Thorns & Roses

May 16, 2008 11:25 am

— Thorns & Roses is a weekly feature highlighting the best and worst of the week.

Roses
• To the winners of the third annual “Inventors, Inventions and You” program and to the organizers of this annual competition. The event was sponsored by Cass County’s SUCCEED program. The acronym stands for “Stimulating Unlimited Cass County Entrepreneurs and Economic Development,” and that’s exactly what the program strives to do. Encouraging an entrepreneurial spirit among our county’s youth is a great way to develop the kinds of enterprises that will employ future generations of Cass County residents. Congratulations to Caleb Sedam, who came up with the winning invention, and to Steven Rohde, who submitted the winning business plan. All of the winners will be honored during a luncheon June 10.

• To Ryan Bice, who will represent the the United States at this year’s World Championship Triathlon. Bice, a sophomore at Pioneer Junior-Senior High School, will travel to Vancouver, British Columbia, this summer to compete in the Junior Age Group World Championship Triathlon. He and a select group of other elite athletes from across the country will be representing Team USA at the race on June 6. We’ll be pulling for him.

• To the many civic groups and businesses involved in offering the numerous scholarships awarded to Logansport High School seniors during last week’s awards night. The evening is a great local tradition that wouldn’t be possible without community support. Congratulations also to Mark Fultz and Molly Long, winners of the Lelah Stephens Citizenship Awards and to Grant McCloskey, winner of the John Price Award for the outstanding male athlete, and Shannon Jennings, winner of the Sue Jones Award for the outstanding female athlete.

• To the Logansport-Cass County Airport for beginning construction on the second phase of a $1.9-million renovation and modernization project. Groundbreaking on a new operations center is set for 5:30 p.m. May 21. The airport is an important part of this community’s infrastructure, and it’s good to see these needed improvements getting under way.

• To the first class of volunteers for the Cass County Child Advocate Team program. The nine new volunteers recently sworn in by Cass Circuit Court Judge completed 30 hours of training and will represent abused and neglected children in Cass County. They will join five other volunteers already active and three volunteers returning to active status. These individuals are the only representatives in the court who look out for the interests of the child. Their role is crucial in child welfare cases. By the way, the program could use more volunteers. If you’re interested, call (574) 753-7839.

• To Pioneer math students, who won the recent Midwest Math Contest. The team score of 1,435 beat out Frontier with a score of 1,362. Third place went to West Central with a score of 1,055. The squad also won team titles in Calculus and Algebra I, and it earned second place in Algebra 2, Geometry and Comprehensive. Individual champions for Pioneer were Jacob Layer and Ty Shrontz in calculus; and Nathaneal Stevenson in Algebra 1. Accomplishments like this should make us all proud.