Philadelphia Flyers deserve roses this week

The hockey team’s Claude Giroux gave area middle school players a reason to smile with a surprise appearance.

ROSES to AAA and the Philadelphia Flyers for making it a very special day for a bunch of middle school hockey players when they got to meet an NHL superstar in Claude Giroux. What made the event that much better is the amount of work Ice Line, AAA and the Flyers went through to make the appearance a complete surprise to the kids ... which in turn, kept Ice Line at minimal capacity and allowed the players their opportunities to see him instead of fans coming from far and wide and crashing the rink and taking away his time meant for the kids. ROSES also to the staff of Ice Line for allowing the Daily Local News in on the secret to capture the moment for the kids and their parents. This is something those young players are going to remember for a very long time.

ROSES to the Coatesville Area School Board for holding its first full board meeting (Oct. 28) without a school district solicitor present. The Coatesville Area School District appointed Mike Levin, of Levin Legal Group, to replace former solicitor James Ellison. Residents repeatedly complained about Ellison’s time spent in the school district. When Levin was appointed, school board members and CASD Superintendent Cathy Taschner said Levin and others from his firm are expected to utilize technology to communicate with the board. They said this would limit the trips taken by the law firm to the school district.

ROSES to the residents of Monroe County in northeastern Pennsylvania, who can finally get back to normal after suspected cop-killer Eric Frein was captured on Thursday in an abandoned airplane hanger in Lords Valley. The area’s residents have been living under siege as hundreds of law en-

THORNS to the negative campaigning that comes out as the election approaches. Some ads are just mean and nasty.

forcement officers have combed the area for Frein since he allegedly killed one state trooper and seriously injured another in an ambush outside a state police barracks in early September. Now that the massive search effort is over, the residents can finally get back to normal, and just in time for Halloween.

ROSES to students at the Bancroft Elementary School in Kennett Square for collecting more than 2,300 cans of food for the fourth annual food drive and Walk for Hunger. Last year, the students collected more than 1,500 cans of food. All cans collected will go to the Kennett Food Cupboard, which aids those living at or below poverty. It’s important because nearly 9 percent of families and 1,903 children ages 5 to 17 live in poverty in the Kennett Consolidated, Avon Grove, Unionville-Chadds Ford and Oxford Area school districts. More startling, those figures represent a 65 percent increase in childhood poverty in southern Chester County in the past five years. Congratulations to the local elementary students who are learning at a young age that it’s important to give back to their community.

ROSES to political campaign stemwinders and the wonderful discombobulations that can result. Take state Sen. Andy Dinniman, one of Chester County’s mighty slingers of political soothisms. At a rally Wednesday for Tom Wolf at the New Life in Christ Church in Coatesville, Dinniman, a retired professor, noted he taught pastor Dan Williams at West Chester University back in the day and how everyone was looking forward to hearing Rev. Wolf’s message about education and ... catching himself in the middle of the multi-word pileup, Dinniman laughed with the crowd, and continued: “Rev. Wolf and Gov. Williams!” (More cheers.)

THORNS to the Avon Grove School Board for disallowing school bus drivers to bring their children with them on runs. It is a severe financial burden for these under-paid employees.

ROSES to Oxford’s Jim McLeod for organizing another successful Halloween parade on Thursday — the largest one in the county year after year.