Thumbs up to the county’s police departments, State Police and the York County Sheriff’s Office for their cooperative work that brought about the arrests of several people involved in area burglaries. Since September, a rash of residential robberies ”“ about 30 of them ”“ had been reported in Hollis, Waterboro, Dayton, Lyman, Arundel, Kennebunk, Wells, Biddeford and Saco and South Portland, and in nearby New Hampshire.

In these daytime burglaries, criminals broke into unoccupied homes and took valuables such as laptops and jewelry, which are easily carried away and fenced. If not for the collaboration and information sharing between these agencies, these crimes would likely not have been solved, or at least not as quickly. As it was, each agency made solving the crimes as their first priority, rather than garnering kudos for doing it alone, and now they are all sharing in praise for a job very well done ”“ especially from those whose homes were violated.

Thumbs up to those who organized the first-ever Diversity Day at Biddeford Adult Education, which took place Nov. 20. Students in the adult education program, who hail from 13 different countries, had a chance to share their culture with their peers and the staff by setting up displays of clothing, food and other items from their native country. Students said they learned a lot about their classmates’ backgrounds and had a chance to get to know each other better. When immigrants come to America, they learn a lot about the culture here, as they should so they can integrate well into this society, but our “melting pot” is also geared toward celebrating our respective heritage, whatever it may be. No resource is as great as a native ”“ in person no less ”“ when it comes to learning about other countries, and we’d love to see Diversity Day continue next year, and even be expanded to allow high school students a chance to visit these booths as well.

Thumbs up to the impressive community effort in Springvale to improve the village with new streetlights, fencing and sidewalks. This was a true grassroots effort, with more than 80 businesspeople and residents donating $220,000 toward the work. That amount, which includes the City of Sanford’s appropriation of $50,000, brings the project to within $20,000 of its costs. Lionel Sevigny, in particular, is to be applauded for tirelessly spearheading this effort and continuing to see it through. The window of opportunity for the downtown improvements was small, as it had to align with a paving project scheduled for this past summer, and he was joined by supporters who made it all come together in a short period of time. All of those who donated time, effort and money can be proud of what they have accomplished, which will serve the village well for years to come.

Thumbs up to the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Saco and Biddeford for hosting a World AIDS Day ceremony again this past Sunday, Dec. 1, complete with sections of the AIDS Memorial Quilt on display. AIDS seems to have fallen off the radar for many people, thanks to the significant improvements in treatment that have developed over the years, but it’s important for us to remember that it continues to be a scourge worldwide. The event in Saco is organized by Gloria Sheehan, who lost her son to AIDS when he was only 31. Memorial events such as these serve not only to honor the memories of those lost to this disease, but also to promote the fight against AIDS, both of which are more than worthy causes.

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