Sometimes good things simply run their course and end.

When it wraps up this weekend, the annual BAMA auction will have marked 25 years of creating camaraderie among Butler area merchants while at the same time helping worthy causes.

Over its 25-year history, the BAMAauction has raised about $1 million for various local charities. This year's recipient will be the United Way of Butler County's Emergency Relief Fund.

The annual auction, in which local merchants and other businesses donate goods and services for bidding, has over the years raised money for 72 different charities. The beneficiaries of the BAMAauction run the gamut, from A to Z — from the American Red Cross and ARCof Butler County to Zelienople Historial Society and Zonta International.

Begun after a casual conversation between Butler businessmen Pete Richdale and Vince Tavolario, the auction also has been supported by Armstrong Cable through the years.

Sometime after the close of this year's final auction, members of the Butler business community and the Butler County Chamber of Commerce should engage in some creative thinking to see what sort of event could replace the BAMAauction in bringing businesses together to help the larger community.

Despite the end of the annual event, the human needs remain and the Butler Community continues to be characterized by caring and generous people.

Some guys just don't know when to quit — or when to move on to another line of work.In July, Judge Thomas Doerr stripped constable George Galovich of his badge because of two criminal convictions.Galovich had been removed from his job as a detective sergeant at the Mars police department after a 2005 conviction for taking evidence money from the Mars police station. Several months later, Galovich was convicted of taking about $3,500 that he had collected as a constable working for the county courts.Yet, Galovich, acting as his own attorney, has appealed Doerr's ruling to the state's Superior Court.If the two convictions for theft were not enough to remove Galovich from his constable job, he also has a case pending in Allegheny County where he is accused of flashing his constable's badge to a couple and telling them that he had been sent by a court to collect their 18-year-old daughter's belongings. But court records say that Galovich had no such papers or instructions.Further clouding Galovich's chances is the fact he recently bounced a check that was supposed to pay for a transcript of his case.Galovich, who was not only a respected officer with the Mars Police force but also a private detective, clearly has the odds stacked against him in getting another job in law enforcement. Doerr was correct to strip Galovich of his constable badge.But people have to wonder why it takes a court request filed by people who want Galovich's constable job for him to be removed from the constable force. There ought to be other, more automatic, mechanisms for removing someone convicted of serious crimes from the constable force.

An often-overlooked part of Butler County's transportation infrastructure, the Butler County Airport, celebrated two milestones in late September. The airport marked 77 years of operation on the same day that a new runway extension was dedicated.The runway extension took more than a decade to complete and was opposed by some local residents. But those supporting the expansion eventually prevailed. The 800-foot extension makes the runway at the airport in Penn Township one of the longest general aviation runways in Western Pennsylvania. The $7.4 million project, saw federal money cover 90 percent of the costs.The longer runway should make the airport more attractive to corporate airplanes, and that could increase the estimated $13 million a year that the airport contributes to the county economy. It is also possible that the upgraded airport's longer runway could be one factor in helping to attract a significant new employer to the county. An up-to-date airport with a longer-than-average runway cannot be overlooked as an economic development asset.Despite concerns of local residents about more air traffic at the airport or the arrival of larger planes, the longer runway does make the airport safer. The longer runway gives pilots some added margin of error and allows even smaller planes that are landing to approach the end of the runway from a slightly higher altitude — again, providing a larger margin for error.The airport, originally known as the Pittsburgh-Butler Airport and now officially called the Butler County Airport/Kenneth W. Scholter Field, has a rich history. Speakers at the runway extension dedication recalled that aviation pioneers Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh both visited the airport and received training there.Now, with the extended runway, Butler County's airport is well positioned for the future.