HIT: To the Cayuga County Soil and Water Conservation District's Trade-a-Tree program. The program offers residents a way to recycle their old Christmas trees.

The trees are mulched and later used in county projects while the resident gets a voucher for an American Beech tree. It's a great way to recycle a precious natural resource and much better than just leaving the tree on the street.

MISS: To the time of the year when carbon monoxide leaks can occur. With plummeting temperatures, some residents use heating methods that can cause the creation of deadly carbon monoxide. And sometimes even conventional furnaces and stoves can simply malfunction.

Regardless of your heating source, make sure you have a working carbon monoxide detector in your residence. Your life and the ones of your family's may depend on it. Make it a New Year's resolution.

HIT: To local musician Kevin Dorsey, whose new release helps raise funds for Hospice of the Finger Lakes. Dorsey's father received services from hospice, so this is a wonderful way for Dorsey to not just remember his father but also help out others who need hospice's help.

If you like local music, it's a worthy pickup and a way to give local hospice some help.

HIT: To the efforts of local, county and state snowplow drivers that helped keep local roads passable during the New Year's holiday.

Whether you were going out to a New Year's Eve party or an activity on New Year's Day, snowplow drivers from Sterling to Summer Hill, on back roads and the Thruway, were out mornings and evenings to make sure you could travel in safety.

It's easy to take plowed roads for granted but in these tough economic times, it's important to remember the money and effort it takes to clear ice and snow.