It's a remarkable development when hundreds of residents show up on a weeknight for discussions on school facilities planning, as they did Wednesday night at the Butler Intermediate School to review proposals on a schools consolidation plan.

One faction of parents and residents has gone so far as to draw up its own alternate proposal, putting countless hours of preparation and research into a 42-page proposal that rivals the original plan presented by a paid consultant.

Let's not try to diminish the importance of the issue. The public is watching because pending decisions will have an impact on the community and its schools for years to come. It will leave an imprint on a coming generation of our young people. Naturally, the public is watching.

But people are doing more than watching. They're speaking up. They are debating alternative ideas and lining up behind the proposals of their favor.

The public's involvement might be symptomatic of something very healthy happening in Butler — a growing sense of pride in ownership, an awareness that this is our town and we all have a say in how it operates.

In short, the people of Butler just might be cultivating a common vision of a brighter future. Let's hope that is the case.

Meanwhile and sadly, just the opposite appears to be happening in Butler Township, where officials have decided an advisory board on gas well drilling will meet behind closed doors.According to township solicitor Larry Lutz, the public can be restricted from attending the meetings of a township committee as long as the discussion is not directly related to a decision coming before the township commissioners.Lutz says there's court precedent that supports the decision to meet in secret.We're not buying it. If the committee isn't discussing matters related to a decision coming before the commissioners, then why have a committee in the first place? And by the same token, if the committee's mission is simply to gather facts and data, then what harm is there in doing so before the public eye?The Pennsylvania Newspaper Association criticized the decision as short-sighted — and illegal. PNA media law counsel Melissa Melewski said court proceedings “don't rewrite the law.”The haste with which this committee was thrown together, and the murkiness of its mission, fuel our suspicion that it will be a do-nothing body whose only true purpose is to insulate the commissioners from opponents of gas wells in residential areas.When it locks the door, the township government shows contempt for the public it was created to serve. It demonstrates a disdain for the citizen to sustains it, for the taxpayer who feeds it.The public shouldn't put up with it.

Important anniversaries were marked by two valued local human service organizations in the past week and they both deserve a heartfelt cheer.Serving Butler residents in the early years of life, the Butler Montessori School is celebrating 40 years of service to Butler's preschool children and their parents. Serving Butler residents who have lived seven or eight decades beyond their preschool years, Butler Meals on Wheels is celebrating 45 years of operation.Meals on Wheels is run by rotating group of 180 local volunteers and operates on charitable donations, meaning no government funding. As its name implies, it provides a delivered meal to housebound residents, often living alone. But just as important as the meal is to the clients, it's the human contact that really matters.Volunteers delivering for Meals on Wheels know their clients and have contact information in case they notice an issue in the home or a change in the client's behavior or attitude.Having a warm meal delivered at lunchtime along with a friendly face and a few minutes of chatting can mean the world to a person living alone. This service is also a blessing to adult children living away from Butler who worry about their aging parents. Meals on Wheels is a comfort for so many — knowing healthy food is being delivered five days a week by a caring person who also acts as something of a monitor for an aging parent living alone.The volunteers sometimes say they view their service as just helping their neighbors, but their clients and the clients' families see it as much more.At the other end of the age range, children at the Butler Montessori School are prepared for school by teachers following the philosophies of founder Maria Montessori who developed her education approach focusing on language, motor education and sensory education in Italy in the early 1900s.In Butler, the Montessori school has helped children prepare for school — and life — with a loving, supportive environment encouraging self-motivation and recognizing different styles of learning.Not surprisingly, computers are not part of the learning process at the Butler Montessori School, which has 26 students enrolled this year. “We still want them to use their imagination and bring out their creativity” is the way longtime teacher Christine Love put it.Cheers to these two long-serving organizations that make Butler a better place to live.