The week's good news: February 20, 2020
It wasn't all bad!
- 1. Maine woman's long-lost class ring found an ocean away
- 2. Florida 10-year-old hopes to spark global movement to keep beaches clean
- 3. Cab driver intervenes and saves passenger from falling for a $25,000 scam
- 4. Entire plane showers new parents and just-adopted daughter with love
- 5. This 98-year-old Girl Scout has been selling cookies every year since 1932
1. Maine woman's long-lost class ring found an ocean away
No one can explain how a class ring lost in Maine 47 years ago was just found in Finland, but it now means even more to owner Debra McKenna. The ring belonged to her high school sweetheart, Shawn. He gave it to her in 1973 when he went away to college, and not long after, McKenna lost it while shopping. She forgot about the ring, but not Shawn — the pair wed in 1977, and remained married until 2017, when Shawn died of cancer. Last month, a man was using his metal detector in a park in Kaarina, Finland, and under about eight inches of dirt, he found a ring with a blue stone. It was inscribed with "Morse High School," "1973," and "S.M." He notified the school's alumni association, and they determined it belonged to Shawn McKenna. When his widow learned that the long-lost ring had been found, "there was a lot of weeping," she told the Bangor Daily News.
2. Florida 10-year-old hopes to spark global movement to keep beaches clean
Sasha Olsen is on a mission to clean up the world's oceans and beaches, and hopes other kids will join her. The 10-year-old from Bal Harbour, Florida, was saddened to see polluted water during a trip to Japan and Vietnam last summer, and became even more discouraged when several South Florida beaches were closed due to bacteria. "I wanted to know why things were this way, but couldn't find an answer," Olsen told the Miami Herald. She joined forces with her cousin Narmina Aliyev to start a nonprofit called Iwantmyoceanback. The group holds beach cleanups and fundraisers, with kids learning how to stop pollution and creating art out of micro plastics found in the water. Iwantmyoceanback is spreading the word online, too, through Olsen's YouTube series Table Talks. She chats with guests about protecting the ocean, and they create a painting together that is signed by the guest and auctioned off as a fundraiser.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
3. Cab driver intervenes and saves passenger from falling for a $25,000 scam
When a Northern California cab driver realized that his 92-year-old passenger was about to become the victim of a scam, he devised a plan to save her. Roseville Cab owner Raj Singh picked the woman up from her home two weeks ago, and she directed him to drive her to the bank. The woman told Singh she received a call from someone who said she owed the IRS $25,000, and was on her way to withdraw the money. Immediately, Singh determined she had been targeted by a scam artist, but the woman didn't believe him. Singh suggested the pair stop by the police station in Roseville, where an officer could talk about the scam with her. The woman agreed, and after speaking with an officer, she fully understood that the call was not from the IRS. Singh drove her back home, and the woman's money remains safely in the bank.
4. Entire plane showers new parents and just-adopted daughter with love
It was a flight Dustin and Caren Moore will never forget. The Moores boarded a Southwest Airlines plane in Colorado, headed to California. They were flying home with their newly adopted infant daughter, who was just eight days old. The Moores shared a bit of their story with a flight attendant, and soon the whole plane knew. Another flight attendant announced over the intercom that the Moores, who had been trying to start a family for nine years, were flying home with their new baby. The entire plane "just erupted in cheers and whistles," Dustin told Good Morning America. Flight attendants passed out napkins to passengers so they could write down words of encouragement and advice for the new parents, and people kept coming up to the family to share their congratulations. "We were stunned and overwhelmed," Dustin said. They left the plane with about 60 napkins from well-wishers.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
5. This 98-year-old Girl Scout has been selling cookies every year since 1932
If the Girl Scouts ever decide to create a badge for Dedication, it should have Ronnie Backenstoe's picture on it. Backenstoe, 98, joined the Girl Scouts in 1932 at age 10, and has been involved ever since. The Wernersville, Pennsylvania, resident has been selling cookies for the last 88 years, both as a member and a leader, and is still active with a local troop. The girls recently visited Backenstoe at her retirement community, where they set up shop and sold cookies to residents. Things are different now than they were in 1932, when there were just three types of cookies and each box cost 15 cents. Backenstoe continues to get great joy from selling cookies alongside her fellow troop members, and said being a Girl Scout shaped who she is today. "I think it was just part of living, and that's really what Girl Scouting is — it teaches you how to live," Backenstoe told WFMZ.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Today's political cartoons - October 8, 2024
Cartoons Tuesday's cartoons - double whammy weather, high stakes voters, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Humans are near peak life expectancy, study finds
Speed Read Unless there is a transformative breakthrough in medical science, people on average will reach the age of 87
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Georgia top court reinstates abortion ban
Speed Read The Georgia Supreme Court moved to restore the state's six-week abortion ban. Many women do not yet know they are pregnant at six weeks.
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
The week's good news: Sept. 21, 2023
It wasn't all bad!
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
The week's good news: Sept. 14, 2023
It wasn't all bad!
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
The week's good news: Sept. 7, 2023
feature It wasn't all bad!
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Lives transformed by swimming with Newfoundland dogs
feature Good news stories from the past seven days
By The Week Staff Published
-
The week's good news: August 31, 2023
feature It wasn't all bad!
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
The week's good news: August 17, 2023
feature It wasn't all bad!
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Earring lost at sea returned to fisherman after 23 years
feature Good news stories from the past seven days
By The Week Staff Published
-
Farmer plants 1.2m sunflowers as present for his wife
feature Good news stories from the past seven days
By The Week Staff Published