Our View: Can future parking projects relieve Mayo’s space jam? 

This just in: Water is wet, Minnesota winters are cold, and Mayo Clinic is pretty darn big.

Still, it must not have been only our eyes that were agog at the figure reported last week regarding the Clinic’s local supply of parking spaces: 17,000 . That includes some 14,000 spaces just for employees.

And get this: Mayo’s five-year development plan outlines plans for even more – in all, 12 separate new parking facilities are possible in that time frame.

The key word here is “possible,” and given the current embrace of at-home work for a sizable portion of Mayo’s employees, we’d be surprised if many of these parking projects make it off – or in this case, we guess it’s into – the ground.

Continued Mayo Clinic growth is good for Rochester, and whether these spaces are built or not, we give the vision for growth a cautious thumbs up. And if added parking means a shorter walk to some future medical appointment, then we like it even better.

How was your winter getaway? Assuming you had one, chances are it wasn’t as exhilarating or as rewarding as the trip south a group of area students enjoyed.

Sixteen dancers from Wabasha’s Just for Kix studio, grades three to nine, flew south to Tampa, Florida, where they performed in pregame and halftime routines for the Jan. 1 Outback Bowl .

Local donors helped fund the trip at about $1,600 per student, which included their travel costs as well as fun activities such as a trip to Busch Gardens, plus a little souvenir money.

We like to see kids have these kinds of experiences that expand their horizons a bit. And we like the effect of a community coming together to support them. That calls for a high kick, and a big thumbs up.

Speaking of local donor support, it’s hard not to smile at the tail – er, tale – of the Goodhue Lions millionth-dollar donation to the community school .

Thanks to the club’s $6,000 contribution, Winny, a Bernese mountain dog and poodle mix, will be walking the hallways and offering her silent support to the Goodhue student body as a trained therapy dog.

"If a student is having a bad day, they get a pick-me-up from petting a dog for a little bit," said Evan Gough, the district's superintendent. "There's an emotional well-being from connecting with an animal like that."

The Lions Club has distributed $1 million in just 15 years, which raises the question in Goodhue: Who exactly is the community’s best friend – dog or Lions? You can’t have too many friends, we guess. Thumbs up.