Opinion
Thanks for help with family prom
To the editor,
The BEACON Coalition's First Family Prom & BEACON Awards was a tremendous success! We had over 100 guests at the prom ranging from ages 5 to 75, a real family affair. Thanks to our many donors, we were able to have wonderful family activities and restaurant baskets for our blind auction. Our restaurant donors included Angie's, Oregano Pizzeria & Ristorante, Flatbread Company, Giuseppe's, Szechuan Taste & Thai Cafe, Boston Chowda, Stripers Grille, Abraham's Bagels & Pizza, The Purple Onion, and The Upper Crust Pizzeria. Our family activity donors included Metro Rock, Water Country, Museum of Science, Zoo New England, Boston Duck Tours, Strawbery Banke, Children's Museum, York's Wild Kingdom, New England Aquarium, Isles of Shoals Steamship Company and Essential Living.
We hosted a nonalcoholic beverage competition with several local restaurants. Thank you to Matt Kirk of Michael's Harborside who coordinated this fun activity. The participating restaurants were Not Your Average Joe's, Michael's Harborside, and Ten Center Street. The winning beverage was Not Your Average Joe's Raspberry Lime Rickey. This activity complemented our first Alcohol-Free Weekend. I would also like to thank the area churches that helped distribute our "Alcohol Isn't On My List This Weekend" buttons.
The Teens Against Tobacco Use group, recipients of BEACON Awards, premiered their myth-busting video about smoking in high school. It is meant to send a message to middle school students that you don't need to smoke cigarettes to be cool. NHS senior Haley Morris produced the video with help from other members of TATU. Award recipients also included community members Lynn Kinsella, Keith Carter, Carlie Lewis, Deirdre Budzyna, Barry Hopping, Damon Nilsson, Debbie O'Carroll, Paige Hall and Nick LaValley.
I would also like to thank the following people and businesses for helping to make the family prom a success: Susan Mackie, Hodgie's Ice Cream for their ice cream sundae bar, Chef's of the Old World for their wonderful family-friendly buffet, Sweethaven Photography and Crystal Entertainment. Our goal was to create an alcohol-free event that the entire family would enjoy. To quote one of our teen promgoers, "I am a teenager and even I had fun!"
Sarah Hayden,
Prevention Project Director
The BEACON Coalition
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Why Labor Day?
Ah, Labor Day! The lovely bitter-sweet holiday that closes out summer's outings and school vacations. Ever wonder what the celebration is all about?
On Sept. 5, 1882, 10,000 union workers marched through the streets of New York. This first Labor Day celebration culminated in a family picnic and concert featuring speeches by union leaders, including Carpenter's Union firebrand Peter McGuire, the champion of the eight-hour workday. Twelve years later, Congress recognized the importance of the Labor Movement and adopted Labor Day as a national holiday. -
Summer's end? Maybe not
This is not your typical Labor Day weekend.
For one thing, it's late. In most communities, the kids are already back in school. And this year, a dry summer seems to have many trees changing their colors and shedding their leaves at a faster pace than normal. -
Would you like an A with that?
Students returning to a few colleges around the country, including Boston University, may be delighted to find a campus bookstore now renting texts on-line at half price. I just hope they don't call the discount "cool."
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We want to hear from you
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Some deserve help, others don't
To the editor:
I don't understand what is wrong. We have people who are on welfare. They say they are too poor, but they can afford to buy drugs and beer and gamble and even a new car. But how does our state aid really work? Do the state workers really check to see what is going on right under their noses? From where I stand, I don't see it. But the ones who are honest don't get any help at all. We have some people who are on a fixed income and they get $10 a month in food stamps. What does that buy? A pound of lunch meat, a loaf of bread and they might get a gallon of milk or two. I was told from a state worker that if I left my husband, I would get help and more in food stamps. And I told them, funny. You think that I am going to give up my husband just so I can get help from the state? No. - September 4, 2010
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Why Labor Day?
