Westport in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Thursday, June 9, 2016
photos/EverythingWestport.com except as
noted
Ugandan Kids Spread Hope for Children in Poverty at
Westport Point church.
Yarn Donated to Saint Vincent's will be used to Make
Handmade Afghan Blankets.
Book Fair turns fifty-five, still going strong.
23 Local Firefighters Graduate
State Firefighting Academy.
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Ugandan Kids Spread Hope for Children in Poverty. EverythingWestport.com Thursday,
June 9, 2016 Westport Point, MA – The Ugandan Kids Choir, a
group of ten talented Ugandan children, has announced that they will be
performing at Westport Point United Methodist Church on Wednesday, June 29th
at 7:00 p.m. All
ten children have been given hope through Childcare Worldwide’s
Sponsorship Program and now they are here to spread that hope to audiences all
across the United States. The choir has performed nationwide at churches,
schools, at Disneyland, on King 5 Television’s “New Day Northwest,” at Qwest
Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks. Choir
of ten children perform traditional Ugandan songs and dances while
raising awareness on the power of child sponsorship. These
children delight audiences with traditional African songs and dances. Megan DiRienzo, Curator of Education at the San Angelo The
Ugandan Kids Choir is a ministry of Childcare Worldwide, which has been
dedicated to empowering children in the developing world since 1981. Through
child sponsorship, Childcare Worldwide brings hope to children in need by
providing them with an education that will set them up for future employment
and break the cycle of poverty in their lives. By
coming to this event, you will enjoy traditional African song and dance, as
well as help children in need all around the world. So,
don’t miss this unique and authentic performance by the children of the
Ugandan Kids Choir.
For
more information about our organization or to view our tour schedule please
visit their website: www.childcareworldwide.org/choir. Yarn Donated to Saint Vincent's will be used to Make
Handmade Afghan Blankets. EverythngWestport.com Sunday,
June 12, 2016 Chapter
441 of Catholic Financial Life and Parishioners of St. George’s Church in
Westport, MA held their annual yarn collection during the month of May,
donating over fifty large bags and twelve boxes/bins of assorted yarn,
knitted squares, crochet needles and knitting needles to Saint Vincent’s for
volunteers to make afghans for the children of Saint Vincent’s. Chapter
President Normand Ouellette, Vice President Lynette Ouellette, and Secretary
Doris Michaud organized the collection which lasted throughout the month of
May. An announcement was posted in St. George’s Church Bulletin as well as
other publications including www.EverythingWestport.com.
Above, left to right:
Lynette Ouellette, Normand Ouellette, Doris
Michaud. Submitted photo Collection
boxes were set up inside the entrance to the church, and the public also
dropped off yarn donations at Saint Vincent’s in Fall River. Volunteer,
Connie Arruda, has been hard at work hand-knitting
and crocheting afghans with the donated yarn for the children and youth of
Saint Vincent’s. To date, over 351 afghans have been made by Ms. Arruda and a team of dedicated volunteers. The
hand-made afghans provide the children with the gift of caring and a sense of
security, keeping them safe and warm and giving them hope for a brighter
future. Chapter 441 of Catholic Financial Life and Parishioners of St.
George’s Church are looking forward to holding the yarn drive again next year
during the month of May. EverythingWestport.com Sunday,
June 12, 2016 Mass Audubon South Coast Sanctuaries and Yoga on Union have teamed up
again to offer an expanded lineup of high-quality yoga Programming starts Friday, May 27th and runs through Sunday,
October 16th. All are welcome; every class is for beginners new to yoga, practicing
yogis and anyone wanting a unique workout. The expanded yoga lineup is as
follows: Scheduled
Classes Wednesday
Night Yoga - starts June 15th Wednesday night 6:00 p.m. sessions offer a Full Spectrum
Yoga practice. This practice will be instructed by Juliet Loranger and will include some vinyasa
(sun salutations), pranayama (breath work), chanting and meditation. Along
with these you will learn alignment and form in a range of postures and a
range of stages (from basic to intermediate). Friday,
Saturday, & Sunday Morning Sessions Friday,
Saturday and Sunday morning sessions at 9:00 a.m. offer
high-quality practice for yogis of all abilities, taught by trained yoga
professionals from Yoga on Union. Sunday morning
7:00 a.m. offers a Kundalini practice. This yoga practice will
focus on the basics of postures, breath and meditation with Kundalini yoga, a
physical, mental and spiritual practice for developing strength, awareness,
character, and consciousness. This technology uses active and postural
asana based kriyas, breath, and meditations to
target whole body systems. Please bring your own yoga mat, water bottle and wear comfortable
clothes suitable for yoga. Ample parking is available onsite at 786 East Horseneck
Road in South Dartmouth. Classes are $15 each and can be paid at the start of class. Book Fair turns fifty-five, still
going strong. EverythingWestport.com Sunday, June 12, 2016 The Westport Friends' Book Fair has been a summer tradition on
the South Coast for fifty-five years. Visitors travel from all over the
country to attend this massive book sale, one of the largest and oldest in
New England. "I know entire families who plan their summer
vacations around the book fair," says Deana Chase, a member of the
Westport Friends Meeting for over thirty years. “In this day and age when books are very expensive, it's nice
that people still have the opportunity to buy [them]." Over the course
of the week-long sale, generations of families share in the delight of
discovering lost literary gems, picking through over 25,000 gently-used books
for sale ranging in price from six-for-a-dollar to five dollars each for more
collectible books. The Westport Friends' Book Fair serves as the main fundraising
event of the Westport Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
(Quakers) who will be celebrating a milestone 300th anniversary this year.
"The Annual Book Fair raises about thirty-two percent of our yearly
operating costs," says Greg Marsello, who took
on the role of Book Fair Steering Committee Clerk about eight years ago. The
money is allocated for property upkeep expenses, religious education and a
“Helping Fund” which supports in-need members of their community. "The Annual Book Fair
raises about thirty-two percent of our yearly operating costs." Greg Marsello The
Book Fair also benefits the larger community by making books available for
purchase at very reasonable rates. “A very significant percentage of the children's
books are bought by teachers, service organizations or charter school
parents’ groups for school libraries,” says Gretchen Baker-Smith, Westport
Friends' Property Coordinator. “We usually get at least a couple sales
of well over $100 ---which is a lot of books.” Each
year, the Book Fair Committee starts from scratch, relying on community
donations to stock the fair. Book donations are still being accepted and may
be dropped off directly in the Book Sorting Shed located between the
Meetinghouse and Community House on their property at 938 Main Road in
Westport. For more information, call 508.636.4963 or visit www.westportfriendsmeeting.org. This
year, the Book Fair will open with the traditional “opening whistle” on
Saturday, July 9th at 11:00 a.m. on the Meeting House grounds at 938 Main
Road, Westport, Massachusetts. The
Book Fair’s six-for-a-dollar paperbacks can be purchased starting at 10:00
a.m. with the children’s book section opening exclusively for kids at 10:45
a.m. Rain or shine, the Book Fair will continue through Sunday, July 19
and will be open from "dawn to dusk." Light lunch, snacks,
and beverages will be sold only on the opening day of the sale. Visit
the “Westport
Friends Annual Book Fair” Facebook page for news and updates or email:
friendsbookfair@gmail.com. 23 Local Firefighters Graduate
State Firefighting Academy. EverythingWestport.com Sunday,
June 12, 2016 STOW –State
Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey and Massachusetts
Firefighting Academy Director George D. Kramlinger announced
the graduation of the 245th class of the Massachusetts
Firefighting Academy’s forty-five-day Career Recruit Firefighting Training
Program on June 10, 2016. “This rigorous professional training provides our
newest firefighters with the basic skills to perform their jobs effectively
and safely,” said State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey.
The Massachusetts Firefighting Academy (MFA), a division of the Department of
Fire Services, offers this program, tuition-free. The ceremony took place at
the Department of Fire Services in Stow, MA. 23 Graduates from 13 Fire
Departments The 23
graduates, 21 men and two women, represent the 13 fire departments of:
Abington, Auburn, Braintree, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Everett, Framingham,
Leominster, Lexington, Natick, North Attleboro, Stoneham, and Westport. Guest Speaker Everett Fire Chief
David Butler Today’s Firefighters Do Far More
than Fight Fires At the
Massachusetts Firefighting Academy they learn all these skills and more from
certified fire instructors who are also experienced firefighters. Students
learn all the basic skills they need to respond to fires and to contain and
control them. They are also given training in public fire education,
hazardous material incident mitigation, flammable liquids, stress management,
confined space rescue techniques, and rappelling. The intensive, nine-week
program for municipal firefighters involves classroom instruction, physical
fitness training, firefighter skills training, and live firefighting
practice. Starting
with Class #200, the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy changed its training
format from 72 students in a 12-week program to a smaller class size of 24
students in a Basic Firefighter Skills Students
receive classroom training in all basic firefighter skills. They practice
first under non-fire conditions and then during controlled fire conditions.
To graduate, students must demonstrate proficiency in life safety, search and
rescue, ladder operations, water supply, pump operation, and fire attack.
Fire attack operations range from mailbox fires to multiple-floor or
multiple-room structural fires. Upon successful completion of the Recruit
Program all students have met national standards of National Fire Protection
Association 1001 and are certified to the level of Firefighter I and II, and
Hazardous Materials First Responder Operational Level by the Massachusetts
Fire Training Council, which is accredited by the National Board on Fire
Service Professional Qualifications.
Above: Westport firefighters and graduates of the
Massachusetts Fire Fighting Academy are from the left: Michael Teixeira and Robbie Green. Submitted photo © 2016 Community Events of
Westport. All rights reserved. EverythingWestport.com |
