Community Friends

THUMBS UP: New Ulm Community Friends has done it again. Close to 1,100 people were served at the New Ulm Community Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. It was one of the biggest turnouts in the 34-year history of the dinner.

The food was delicious, and people had a chance to get together and enjoy the holiday with each other. This lets people who might otherwise be alone on the holiday to enjoy socializing with others, and gives people who find it harder to prepare a big meal for family to get everyone together.

Holiday decorations

THUMBS UP: In the past few years there has been much debate about the traditional holiday garlands that have decked downtown New Ulm for decades. Due to safety and litigation concerns, the city has replaced the garlands with something else.

The last couple of nights those new decorations have been on display, and we must say they are cheery. Christmas wreaths festooned with lights are on every street lamp post, and many trees downtown have been strung with lights as well.

There may be many who miss the garlands, but these new decorations fit the bill very well.

Safer intersections

THUMBS UP: The City of New Ulm is applying for state funds to put up Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons, a fancy name for street signs with flashing lights on the top to let motorists know when pedestrians are crossing the street. The city is working on getting the beacons at six busy intersections in town. The Brown County Board of Commissioners this week passed a resolution supporting the city’s application for funds.

The city has plenty of high volume traffic streets where crossing is a challenge. Anything the city can do to make some of these intersections safer is a welcome development.