decade |
By: SAM GETT, Publisher and Editor
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Posted: Tuesday, January 5, 2010 9:27 pm
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Assorted notes from a frozen first week of the decade:
•Not too long ago, anyone seeking a safe topic for small talk with a stranger or acquaintance could always default to the weather. “Nice day we’re having, isn’t it?” “Wow, it sure is cold out there.”
•Not anymore. Now you worry which side of the climate change debate your listener falls on. Believers and non-believers that the earth is heating up are guilty of anecdotal annoyance using current conditions to make their case. Frigid weekends like the last one aren’t evidence of a grand scientific scam. And if we enjoy a 40-degree “January thaw” day later this month, it doesn’t by itself prove the existence of global warming. Here’s hoping proponents and opponents of the climate change theory resolve to focus on the big picture rather than the five-day forecast.
•There’s no disputing the brutally cold temperature last Saturday morning. The mercury dipped below 15 below zero an hour or so after sunrise. Yet, strangely, while helping my son deliver his newspaper route on Judicial Drive, I noticed a couple dozen robins perched on the roofs of houses. What were they thinking? Give me some wings and I’ll find my way to a warmer habitat.
•Local hockey fans who traveled north to St. Paul on New Year’s Day didn’t find any heat, but they did get to see the Raider boys’ high school team hoist the Schwan Cup tournament trophy in the open division by beating Minnehaha Academy at the Xcel Energy Center. The Raider girls’ basketball team also earned some holiday hardware by winning the Winona State University tournament championship last week. Congratulations to both teams.
•A timely reminder landed in local mailboxes last week, courtesy of the Northfield Mayor’s Task Force on Youth Alcohol and Drug Use and the Northfield Healthy Community Initiative. The postcard encouraged parents of high school students to keep talking to their kids about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Nearly half of Northfield students surveyed reported that their parents hadn’t talked to them about substance use within the past month.
The days seem to fly by so quickly, particularly during the hectic high school years. Parents looking for an easy to keep resolution should heed the post card’s message: Keep talking to your kids about drugs and alcohol and stay connected with their friends’ parents.
•Speaking of resolutions, most agree that if you’re really serious you should put them in writing. More than 1,100 local people have done just that by pledging to volunteer at least five hours of time each month. That’s nearly 70,000 pledged volunteer hours in Northfield alone. 5th Bridge would like you to join the army of volunteers by visiting its Web site and taking the pledge. You decide where to help - schools, churches, hospitals, non-profits - they all need assistance.
Make 2010 the year you commit to sharing your talents. Visit www.5thbridge.org and click on the “take the pledge” link for more information.
Happy New Year, everyone.
— Sam Gett is the publisher and editor of the Northfield News. Reach him at 645-1112 or sgett@northfieldnews.com
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