• • •> > A barb to the Monroe school administration >for dropping the Head Start program from the 4K program. There are many children in this community that have received much-needed help and resources from the Head Start program, and many more that would benefit greatly from this program now and in the future. Like it or not, there are needy children and families in the Monroe School District that need to be served. - A family that has benefited from Head Start>

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A blossom to all FFA members,> past and present, old and young, current and alumni. What an amazing and proud organization to belong to and congratulations to all chapters for your accomplishments and to the members attending the Farm Forum this week in Wisconsin Rapids.

A blossom to Dee Paulson> for all of her years of service at the United States Department of Agriculture office here in Monroe. Dee is retiring and I am sure her bright smile and gentle demeanor will be missed.

A blossom to all who braved the cold and nasty roads >to go vote in the primaries on Tuesday. And also, how nice it is to be able to go and vote without the fear of violence and other bad things and to be able to have a voice in our government.

And a blossom to the Joe Schwarzenberger family >for hosting this year's Breakfast on the Farm. If you have never been to one of these, I strongly encourage you to mark your calendars now and make sure you go. For one, the farm is very nice and so are the hosts. Two, it will give you an opportunity to see how a farm runs, and three ... the food ... cannot be described as anything other than "eggcellent." You can go ham it up and milk it for all it's worth. It, for sure, will be an udderly good time! - Jeff Ditzenberger, Monticello>