Saturday Evening at GG & Joe
A customer at GG & Joe reads the paper a few minutes before closing tonight as the large windows look onto Parker Harding Plaza.
Sunset Walk Along the Marina
A clear sky gave way to a brilliant sunset walk along Ned Dimes marina this evening.
Front Yard Skating Rink Brings Wright Street Neighborhood Together
Local siblings and neighbors living in the Wright Street neighborhood spent yesterday afternoon on the ice, enjoying the outdoors and being with one another.
For nearly twenty years the Reilly Family’s front yard has been transformed into an ice skating rink, with neighborhood kids invited to enjoy it on Winter’s coldest days - combatting the doldrums of the season dominated by a pandemic. By Jaime Bairaktaris
The ice rink is custom designed and built by the family and their friends each year around Thanksgiving, allowing ample time for the water to catch a few consecutive days of freezing temperatures to create thick enough ice to skate on. Being only a few inches deep, falling through isn’t disastrous - making it a much safer option than relying on local ponds, and more accessible than the many rinks closed this season due to coronavirus.
To keep the ice smooth, mother-of-five Alison Reilly maintains it with a hot water rake (donated by neighbors) or with a propane blow torch. A true labor of love; the neighborhood tradition is more important this Winter than ever before as the World tries to remain outdoors as much as possible during the COVID-19 crisis.
After school days dominated by at-home-learning and social distancing, ice skating has been a safe way to get kids moving and to promote positive social interaction. The Mayo Clinic cited the benefits of being outside during the Winter, naming ice skating as one of their lowest-risk options to enjoy during the pandemic. Skating and other low-risk social activities are also being promoted as ways to help boost mental health amongst children and adolescents, a goal for many local parents as some push to get kids into schoolhouses full-time in order to grow their social connections and combat isolation.
As temperatures froze and Zoom classes finished, the neighborhood kids waddled down the street in their winter gear last night to get onto the ice to continue the Wright Street Winter tradition. They slipped and fell, and slid and glided, and laughed and chatted under their masks as the friends supported each other on their skates.
With families and neighbors watching from the driveway as smaller kids held the fingers of the older kids leading them around the ice, the front yard rink exemplified how a community can rise up together amidst a pandemic.
The Reilly family has always welcomed their community to enjoy the rink as a way to get kids outside and to make memories together, however never did they imagine how important this year’s memories will be in proving not all was bad during the coronavirus crisis.
With cold weather ahead, the kids on Wright Street won’t be complaining. They’ll be closing their ChromeBooks, lacing up their skates, and gliding out onto the ice.
Staples High School Celebrates December, January Students of the Month
From Staples High School Principal Stafford Thomas:
Principal Thomas has announced Staples High School's recipients for December and January Student of the Month:
Mary Bazile- Gr.9
Catherine Cunningham-Gr.11
Nicholas Porzio-Gr.9
Brandon Saunders-Gr.11
Tucker Peters - Gr. 9
Maya Vogelmann-Gr.11
Claire Railton-Jones- Gr.12
Autumn Smith- Gr.12
Matthew Lott-Gr.11
Logan Goodman-Gr.9
Sasha Hamer-Gr.12
The Students of the Month award program recognizes students who help make Staples High School a welcoming place for their peers and teachers alike. They are the “glue” of the Staples community: the type of kind, cheerful, hard-working, trustworthy students that keep the high school together, making it the special place that it is.
Students of the month are nominated by their teachers, who are asked to think of those students who come to school regularly, are friendly to the staff and to fellow students, and make positive contributions in class as well as the Staples community. In short, these students are all-around good citizens of our school. Students of the Month are not necessarily star athletes, high honor students, or lead performers, and even if they are, this award recognizes the positive attitude they bring to school every day in making Staples High School a genial place in which to learn and teach.