Since February 2001, CHARACTER COUNTS! has made rapid inroads in this town on the Rock River near the Illinois line. The YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs, 4-H, Girl and Boy Scouts, and schools are all using it, and in October the City Council formally proclaimed CC! Week. At South Beloit Junior High, students in Angie Irving’s class grapple with ethical questions and recently made a 9/11 memorial flag by wearing red, white, and blue to school and posing for photos in front of a red, white, and blue backdrop. A sign outside the firehouse says “CHARACTER COUNTS in Our Community.” Members of the YMCA and Boys/Girls Clubs have painted windows in town, at such places at Perkins Family Restaurant. The local hospital has a CC! display. And newspapers have covered the effort, and the Beloit Daily News stated, “This worthy program deserves the support of the entire community.” Says CC! coordinator Debbie Sweger, “We have just touched the surface of what a small group of dedicated individuals can do.”