To the local union letter carriers.

Thanks for picking up nonperishable food items Saturday for area food shelves. Some may wonder why there are so many events that ask people to donate food to the needy. Anyone who has spent a day or a week volunteering at a food shelf would soon come to realize that the demand for food is never filled. Many people never thought they would need to get food from a food shelf until their fortunes turned for the worse. This is part of the social safety net that makes a community great. Donating food makes a difference, and this is the 19th year the Albert Lea letters carriers have participated in the nation’s largest one-day food drive. Last year, more than 70 million pounds of food were collected nationally and 9,350 pounds in Albert Lea alone. We are eager to see the results for this year.

 

To Ariel Castro.

The revelations and allegations coming out of this man’s home in Cleveland continue to stun and amaze, in the wake of three missing women being found there. There are more and more details every day. The Associated Press on Friday spoke to relatives of the man’s now-deceased ex-wife. The relatives said she, too, portrayed a life of abuse and captivity. We are glad the women survived and can return to their families, but the torment they went through saddens us all. Castro’s trial will not be easy for this nation to watch.

 

To the Freeborn County Historical Museum.

What a great resource our local museum is, and we were reminded of it this week as elementary students learned old-time skills at the museum and its historical village. They learned how to make rope and grind corn, among other skills, and they learned how people used to trade goods instead of using money, such as trading eggs for flour. It might seem like just another field trip to some, but many communities lack a good, strong historical society. We don’t take ours for granted.