In these troubled times it's encouraging and refreshing to read stories that involve courage, perseverance and success. In Friday's paper we ran two such stories on the front page. If you missed them you can go to CovNews.com and read them.

The first story involved Covington Police Detective Daniel Seals. Seals and his family were involved in a serious automobile accident in October of last year.

After the accident Seals first made sure that his family was safe, and then he directed people who stopped to help to pull the driver of the other car out of her burning vehicle - probably saving her life. This alone makes him a hero.

It was only after these heroics that Seals felt an intense pain engulf his entire body. He was airlifted to Atlanta in critical condition. He told reporter Amber Pittman that his main concern during this whole ordeal was the safety of his family.

Seals survived and went through grueling rehabilitation to be able to walk again. He set goals for himself and walked ahead of the estimated schedule of his doctors.

He is not quite back to normal, but he is pretty close. His family and support network of other law enforcement officers will tell you he's tough - as evidenced by his recently participation in the Athens Eco Adventure.

Detective Seals, you're a hero, and you have shown all of us what it is like not to give up on yourself.

Other good news on Friday's front page was a story detailing how a local businessman's resolve managed to save his dream.

Louis Van Dyke, the owner of the Blue Willow Inn and Village, which brings hundreds of thousands of visitors to our area every year, almost lost his life's work. A year ago he completed a village of shops behind the famed inn. The village was intended to add much needed commerce to the community. Unfortunately, the bottom fell out of the real estate market just as the village opened.

As a result, Van Dyke fell behind in his mortgage payments as many hundreds of our neighbors have.

The bank threatened to take the village away from him, but he did not concede. He fought with everything he had and this week he and the bank came to a fair agreement. Van Dyke gets to keep his village and, thereby, the community has a chance to grow with the additional tax revenue produced.

Louis Van Dyke is also a hero who should give every small businessman hope that they can achieve and maintain their dreams.

Louis Van Dyke and Detective Daniel Seals are two examples of why living in our community is truly a blessing.

Click Here to see the full Van Dyke and Here to see the full story on Seals