In most aspects of life here in Albert Lea, there are both tangible and intangible parts. Tangible things you can touch and see, intangible that aren’t physical but either add or detract from experience. So, a comment from recent experience about both, first intangible.

Recently our civic theater was renamed in honor of Marion Ross. While I thought that “Albert Lea Civic Theatre” suited the place just fine, the new name has grown on me. I attended the dedication ceremony with my daughter, and realized again what a genuinely nice person Marion Ross is. She didn’t have to agree to using her name for the theater, or promotion of our city as her hometown, but in doing so she has brought more recognition to Albert Lea than we would have otherwise.

While she may not be a megastar, she does represent in particular a television program that was a favorite of many baby-boomers — a program that in turn was based in the ’50s when things seemed a little less complicated and times were generally good. Definitely a feel-good thing, not concrete as some detractors may demand, but an intangible benefit nonetheless. Even corporations account for intangible assets that have value. So I guess so can Albert Lea.

Now a tangible benefit. On Sunday, June 22, our family took advantage of a beautiful day and went for a brunch cruise on the new-to-us Pelican Breeze II. If you haven’t yet, take time this summer to try one of the cruises. Our cruise included a catered brunch, with violin accompaniment by the Albert Lea Suzuki students and their instructor Crista Bohlmann.

The brunch cruise is a new addition and a great idea for a weekend. Included among the passengers were a younger couple who came from the metro area specifically for the cruise. It was great to see lots of fishing boats out on the lake, and yes, numerous pelicans. While we had been on the “old” Pelican Breeze, we were overdue to take advantage of this tangible benefit right in our own city.

Whether it’s something you can touch and feel like the Breeze, or something you can’t quite get your hands around but it adds to life here, like the name of Marion Ross (or Eddie Cochran), both are assets.

Mike Murtaugh

Albert Lea