SUN EDITORIAL: Pausing to provide praise and plenty of positive press
By: DANIEL MEYER
SUN EDITORAL
This space is often used to criticize, question and suggest ways things could be done better or more efficiently in our community.
Whether we are scrutinizing the recent actions of a public official, openly asking a question that is on the minds of our readers or giving a good old-fashioned tongue lashing to someone who deserves it, the top half of Page 4 of The Sun is a section in the newspaper that people turn to for commentary.
With that in mind, we feel every once in awhile we need to stop and take a step back and survey the scene to see if there are any noteworthy accomplishments that we may have somehow overlooked.
Far too often it seems as though the media outlets based here in Western New York —yes, including even us here at The Sun — focus on the negative news that is making headlines, meaning many positive things happening in our community tend to get overlooked or, in some cases, totally ignored.
That being said, we take time this week to hit the “pause” button on the criticizing, questioning and lecturing so that we can instead reflect on some of the great things happening in the six towns, five villages and five school districts that are based in The Sun’s readership area.
Among the items of interest that have come across our desks in recent weeks includes:
• Hamburg High School’s first-ever Post Prom Party — What a fabulous event. From the elaborate prizes given away to the attendees to the wide variety of entertainment opportunities that were offered to the students to the great work done by the volunteer chaperones, this event was truly a win-win-win for everyone involved.
Hats off to Anne DiMatteo and the other dedicated organizers and coordinators of the event too numerous to mention in this space. Their many hours of planning — coupled with the generosity displayed by the local business community in providing refreshments and prizes for the event — paid off and helped set the stage for something that will only improve in the years to come.
Magical musicians — It is simply too hard to single out a particular performer or group of musicians so we’d simply like to shower praise upon all of the talented musicians who study a particular instrument as students in either the Frontier, Hamburg, Eden, Lake Shore or North Collins school districts.
This year’s spring and end-of-the-school-year musical performances were top notch and it is the result of the countless hours of practice that these students engage in on top of all of their academic obligations. The musical talent displayed by our young people is incredible and speaks volumes about the concept of a well-rounded student as being a child who engages in extracurricular activities outside of the classroom.
Excellence in visual arts — Just like with music, we have many students here in the Southtowns who exhibit wonderful talents when it comes to the visual arts.
Particular praise must be directed to students from Hamburg High School and Hamburg Middle School, with a total of 33 students attending the New York State Olympics of the Visual Arts earlier this year. One team achieved a milestone by receiving a first place award in painting. Hamburg has competed in the event for the past five years and is the only district based in Western New York to do so, a feat that says much about the skill level of Hamburg’s talented art students.
Festival volunteers — What more can be said about the men, women and children who work so hard behind the scenes to ensure that all of us festival-goers have an enjoyable time at a favorite summertime celebration.
From the smaller church lawn fetes to the chicken barbecue fund-raisers to the larger events like Hamburg’s Burgerfest and Blast on the Beach, the family-oriented fun is all made possible because of their efforts.
(E-mail your thoughts on this editorial to: meyerdan@thesunnews.net or call Editor Daniel Meyer at 649-4040, ext. 255.)
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