Shining stars

Thumbs up to the eight couples who competed in the ninth Dancing with the Seymour Stars on Saturday night at Celebrations. The dancers were Heather Kasting and Kevin Ude, who wound up winning the contest, Lindsey Kilgas and Zane Clayburn, Katrina Hardwick and Toby Calhoun, Merrilynne Gerth and Matt Nieman, Lizz Patterson and J.T. Patterson, who finished third, Andy Wolka and Andrew Murphy, who were second, Kayla Stice and Jake Stice and Natalie Betts and Jason Hardy. Their efforts helped raise about $102,000 for Seymour Main Street and the Boys and Girls Club of Seymour. A related thumbs up to everyone who attended the event or donated to the cause.

Teamwork

Thumbs up to the 135 team members from Emmanuel Church in Seymour who joined with members of the church’s other four campuses in Banta, Franklin, Greenwood and Garfield Park to serve more than 50 organizations and put in 130 hours of service during what’s now known as Serve Week. Locally, the impact team members joined a group from Seymour High School to organize a Tents and Tailgates event Sept. 9 and participated in The Alley’s annual Thousand Ten Project on Sept. 10. They also assembled 686 hygiene bags for Blessings in a Backpack of Jackson County to distribute to kids at local schools, volunteered at the Jackson County Clothing Center in Seymour and completed other projects.

Judging soils

Thumbs up to the Seymour High School FFA chapter team of Caroline Thompson, Wyatt Wischmeier, Hayden Williams and Jillian Tormoehlen for placing first in the Jackson County Soil and Water Conservation District’s annual Jackson County Soils Judging on Sept. 14 on the farm of George Mellencamp of Seymour.

Commemorating leadership

Thumbs up to everyone who attended the Leadership Jackson County 40-year-celebration Sept. 22 at Pewter Hall in Brownstown and participated in a dessert auction to raise money for the organization. LJC was created in the summer of 1982 to help participants become more involved in local decision-making.