It seems as if the city of Greenville has had its share of tragedy lately – first, the death of Ceddrick Mack, which shocked and surprised everyone and second, the astonishing demise of the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia as they prepared to culminate a successful science mission in space.

After such devastating events, it was with pleasure that we learned the Notre Dame students will be returning to show off their plans for "jazzing up" our fair town.

According to Main Street member Ann Daughtry, the students will return on May 2 – ALL of them. Although the original plan (and the usual way the project is conducted) called for only two or three students to return, the students had such a wonderful time while they were here that they all wanted to return.

"They said that they wanted to come even if it means paying for their own air fare," Daughtry said.

It seems that the host families and our town's southern hospitality have charmed the students and their instructors.

"The food was fantastic and everyone is so friendly," student Katie Bourchadt told the charette attendees. "We absolutely loved our time here."

Daughtry and Marianne Hamilton related several conversations in which the students proclaimed that this trip was by far the best the Notre Dame troup had been involved with so far.

"It's not usual for them to be so excited about coming back," Daughtry said. "But they were really impressed with our city, the people and the atmosphere here. They told us we had treated them better than any other group. I think we should be proud of ourselves."

Our hats are off to the families who took the students in during their stay in January: Pete and Marianne Hamilton, John and Ann Daughtry, Steve and Jill Stallworth, Magoo and Bill Hamilton, among others. Our apologies if we didn't list your names.

We also salute the Main Street members, the city of Greenville dignitaries, the members of First Baptist Church and the Arts Council for all of their hard work that made the Notre Dame project a success.