Photo: rus vanwestervelt, taken in Orlando, FL when visiting my sister/brother-in-law

Welcome to the first edition of Good News Sunday, inspired entirely by my sister Cindy, currently spending her days and nights in the Magic Kingdom… 🙂

So without further ado, let’s begin! Here are three things I think are worth celebrating this week:

1. NEWS: Cole Balderson and Rachel Reilly have been found, they are safe, and they are home. These two teens from Olney, MD were last seen on January 12. After their Jeep was found at a rest stop in Virginia, many were deeply concerned about their whereabouts. On Friday, both were found at a makeshift homeless camp in San Antonio, Texas. Rachel was apprehended immediately, but Cole escaped. Last night, his father located him near the camp. No word on the motive, how they got to Texas, and why Cole continued to run. We may never know, though, and that’s ok. That’s not our business, and I only hope that the families and the tight-knit community of Olney take care of these two teens.

An interesting side-note to this story. A few days after Cole and Rachel were missing, two Facebook groups were created to help find them. The first one was established by friends of the family; the second one was created by an individual who, at first, seemed sincere in her motives (gender assumed based on information I’ve read subsequently). However, strange things began happening, and the admin for the second page started posting odd threats and banning individuals, including family members, for no apparent reason. Last night, at about the same time Cole was reunited with his father, the admin for the second site posted a bizarre link to another missing child elsewhere in the country. A few hours later, the entire site was removed from Facebook.

I’m not sure I understand fully why this individual works so hard at creating posters and spreading the word about missing children, when she is so rude and disrespectful to others who are trying to help and even support her efforts. Is it a front for something else? Is she exploiting these missing children for her own personal gain, whatever that might be? I recall that, at the beginning of her campaign, she had very strict rules about being emailed or tagged (or something) before posters could be downloaded. All I remember is that it seemed so strange and controlling.

I hope that her motives are genuine, and the quirkiness and bizarre behavior are unrelated to the missing teens and their families. Still, you never can tell. It’s horrible that so much energy was wasted on this individual’s inexplicable actions.

2. SPORTS: The Baltimore Orioles held their annual FanFest event this past weekend. The high turnout was matched by the enthusiasm for the rejuvenated roster and healthy veterans who are returning this spring. For those of you who are not baseball fans (or who have been sunning a little too long on some tropical island), the Orioles have not been a contender since, oh, 1997. When your city sibling is the Baltimore Ravens, it’s a tall order to get a group of fans behind a perennial sub-.500 professional sports team. But this is Baltimore, and news that National Bohemian is going to run from bar taps once again (talk about a drought–it’s been 15 years since you could walk up to a bar and get a Natty Boh on tap) may have had some psycho-spiritual influence on all of us. Natty Boh, once distributed by the National Brewing Company, was also owned by no other than the then-owner of the Baltimore Orioles, Jerold Hoffberger. Any chance that this will become the official beer of the O’s once again? Doubtful, but any of us who remembers having cases of Boh on hand for games knows that we’re the ones who make a beer “official” for a sports team. The first kegs will be tapped on February 3rd at Canton’s Nacho Mamas, according to a recent article in the Baltimore Sun.  Go (b)Oh’s!

3. COMMUNITY: PlungeFest raises millions of dollars for Special Olympics Maryland. The water temperature was 33 degrees, but that didn’t stop over 15,000 Marylanders (and others!) from taking the plunge this weekend at Sandy Point State Park. Rock stars, TV actors, professional sports figures, and radio personalities joined the thousands of others to take the plunge. The cause is great, the turnout continues to get bigger each year, and it’s a fun time for so many family members, friends, and co-workers to pull together for a good time. Amy almost went this year, and I have a feeling we all might be taking the plunge next year to support the Special Olympics.

Enjoy the rest of this football-free Sunday (first time since early August!); I’ll be back tomorrow! 🙂