The series is aptly named "What's good about Gillette."

And without doubt, Pam Jackson, a library assistant at Paintbrush Elementary School, is something good about Gillette.

After 9/11, she donated time, energy and money to organize a school-wide project that raised funds for victims and their families.

"I made me feel like I was doing something," Jackson told the Gillette News-Record. "And I think it's important for kids to know that there is a lot of satisfaction in helping other people. It makes you feel good, too."

Since the 2001 terrorist attacks, Jackson has helped during every major national tragedy - and some international tragedies, too.

She helped during the 2004 tsunami in Thailand, and organized another money-raising event a year later to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. She even helped raise $25,000 for a co-worker's son, who had been diagnosed with lymphoma.

"People are really generous," she said to the News-Record. "If you go and ask them they will help you. And I think people want to give but they don't know how to do it."

Now, at least in Gillette, they have Jackson to show them the way.

(Newcastle) Man of the Year

So it seems 2008 was a good year, for at least a few people, if not for the United States as a whole.

On the first day of the new year, Don Thorson of Weston County was dubbed the News Letter Journal's "2008 Person of the Year."

Although Thorson has escaped the harsh Wyoming winter winds by living in Arizona during the cold season, he makes frequent trips home - a 1,100 mile trip.

A former legislator credited with trying to find a better distribution system for mineral taxes (which was met with some resistance), Thorson is the kind of guy who knows that in a growing community trying to balance old ideas with new, "it's always easier to be against something than for it."

"I spent enough time in the legislature to find out I didn't want to make a profession of it, and I can't claim any great accomplishments on any of those things, but I still participated," Thorson told the Journal. "If you take a lot of little things, pretty soon they add up to something significant."

10-pin petition

It's a classic tale of save-the-little-guy.

A cute, tropical-themed bowling alley in Torrington, called Ten Pin Tropics, could be sold. And torn down.

By McDonald's.

The alley, a landmark, stands on the same location it has for more than 40 years, and generations of bowlers have made it their sport-home.

But according to a story in the Midweek Telegram, all that could change now that owner Donna Beth Downer has decided to sell to the fast-food corporate giant.

The only question left: Where will the people of the greater Torrington area bowl? It could be the end of bowling as they know it.

One can only hope the bowlers of Torrington will fight against the change, perhaps by coming up with money to buy the building themselves. A bowling co-op!

Contact columnist Megan Lee at (307) 266-0616 or megan.lee@trib.com