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To all Mankato-area dentists for voluntarily purchasing equipment that stops the potential flow of mercury into the wastewater treatment system.

Some 35 area dental offices in Mankato, North Mankato and Eagle Lake installed a device that keeps mercury-containing dental materials out of the wastewater treatment system and potential for ending up in the Minnesota River.

The Minnesota Dental Association deserves credit also for beginning in 2001 encouraging dental offices to install the devices, which cost about $2,000 each. The willingness of the dental offices to install devices shows their concern for the environment. It’s even better the government didn’t have to mandate the devices.



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Motorcycle trip helps March of Dimes

To the Bikers for Babies Mankato Chapter of the March of Dimes for their recent effort to raise money for the organization that aims to prevent birth defects and other health problems that affect small children.

The group organized a 100-mile motorcycle trek through the Minnesota River Valley and marked the ninth year the group has helped raise money for a worthy cause that includes pregnancy research and baby health. About 75 bikers participated in the event.



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Competitive gluttony not a pretty sight

Yes, children actually are starving in Africa. But if you don’t want to deal with their demise, you can watch yet another competition that captures the sport of extreme eating. As if hot dog and doughnut eating contests weren’t enough, now there’s a new competition that Americans can be proud to call their own. On Monday “Humble Bob” stuffed himself with 11.5 pounds of chili spaghetti to become champion and win $2,500 in a eating contest in Mason, Ohio.

Even if children weren’t starving in Africa and elsewhere, this kind of competition has no place during a time when food shelves are struggling to accommodate demand and families are pinching pennies to buy groceries.

Sucking down 2 pounds of noodles in less than a minute just doesn’t have the attraction that it did in better economic times.



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Tent-village display a sight for sore eyes

But then there are learning opportunities that encourage young people to step outside their own limited worlds.

At Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter Thursday, an interactive tent-village display recreated a refugee city. Camp Darfur, a traveling exhibit, educates students about genocide while allowing them to consider what it might really be like to have to live as a refugee.

Face it, few young people spend much time thinking about heavy issues in faraway places. Textbooks and lectures don’t inspire them the way hands-on experiences such as these are capable of doing.



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Many supporters helped Operation Kids fundraiser

The Free Press reported Aug. 15 on The Lost Soles, who were trying to run a 200-mile, all-night relay from La Crosse, Wis., to Minneapolis.

The relay took place Aug. 22-23 and the Lost Soles came in 25th among 167 teams with the time of 28:05:12.

Our team ranged from 23-year-old athletes to a 70-year-old mature runner. If you have any doubts that Boomers and Generation X can work together, our team was the perfect demonstration. We got lost; we got rained on; we passed many runners; we got passed by many runners; we ran under the beautiful star-filled night sky, and most of all, we all had a blast even though we were entirely sleep deprived.

We could not have done this without the support of many people in our community. We would like to thank Jim Rueda, Shane Frederick and Pat Christman of The Free Press for publicizing our story.

Our team was fundraising for Operation Kids. The article helped us raise almost $800 so far.

We also thank Mark Greenwood who personally arranged a rented van and Chris and Melinda Sturm who let us use their van.

Finally, we thank our volunteer team member, Shari Frederickson, for becoming a race course manager who spent over 24 hours on the course without any sleep.

Kuma Takamura

North Mankato