There are many reasons why you should attend the Party for the Lakes at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Albert Lea City Arena.

It will be a good time.

There will be live music.

There will be a cash bar.

People you know will be there.

You can meet people you don’t know.

Organizers will give away prizes to holders of the raffle coins.

The best reason to go to the Party for the Lakes, however, is for your children. Proceeds from the party goes toward the Lakes Restoration Committee so it can spend the money on restoration projects.

Not only is restoration of our precious waters a plus for recruiting people and business to move to Albert Lea, it is a plus for kids who like to fish, swim, boat or hunt.

We need to leave future generations a legacy that includes clean

waters &045; a legacy we should be quick to point out time and again our past generations did not leave us. It is sad that we are left to clean up their mess.

Maybe they did not see the beauty of Freeborn County as we do. It is said that the economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment. If we do not care for our environment, our economy hurts eventually.

Freeborn County’s environment has withstood the pains of progress &045; but now progress means cleaning the waters, treasuring our wildlife and beautifying our common areas. Because we want to continue to be a vibrant community, we are restoring our lakes. Arguably no other community effort benefits so many people for so long.

Our children will thank us.