Cheers to boating victims' families for coming together

November 01, 2007 11:32 pm

— Cheers to the families of Roger Frank and Craig Phelps for giving the community a sterling example to follow as they leaned on each other during their trying time this week. The Frank family went to the Phelps family, and together they consoled each other and prayed that their loved ones would be found safely. In a time that racial tensions often run high, it’s great to see at least two families put that aside, even if it did take tragedy to bring it about.

Jeers to Martina Hingis, the tennis player who retired after recently testing positive for cocaine. Whether she wanted to admit it and live up to it or not, Hingis was a role model for many; this incident is yet another example of stars staining the reputations of their sports with their indiscretions.

Cheers to Paul Tibbets, who died Thursday, for his service to the United States. Tibbets flew the B-29 heavy bomber known as the Enola Gay — named after Tibbets’ mother — on its most famous mission, over Hiroshima, Japan on Aug. 6, 1945, dropping one of the two atomic bombs that brought World War II to an end.

Cheers to the Little Cypress-Mauriceville High School Band for advancing to the state marching contest. Southeast Texas is football-crazy, to be sure, but it’s also wonderful to see other organizations earning accolades for excellence in their respective fields, and they deserve to be recognized. We wish the Battlin’ Bear Band the best of luck as they get on the bus to San Antonio to perform Tuesday morning.