Oftentimes, some of the work that makes a community a better place to live and work is done by volunteers, getting things done below the radar and without much fanfare.

The annual Distinguished Service Awards sponsored by the Rotary Club of Butler and the Butler Eagle are a reminder of the important work done by volunteers.

This year's winners, Chris Ziegler and Lisa Nicholas Konesni, were, like past winners, humble and appreciative of others in accepting their awards. Speaking at Wednesday evening's awards dinner, both recognized the contributions of past DSA winners and also thanked their friends and families for support.

Recognizing past winners is important because those people, who volunteered 20 or 30 years ago, made the community a better place when today's winners were growing up. And recent winners, like Ziegler and Nicholas Konesni, are making the community better today and might inspire a spirit of volunteerism in a future DSA winner.

Ziegler, the DSA junior recipient, focused her volunteer work on the Butler-Freeport Community Trail Council, which created and maintains the 21-mile trail between Butler and the Allegheny River at Freeport. She also serves on the Butler Bicycle Advisory Commission.

Service on the Butler School Board, the Butler Public Library Board and the Butler Golden Tornado Scholastic Foundation highlighted the volunteer efforts of Nicholas Konesni. She has also worked on behalf of the Maridon Museum and the Butler County Historical Society.

Both winners, like past DSA recipients, reflect the best of Butler County and should serve as inspiration for others to get involved, volunteering with one or several organizations to make Butler County a better place to live and work.

William Ainsworth's well-deserved punishment delivers a strong message to any adult who has considered, or who might be considering, preying on an underage girl or boy.Ainsworth, of Adams Township, was handed a 14- to 28-year prison term by Butler County Judge Tim McCune after Ains-worth pleaded guilty to more than 75 crimes including involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and solicitation of unlawful contact with a minor.The charges stemmed from Ainsworth going on Facebook, garnering the trust of more than 600 unsuspecting teens in Butler, Beaver and Allegheny counties and convincing some girls to share their secrets, open their trust and send him nude photographs of themselves.Two of the girls agreed to meet Ainsworth, and one of those girls had sex with him.Ainsworth caused serious emotional harm to some of his victims, even causing a couple to make suicide attempts.Some of the girls remain in counseling; at least one girl turned to illegal drugs, trying to ease her emotional pain.Ainsworth apologized for his crimes during his court hearing, but that apology rang hollow, considering all of the young lives that he's harmed.The prison sentence handed down by McCune, coupled with the 16 years Ainsworth will be required to spend on probation, demonstrates the way courts should deal with people like this man, who had the power, understanding and ability to steer clear of such crimes. After all, he is a parent with daughters whom he didn't want to be victimized by people like him.The sentence handed down by McCune correctly delivers the message that preying on young people in this way will not be tolerated.

The coming days will be giving the Butler area an opportunity to showcase itself in a positive way to people from faraway locales.The area should make the best of the opportunities that the coming events will present.A delight to baseball fans will be the 2013 United States Collegiate Athletic Association Small College World Series, a 10-team, double-elimination event that will begin Monday morning at Pullman Park and continue through Thursday.The participating teams will be from Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Virginia, Illinois and Alabama, and it's expected that the event will attract more than 1,000 people from beyond this area.The day after the world series champion is determined, the three-day Butler County Chainsaw Carving Invitational will get under way at the Butler Farm Show grounds — an event expected to attract more than 20 of the world's top chainsaw carving artists, as well as thousands of people to watch the goings-on.It will continue through May 12.Publicity dealing with the event says “artists will be transforming blocks of wood into spectacular carvings right before your eyes using just a chainsaw.”Like the world series, it will be a family friendly event.Meanwhile, area businesses will have the opportunity to profit from the two events — hotels and motels to house visitors, restaurants to feed them and other stores and services to meet other needs.And, the events will be a public relations bonus for the local area, with visitors having the opportunity to see other tourism sites, thanks to brochures that will be available at many of the locations where the visitors will be lodged.These two events could have a longer-term positive impact.Jim Chester, tournament director, alluded to that when he said, “We held our conference tournament at Pullman Park a couple of years ago and I fell in love with the venue and how everyone was treated. This is a fitting site for our national tournament.”These two events could plant seeds for hosting other important events in coming years, if the area lives up to its often-demonstrated ability to be a great host.