With the snow and ice mostly melted today, perhaps it’s a good time to say “thanks” to a few important groups of people in our community.

First, after reading about the horrible conditions that other portions of the South found themselves in when they delayed decisions about what to do ahead of the potential snow and ice storm, we realize just how fortunate the Miss-Lou was.

A large portion of that fortune, however, comes not from luck, but from simply being prepared and being smart. Rather than try to sneak in a portion of a day, our school leaders wisely called off school and kept our community’s children out of harm’s way.

Children in portions of Alabama and Georgia were not so lucky, many being forced to spend the night with teachers huddled in their schools, all because school leaders chose to gamble that weather forecasters’ call for a “dusting” of snow would be accurate. It wasn’t.

Again, thanks to our cautious school leaders, our children’s safety was put first.

Second, we offer a thank you to all the emergency response personnel and road maintenance workers who tried hard to keep our community’s transportation infrastructure as functional as possible given the snow and ice — and the limited tools at their disposal.

Finally, we thank you — at least the majority of you — for being smart and trying to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary and driving slowly when travel was necessary. Although law enforcement officials report having logged more than 100 traffic calls in the area, the number could have been much, much worse.

We’re fortunate the area didn’t see widespread loss of electrical power or catastrophic highway accidents. Clearly, caution and common sense are among the best ways to stay out of trouble.