Thumbs up to the long-awaited demolition of the house at 56 South St., which took place last Thursday. The city purchased the blighted property earlier this year, and we’re glad to see it come down. Hopefully, the details of the purchase of the abutting home at 58 South St., owned by convicted murderer Rory Holland, will come together soon so that building can be removed as well.

Beyond being a dangerous, condemned eyesore, these buildings hold bad memories for those in the neighborhood whose lives were negatively impacted by the 2009 murders there of Derek and Gage Greene. It’s long past time to see both lots cleared to help the city move on.

Thumbs up to the new proposals in Old Orchard Beach to review legal costs, consider a time clock for town hall employees and a payroll service. We’re glad to see that newly elected Council Chairwoman Sharri MacDonald is taking proactive steps to ensure that the town is being as fiscally responsible as possible in these days of cutting back and trimming down. If the proposed changes are approved, there will be adjustments, for sure. City officials may have to change their procedures for getting legal counsel, while employees will have to get used to punching in and out, but we’re confident the new seven-member council can work out the details and implement any changes smoothly to keep OOB as efficient as possible.

Thumbs up to the organizers and donors to the Toys for Tots program, which helps make Christmas bright for children whose parents cannot afford to purchase toys. These real-life Santa Clauses have an important mission that takes a year-long effort to coordinate, and they depend on all of us to supply the donations that make it all possible. Everyone can be one of Santa’s helpers by donating a toy, or better yet, making a monetary donation, to the cause so that organizers can purchase gifts for the very young and the older children, as donations for them are not often provided. Visit saco-me.toysfortots.org; or in southern York County, springvale-me.toysfortots.org for more information on donating and drop-off box locations.

Thumbs up to the Southern Maine Medical Center Auxiliary and all of those who donated toward its efforts to provide new equipment for the hospital. The auxiliary formerly focused on the LifeLine program, which gives seniors a direct way to call 911 without a phone, but have had to shift their focus to other efforts due to changes with that program. They chose this year to fundraise for new defibrillators that have updated technology to help emergency room staff resuscitate those who are experiencing cardiac arrest. The auxiliary has also donated new stabilettes to the maternity ward, helping babies at their most fragile stage of life. Their efforts will undoubtedly have a direct impact in saving lives, and we applaud them for all the work they’ve done in rallying the community toward their cause.

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Thumbnails is a Monday feature of the Journal Tribune’s opinion pages. If you want to respond, feel free to write to the Readers’ Forum via email at jtcommunity@journaltribune.com or by dropping your letter off at our Biddeford office.