We hereby deliver: ROSES to Corvallis, and a happy 150th celebration. Aside from perhaps the last warm weather of summer, the day was a toast to the place we call home, complete with great music from our homegrown dignitaries, rock star Meredith Brooks and some awesome cake and gelato.

As pleased as we have been to be part of the ongoing celebration, we're equally pleased to just be a part of Corvallis. Calling this "home" is a daily cause for celebration.

• RASPBERRIES to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Officials seized two pet deer that a Molalla family raised from tiny orphaned fawns. Now the tame deer face an uncertain future. If they can't be released into the wild or if a suitable facility isn't found, they will be destroyed.

What sense does this make?

Yes, there are perfectly good rules about not keeping wild animals as pets. They deserve a chance to live their lives in the wild, and tame deer do pose a health threat to wild deer.

But in this case, it makes no sense to leave a family grieving for the loss of these deer and to destroy deer that could happily and safely live out their lives.

Perhaps the ODFW could arrange a special certification to license this family to care for a limited number of deer … say two. Say … these two.

• ROSES to an example of why we're pleased to be citizens of Corvallis, as relayed by teacher Laura Braucht.

Tuesday afternoon, she was picking up supplies for an ailing pet at the Oregon State University animal hospital on campus when she placed her red wallet on the bumper of her SUV. Red wallet. Red bumper. Brief brain vacation.

Needless to say, we wouldn't be writing about this unless the wallet didn't make the trip home to southeast Corvalis, where she realized what happened and began making frantic calls.

Vet clinic personnel searched the parking lot but no wallet. Laura was calling her bank and credit card companies when she received a call after 5 p.m. from the OSU business office.

An adult man, perhaps in his middle years, turned in the wallet. He didn't leave his name.

"I just want to let him know how very grateful I am," Laura said. "He must have found it just after I left the vet clinic. It was a miracle that it was turned in and nothing was gone."

Actually, we're happy to say that this sort of thing isn't all that rare in Corvallis; we publish items such as this several times a year. Still, it never fails to brighten our day to know some people just do the right thing, and don't expect anything for it.

• RASPBERRIES to the ugliest form of fair-weather fan: We can understand how fans of the Oregon State University Beavers were dismayed at the 34-3 drubbing the team endured Sept. 6 against Cincinnati on that team's home turf. It was a long way to go for a humiliation.

Yes, this was not the team's finest moment, and it has prompted a good deal of second-guessing about the coming season, the coaching and the quarterback. But some of the rude comments went beyond natural speculation well into the churlish and revealed some critics as fair-weather fans.

Let's remember that we're talking about some impressionable young people here. And let's not forget those ill-conceived early season "Dump Riley" signs from last year …

Patience.

• ROSES to ultra mountaineer Pam Otley of Corvallis, who on Aug. 30 scrambled to the summit of the 9,673-foot Twin Peak, having achieved her goal of climbing 100 of Oregon's highest peak. This possibly makes her the first woman ever to do so.

Since starting on her quest in the early 1990s, Otley has climbed everything from the 11,239-foot Mount Hood to the 7,834-foot Crook Peak in southern Oregon. For most of her adventures, she has been accompanied by her boyfriend, Jay Avery of Portland, who merits ROSES as well for this phenomenal feat.

You can read more about their fantastic climbing adventures at www.mazamas.org.

• ROSES to another amazing wilderness feat: Survival. Few people expected to find Doris Anderson alive. After all, the 76-year old woman from Sandy had been missing for 13 days in the Wallowa Mountains after her husband was injured on a bow hunting trip.

Rescuers found him after a day or so, suffering from a broken wrist. But the search for his wife was scaled back after more than a week passed.

ROSES to Baker County law enforcement officers, who didn't give up. They were investigating a large flock of circling ravens expected only to find Anderson's remains. Instead, they heard faint sounds "as if from a kitten" on Sept. 7.

Still weak, Anderson slowly is recovering, but she has yet to give a full account of what happened. We remain interested.

ROSE (roz) n. One of the most beautiful of all flowers, a symbol of fragrance and loveliness. Often given as a sign of appreciation.

RASPBERRY (raz'ber'e) n. A sharp, scornful comment, criticism or rebuke; a derisive, splatting noise, often called the Bronx cheer.