I wanted to send the RISSE soccer kids back to Albany with some token of their visit to the country. I wanted to thank them.

I called up Scott Carrino who is boiling maple syrup this week from fresh sap gathered at Pompanuck Farm. Maple syrup is expensive these days, so I ordered 15 four dollar jars. Some of the kids had never heard of maple syrup, others were excited to get it. This maple syrup is delicious.

I was happy to see all the classy sneakers donated by the Army Of Good over the past few months.

The soccer team players say that most of them played soccer in the mud barefoot or in flip-flops back in their native countries. They were shocked to find that American soccer players wore sneakers from Europe and designed uniforms.

We aren’t going that far, but we are catching up. They look pretty snappy these days. The kids say their new uniforms give them pride and dignity.

The team is on a huge winning streak, just a few more games to go in the soccer tournament they are not playing in.