Roses to Lori Riegler, director of competitive swimming at the Chapel Hill YMCA Swim Team, and the 10 swimmers who qualified for the Long Course YMCA Nationals in Atlanta this month.

Riegler took over the program two years ago after the former head coach departed suddenly in the middle of the season. She stepped in to fill that vacuum and in a very short time has turned the team into a state powerhouse.

The Chapel Hill YMCA Swim Club is competing in the 2011 Long Course National YMCA Swimming and Diving Championships this week at the Georgia Institute of Technology Aquatics Center (site of the 1996 Olympics).

Local YMCA swimmers attending the meet are Caleb Camp, Joey Duronio, Sam Freedberg, Max Howes, Kaitlin Jones, Paige Jones, Sophie Pudik, Evan Rose, Rachel Samuelson and Josh Taekman.

These 10 swimmers qualified in more events than any in the YMCA team's history. There are about 200 teams with 1,250 swimmers in attendance at one of the fastest meets in the country.

Congratulations to all.

Roses to Heather and Tom LaGarde, who have been instrumental in helping turn Saxapahaw from a nondescript little mill town into a destination that in recent months has been prominently noted by folks such as the New York Times and Washington Post.

The LaGardes - if that name rings a bell, it may be because Tom was the center on the UNC basketball team in the mid-1970s before going on to the NBA - moved to Saxapahaw in 2004 from New York City. They fell in love with the little town on the banks of the Haw River, just over the Alamance County line, and right from the start they involved themselves in working to pump new life into it.

Collaborating with Mac Jordan, who owned the former mill buildings, they've had a hand in formative events such as launching the popular Saturdays in Saxapahaw farmers' market and live music series and recruiting Jeff Barney and Cameron Ratliff, who have turned the Saxapahaw General Store into a unique combination of old-time general store and fine dining establishment (and also recently opened a sit-down restaurant overlooking the river).

The LaGardes most recently turned a spacious portion of the former mill into the Haw River Ballroom, a live-music venue, coffee shop and event space.

Roses to Lynden Harris, Jerri Lynn Schulke and everyone else who has made the annual 10 by 10 in the Triangle festival of short plays one of the most creative and delightful events in our area.

Harris started 10 by 10 - which presents 10 complete plays, each 10 minutes long - at The ArtsCenter 10 years ago. This year Schulke, who now directs The ArtsCenter stage, has brought back 10 of the most popular plays from the first 10 years in a special Best of 10 by 10 festival.

We're already looking forward to the 20th anniversary show.