Successful festival

Thumbs up to the organizers who put the 53rd annual Fort Vallonia Days together and all of the volunteers who made the event a rousing success as always. It takes a lot — and some help from Mother Nature — to put together one of the more popular festivals in the county each year.

Sectional sensations

Thumbs up to the Brownstown Central High School and Trinity Lutheran High School volleyball squads on winning sectional titles Saturday evening. Members of the Braves squad, which defeated Austin in the Class 2A sectional final at Brownstown, includes Adelynn Anderson, Kalee Borden, Addison Darlage, Kinzee Dean, Haley Derringer, Olivia Fritz, Noe McPherson, Paisleigh Peters, Brailey Teipen, Finley Wheeler, Kaitlyn Williams, Kera Wischmeier, Sophie Wischmeier and Jaydynn Yeadon. The roster for the Cougars, who beat Shawe Memorial for the Class A sectional title at Trinity, features Bailey Tabeling, Drew Hubbard, Laina Klinge, Allison Ward, Kiley Zabel, Ava Blomenberg, Carson Bowling, Jordan Brewer, Cheyenne Campbell, Addison Darlage, Madison Keith, Laura Roeder, Madelyn Adams, Lila Hunter and Carmendee Quirino. The 17-15 Braves, coached by Jennifer Shade, will meet 26-7 North Posey on Saturday in the Mitchell Regional, while the 23-10 Cougars, coached by Faith Wilder-Newland, will play 28-4 Tecumseh on Saturday morning in the Loogootee Regional.

Semistate bound

Thumbs up to the Seymour boys and girls cross-country teams for qualifying for semistate after placing third and fourth, respectively, at last week’s regional meet. Also, thumbs up to Brownstown Central’s Shane Ratliff, Chance Ratliff and Traven Wellman for qualifying for semistate as individuals. Representing Seymour’s boys team are Jude Bane, Carter Murphy, Sam Rockey, Wes Proffer, Kylan Ellerbe, Ty Tormoehlen and Micah Jablonski, and representing Seymour’s girls team are Vivienne Siefker, Gracie Adams, AnnMarie Shuler, Grace Lewis, Kinsley Folsom, Lyndsey Greenawalt and Kelly Beavers. The Brown County Semistate at Eagle Park in Nashville this Saturday will begin at 11:30 a.m.

Furnishing food

Thumbs up to the Crothersville High School junior varsity volleyball coach for furnishing food for the team to all of the away ballgames.

Juanita Fletcher, Crothersville

Special Olympics spirit

Thumbs up to Dale Hickman, who recently was named Special Olympics Indiana 2022 Athlete of the Year for Area 2, and the Law family, consisting of Heather, Jesse, Owen and Ruby, for being named Area 2 Family of the Year. After areas select a winner in each category, members of the Special Olympics Indiana board of directors review the nomination forms and select the state award winners. All area winners are invited to the state conference Oct. 29 in Noblesville to be recognized at a luncheon, and the state winner in each category will be announced.