Our reader survey result: "Keep those fire trucks rolling!"

The results are in on decorahnews.com's reader survey of whether people were disturbed by the fire sirens during Saturday night's celebration of the Decorah HS girls cross country team's state championship.

158 readers e-mailed us in favor of keeping the tradition, while just 23 voted to do away with the sirens, meaning the tradition earned an 87 percent favorable response.

Those in favor of letting the sirens wail said, in part, "Kids should be able to celebrate their hard work and achievement."  Another reader pointed out, "There are many schools which will never win a championship in anything. We should feel lucky that we get the chance to be loud and obnoxious for four out of the last five years for girls cross country."  Another supporter phrased it this way: "Twenty seconds of someone wondering what's going on versus a lifetime memory for these hard working athletes and coaches."  Finally, one supporter said, "During the flooding in August, many area athletes came together to help support our community, all the while expecting nothing in return. This is such a cool way for us to give back to them, so I am all for it."

One opponent said, "We can find a less disruptive way to celebrate."  Others said it wasn't the sirens alone that bothered them: "I think we need a forewarning that it may happen-- such as saying if the girls cross country team wins, a celebration with sirens will escort them into to town!"  Said another, "I was very concerned Saturday evening, wondering what awful thing was going on!"  Still another suggested, "I don't see why they couldn't do this the next day when people are out and about and can enjoy it and the student athletes can enjoy seeing people's reactions."

But the final word came from Shania Kelly, a member of the girls cross country team: "As a girl on this team, this is one thing you always think about when a team brings home a title. It is a big accomplishment for any sport to compete at a state competition, but winning is a whole new subject. We only get to run seven girls at the state meet, and we can only take 10. There are 58 girls on our team who pushed us throughout the season and they deserve the celebration, too.  I know it may be loud and noisy and slightly late at night, but we brought a trophy back to the little town of Decorah. We love to believe the community has our backs, and this is just a great ways to celebrate, and let everyone know we did it!  Keep the fire truck rides!"