County organizations deserve some roses

ROSES to the Chester County Sheriff’s Office for conducting its first “Shop with the Sheriff” program for students of the Chester County Family Academy. Today, the 90 students at the academy were each given $100 gift cards to purchase holiday gifts for th

The Chester County Sheriff’s Office gets one for its outreach efforts to students in the area.

The students will travel by Krapf buses to shopping outlets in Kennett Square and be escorted by sheriff’s vehicles with flashing lights. Each child had been asked to prepare a gift list and shopped with a uniformed deputy sheriff. The Family Academy is a charter school located in West Chester and provides education for children from kindergarten to second grade. “We wanted to make this day really exciting for the children,” said county Sheriff Carolyn Bunny Welsh.

ROSES to Coatesville City Council for waiving permit fees for Coatesville Little League to construct new dugouts on the baseball fields. The organization hit a rough patch opening up the season after last year’s storms damaged fences and dugouts. More than $32,000 still needs to be raised to pay for repairs. However, Little League president Matt Gorham said council waving permit fees means $800 to $900 that can be spent elsewhere.

ROSES also go out to Jonathan Frommeyer, a local Boy Scout with Doe Run Troop 48 who is attempting to earn his Eagle Scout rank by heading a community project. He’s coming to Coatesville Little League’s aid to rebuild dugouts with the help of his father, general contractor Chris Frommeyer.

ROSES to Franklin Township supervisors, who, through disciplined spending and planning have been able to reduce the real estate tax by 10 percent for 2015.

Roses to Avon Grove Charter School for its innovative

Roses to the Coatesville Area School District for severing ties with former district solicitor James Ellison.

and educational beehive project. The three teachers who are overseeing the project are doing so on a volunteer basis.

ROSES to the family who operates Saffron Farm at 2592 Gap Newport Pike in West Grove. They are donating 100 percent of Christmas tree sales to the Kennett Food Cupboard. buy a tree and help your community. Every penny generated from tree purchases will help feed a local family in need. Clearly the business is losing money, but they are doing a greater good by helping the less fortunate who live among us. It’s good to see one business that truly understands the reason for the season.

ROSES to the Downingtown STEM Academy students who built and donated 50 wooden cars and 50 wooden fishing sets to donate to Toys for Tots on Thursday. The program was overseen by the International Baccalaureate (IB) design technologies students. These students were tasked with designing and building a toy that could easily be manufactured and donated to local Toys for Tots organizations.

ROSES to the Philadelphia 76ers for ending their 0-17 skid with an 85-77 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday night. The win allowed the team to avoid tyng the 0-18 start of the New Jersey Nets in the 2009-10 season. Leading the way for the Sixers was Michael Cater-Williams, who had 20 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.

ROSES to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for announcing a grant worth $606,000 to the borough for the purchase and preservation of the Barclay Grounds. The grant now gives the borough $831,000 of the $1.2 million the borough has committed to paying the owners of the one-acre property in West Chester, considered by many to be the green jewel in the borough’s north end.