Since Dec. 5, Butler School Board members have compiled a very good record of meeting attendance — except for Larry Goettler.

Of the 14 board meetings since that December date, Goettler has missed all but four, and all but one of the absences were regarded as unexcused.

Meanwhile, the other eight board members have missed a total of eight meetings, with all of those absences considered excused. Four directors had perfect attendance between Dec. 5 and the latest meeting on Monday — Art Bernardi, Joseph Conrad, Robert Isherwood and Linda Patten.

Goettler's poor attendance record also existed prior to Dec. 5.

Being a school director carries with it important responsibilities, one of the most basic of which is attendance at meetings.

If Goettler can't attend meetings on a regular, reliable basis, he should opt to relinquish his seat to someone who can. If he doesn't, the board should look into options for his removal.

His failure to attend a meeting since he last was present on Feb. 20 indicates a lackadaisical attitude that should be of concern not only to other board members, but also to all district residents concerned about how their school system operates.

If Goettler wants to remain on the board, regular meeting attendance should be on his agenda.

The nine Knoch High School youths charged in a months-long wave of vandalism unwittingly led to their capture by police — they began bragging to classmates.But that alone wasn't enough to apprehend the suspected vandals. Someone they bragged to had to have either notified authorities or told a parent or friend who, in turn, tipped off the police.The person or persons who provided the important information to the police are deserving of a cheer. The vandalism had escalated to the point where people were in danger of being injured or worse.After the vandalism escalated beyond mailboxes, parked vehicles and paintballs directed at homes, moving cars and trucks began being victimized by thrown objects such as rocks, bottles and, in one instance, a spike.Weekends had become an uneasy experience in the county's southeastern sector as the youths, all between 15 and 17 years old, allegedly carried out their destruction.Their increasing boldness increased the possibility of their eventually making a mistake, such as enabling a victim or witness to obtain a license number or otherwise learn an identity of one or more of the suspects. However, with their increasing notoriety came the temptation to brag, and that was their apparent undoing.

The beautiful vegetable garden in front of the Trinity Luteran Church on SunsetDrive, near the Clearview Mall, attracts the attention of passing motorists with its impressive beds of healthy plants.The neat rows of tomato and pepper plants and the lush beds of lettuce and other salad ingredients are so healthy looking, it's as if the garden has been fertilized with a secret ingredient.An article in last week's Butler Eagle revealed the secret ingredient — love and the caring attention of a group of volunteers devoted to providing healthy food to the less fortunate among us.The garden is a cooperative effort involving a number of area churches and is tied to Katie's Kitchen, which serves free meals through the efforts of Trinity Lutheran and St. Mark Evangelical on West Jefferson Street in Butler.Partially due to a drop in food donations from area grocery stores and from the desire to provide fresh and healthy food to patrons of Katie's Kitchen, organizers decided to plant the garden this spring. Garden maintenance duties are handled by members of St. Peter Roman Catholic and St. Peter's Episcopal churches in Butler and Rider Lutheran Church in West Sunbury.The garden was planted in April with the help of a local master gardener, and since then maintenance has been handled by volunteers and families from the churches who have "adopted" the beds.The 50-by-100-foot garden is the brainchild of Vicar Brian Evans, a seminary student who spent a year as an intern at Trinity and also volunteered at Katie's Kitchen. Seeing firsthand the challenge of finding enough food to feed the people who stop at Katie's Kitchen for dinner, Evans helped launch the garden idea, which was planted by volunteers using mostly donated seeds, seedlings and other supplies.A paper-recycling effort at Trinity is designed to help fund the garden, although organizers would no doubt welcome financial donations.Referring to the paper-recycling and garden project, Trinity member Janet Flecken said, "We're fighting hunger one page at a time and one vegetable at a time."Katie's Garden is a bountiful plot of land where vegetables and people appear to thrive on love and compassion. The well-tended garden serves as a reminder of both the needs and the caring in the Butler community.