The more you watch and read the mainstream media accounts of how this country is just heading straight into Armageddon the more bleak most folk's outlook becomes on the world around them.

It does our hearts good when members of our community pour out in record numbers on a 90 degree day to build a community playground named in the honor of one of its own, Mary Beth Malcom.

The efforts by the volunteers on this first big step toward the completion of the planned YMCA Outdoor Center was nothing short of marvelous.

We especially recognize the members of Eastridge Community Church, the employees of Home Depot and BARD.

We suggest that the next time the mainstream media reports depress you go to the Covington News Web site, www.covnews.com, and read and look at the positive aspects of everyday life in Covington and Newton County.

Surely a land of pleasant living and giving.