Thumbs up to the Empty Bowls fundraiser for the Powell Valley Loaves and Fishes (PVLF) food bank.

Northwest College ceramics instructor Elaine DeBuhr and her students will serve a simple meal of soup in a hand-thrown bowl and bread for $10 on Tuesday and ask guests to keep their empty bowl as a reminder of hunger in the world.

The first come-first served meal will be dished up from 5:30-7 p.m. at The Commons at Pond Park. NWC ceramics students and Art Club members will serve a choice of three soups, including a gluten-free vegetarian option, and fresh bread. All the food will be prepared by Aramark Food Services, which serves NWC.

The students and their instructor are working hard to complete 400 bowls for the event. Let’s hope all are used, to provide both a good meal and a good message.

Thumbs up to the Powell High School volleyball team, which swept to a 3A state title on Nov. 2.

“Teamwork makes the dream work” was the team motto, and the team made sure that was not just words. They went into the state tourney as a longshot, but won every match three sets to one. As the higher-ranked teams fell, it became clear the Panthers were going to make their dream come true.

The volleyball squad was given a boost by the PHS football team, which played a game in the area Nov. 1 and stopped at the state tournament the next day to offer vocal support. We’re sure a lot of Powell fans will be in Laramie Friday — in body or spirit — to cheer on the gridiron team as it seeks its third state title in a row.

It’s a good time to be a Panther.

Thumbs down to people who drive without their seat belt.

We’re publishing our annual winter car care special section with this issue, and it’s packed with interesting features and useful tips. Drivers, no matter how long they have been behind the wheel, need to be reminded that winter conditions are often treacherous and can be at times deadly.

That’s all the more reason to click that seat belt. We are weary of reporting stories when a driver or passenger is killed or seriously injured and having to add the line that seat belts were not used. It can make all the difference in the world.

Early Friday morning, an area woman rolled her pickup after losing control in icy conditions. She was trapped inside and had to be extricated by emergency responders. But she was treated and released at a hospital.

One reason, likely the main reason, that she came away largely unscathed is because she was wearing her seat belt. If you don’t always wear yours, learn from her example.

Thumbs up to the reopening of the Sleeping Giant Ski Area.

The nonprofit ski area, located 48 miles west of Cody off U.S. Highway 14-16-20, opens for the season Saturday and special events are scheduled to entice people to take part in the winter fun. Snow-making efforts have been underway in an effort to give Mother Nature a helping hand.

Lift tickets will be priced at $10 for the day and $1 per ride.

The “Sleepy G Jamboree” is an annual event, and you can get to the ski hill by boarding a bus at Cody High School at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. A student obstacle course and scavenger hunt will be waiting. Visitors are encouraged to wear vintage ski attire and show it off in a 2:30 p.m. fashion show on the slope. The lifts will close at 5 p.m. and a torchlight parade will follow, leading to a bonfire to put some heat on the launch of the cold-weather sports season.

Thumbs up to the human spirit and a display of the best of it Monday in England.

Harold Jellicoe Percival, a 99-year-old World War II veteran who died last month, was to be cremated in Lytham, Lancashire. Percival never married, and had no close family members or friends.

An undertaker placed a notice of the service, scheduled for what is known as Armistice Day in Great Britain, in the local newspaper. He wrote that Percival had died without the comfort of loved ones near. “Any service personnel who can attend his funeral service would be appreciated,” the brief story stated.

Word spread. And spread. When “Coe,” as Percival was known, was cremated, more than 300 people were there, including veterans who stuffed themselves into their uniforms, student cadets and soldiers who came to support a brother in arms they never met. Even some of Percival’s distant relatives stirred themselves to come to the service, and flowers and notes of sympathy came from across the globe.

The Rev. Alan Clark, who presided over the service, quoted John Donne: “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”