Armed with uplifting placards, encouraging business cards, paper flowers and boundless good will, a team of Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School third-graders fanned out across downtown Brunswick on Saturday. Their mission: Combat grumpiness.

For adults with a proclivity toward negativity, the self-appointed smile patrol’s youthful ambition offers a welcome tonic to the February frowns. Whether it’s soaring fuel prices, a dormant job market, chaos in Syria, name-calling on the political trail, stalemate in Augusta or other examples of “man’s inhumanity to man,” the news brims with reasons to make one chronically cantankerous.

It’s impossible to eliminate the negative, but that doesn’t mean even the most grizzled and jaded among us ought not throw some energy into accentuating the positive. So, in tribute to Brunswick’s intrepid band of anti-crankiness crusaders, here are some seasonal, local and global reasons to exercise our smile muscles:

— Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick hosted more than 500 children and young adults during vacation programs this week. Whether it’s letting young people make gnomes out of recycled materials or visit with raptors, public libraries continue to return their communities’ investments with programs and materials that safely inspire, educate and entertain people of all ages from all social strata.

— Farmers and serious gardeners have begun germinating onion seeds and other early sets in anticipation of spring planting. Meanwhile, maple sap is running, on its way to boilers for maple syrup, a Maine harbinger of spring.

— The annual Maine Principals Association high school basketball tournament enters its most dramatic phase, with regional titles on the line today and Saturday. Each year, the tourney allows adolescent athletes an opportunity to shine in a statewide spotlight, creating lifetime memories of impromptu heroics, sportsmanship, school spirit and team accomplishment.

— Under new ownership, Frosty’s Donuts is back, rolling out dozens of delicious doughnuts every day from its signature shop on Maine Street in Brunswick.

— Brunswick author Cynthia Lord’s message about understanding people with autism — and their families — continues to make its way to the far corners of the globe, most recently Minsk in Belarus. “Rules,” her Newberry Award-winning novel about the topic, has sold more than 1 million copies and been translated into 10 languages. Having a goodwill ambassador of that stature in our midst certainly inspires smiles … and pride.

— Spring training for Major League Baseball teams is officially under way in Florida and Arizona. Even after last September’s epic collapse and the departure of stalwarts Tim Wakefield, Terry Francona and Jason Varitek, the prospect of a new season and a fresh slate has to bring smiles to even the most cynical Red Sox fan.

— Best of all, residents from the Mid- coast region and throughout northern New England gathered Wednesday in Brunswick to welcome home approximately 130 U.S. Marines from Company A, 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division. The safe return of the entire contingent after a seven-month deployment to Afghanistan provides both a cause for in-the-moment happiness and perspective about life-and-death challenges that transcend grumpiness.

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