August 23, 2013 - Southingtonlibrary.org

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Friday, August 23, 2013
•Attorney Sheffy Column.....page 8
•Neighbors............page 9
ED HARRIS editor
Established in 1975
Published weekly by The Step Saver, Inc.
213 Spring St., Southington, CT 06489
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www.SouthingtonObserver.com
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Stay safe on the
school bus this year
Southington students return to school on Thursday,
Aug. 29. This officially marks the end of summer, at least in
the eyes of Southington students.
New this year, The Observer has posted all of the bus
routes, both public and parochial, on our website at
Southingtonobserver.com. Look for them under the
Schools tab. They are listed individually by school.
As we were prepping the bus routes for the website,
we noticed that many of the bus routes have a high number
of stops, which could leave students on the bus for an
extended amount of time.
Due to this, we wanted to offer some bus safety tips to
make the ride to and from school safe and enjoyable for
everyone. Though much of the following may be common
knowledge for older students, there are numerous kindergartners
who will mark their first trip on a school bus next
week.
The following are some tips from First Student, Inc.,
the nation’s leader in student transportation.
•Remain alert at all times. Do not listen to your Mp3
players, text, talk on your cell phone, or play handheld
video games because you won’t be aware of what’s happening
around you.
•Also be careful when wearing your hood up, as it
makes it difficult to see around you.
•Be extra careful when crossing in front of the bus.
•Don’t wear clothes with toggles or dangling key
chains. They can get caught in the bus doors or on the
handrail.
•Know your driver’s name and your bus number to be
sure you are boarding the right bus.
•Be courteous and respectful to your driver. Safely getting
children to and from school is a tremendous responsibility
that drivers take very seriously.
•Choose a bus “buddy” ahead of time so when you get
on the bus you recognize a familiar face.
•Have fun with your friends, but don’t be loud or get
out of your seat as it may distract the driver.
•Be courteous to fellow riders. If a student repeatedly
bothers you, tell your bus driver. They are there to help.
•Understanding what to expect can help ensure a positive
school bus experience.
Robin Gurwitch, Ph.D., child psychologist at
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in
Cincinnati, believes that a bus ride can be a wonderful
opportunity for children to socialize. He suggests that parents
role play with their children to get them to practice
meeting new kids and interacting with them on the school
bus.
Besides being the safest mode of school transportation,
riding on the bus can also be a treasured, memorable
experience.
In a 2009 survey conducted for First Student, nearly
half of adults surveyed readily recalled personal school
bus memories and 39 percent still remember the name of
their school bus driver.
Speaking of adults, we urge drivers to remain vigilant.
If you see a bus out on the road, give it plenty of space.
Make sure you stop when the stop sign is out. Children
may be crossing to get to their homes.
Here’s to a safe and happy school year.
Our Views
•Good Times........page 14
Summer just goes by so quickly
When I was younger, I used to
think summers lasted a year or so.
Being a kid, the summer days
dragged on and on and it seemed
like forever before I had to start
worrying about school again.
The hardest decisions I had
during those summer months were
what cartoons to watch and which
video games to play.
As I got older, that changed.
Once in high school, the summer
got shorter. Football practice started
shortly before school began, so
instead of enjoying the last few
weeks of summer, lounging around,
I was out in the heat doing two-adays.
One year, our first preseason
game was the first day of school.
In college, summers seemed a
bit longer, but most of the time I
was working so I could afford to go
back to school the following semester.
Now, as a full-fledged adult,
summers typically fly by in the blink
of an eye. Honestly, it feels as if it
were only last week that I was prepping
the graduation edition of The
Observer.
I still recall bantering with a
Southington police officer about
how it was best to stay in the shade
as we awaited the ceremony. I also
vividly recall sauntering around on
the football field, the first time I
Summertime and the living is moaning
Even though it seems like the
summer just started, it’s already the
third week of August, and that low
moaning sound you hear in the distance
is coming from school teachers
who just realized their eight-week
summer vacation is coming to an end.
No, I’m not taking a cheap shot at
school teachers. I used to be jealous
of their 13 weeks of vacation each
year — compared to my 13 days of
vacation each year. But my envy
ceased when I read my friend Paul
Bentley’s book, “Sh*t A Teacher Thinks
(and Sometimes Says),” which chronicles
the day-in, day-out, soul-sucking
grind of the modern American classroom.
It’s an eye-opening account, so
buy a copy on Amazon.com.
Anyway, being the third week of
August, there are so many topics we
can discuss today. We can talk about
the fact that this is the peak of
Winebago season. Just count how
many RVs you see slowly moaning
along I-84 this week, most of which
will have out-of-state license plates
and a white-haired driver who can
barely see above the steering wheel.
Many of the drivers look like the pilot
of a 747: a tiny dot way up in the
cockpit of the massive condominiumon-wheels.
How do they even climb
aboard? An elevator?
This week we can discuss the fact
that thousands of young men are
sweating in agony all around the
country. Football training camp is in
session at countless high schools and
Ed Harris
Thoughts around town
have really had the opportunity to
step foot on the new artificial turf
field.
Now, I am penning a back-toschool
column and getting ready to
once again include school activities
in the pages of The Observer. Time
sure flies.
Speaking of back to school, we
recently placed the bus routes on
our website,
Southingtonobserver.com. Look for
them under the Schools tab on the
top menu bar.
In the past we had placed the
bus routes in the paper, but, this
year, we placed them online. The
bus routes for each school are listed
individually on their own page.
For a little more on the bus
Bill Dunn
Laugh or Death
colleges. It’s been exactly 35 years
since I was in the midst of two-a-day
and three-a-day practice sessions in
the brutal heat. It was at Bucknell
University, and I was the team’s third
string wide receiver and first string
beer-chugger (which might explain
why I dropped so many passes).
All these years later, whenever I
drive by a football field in August and
see guys out there in full pads pounding
each other, I break out in a low
moaning sound. Those are not fond
memories.
Speaking of football, let’s talk
about UConn, which has its first game
of the season next week. This will be
the official rollout of the new Husky
mascot logo, which I prefer to call the
“Nike Marketing Department Angry
Wolf.”
Did you see that kooky story last
spring when the school unveiled the
routes and a bit on bus safety,
please see this week’s editorial to
the left.
Now, I have gotten most of the
summer school news, including
honor rolls, dean’s list and scholarship
info into the paper, just in time
to begin adding more school-related
information.
We try to cover as many school
activities as we can. We just need
school officials and parent teacher
organizations (PTO) to let us know
what is going on.
If you want to have your school
event covered, please email me the
details at eharris@southingtonobserver.com.
We cannot always guarantee
that we can write a story on the
event, but we will try to get a photographer
there to help publicize
the event. We also accept submissions.
Email them to the above
address.
School is back in session and
summer has drawn to an end. While
it really did not last a year (unfortunately),
I hope everyone had a good
time and enjoyed themselves.
Now, let us see what the new
school year brings.
Comments? Email
eharris@southingtonobserver.com.
new mascot logo? A student who
majors in “feminist studies” wrote an
open letter to the UConn president,
complaining that the new aggressive
looking cartoon logo contributes to a
rape mentality on campus. Really?
You take what is certainly a serious
issue and then trivialize it with that
ridiculous claim?
I dislike the new Husky logo for
two reasons (both of which do not
have anything to do with alleged subliminal
messages that “rape is OK”).
First, I really like the old mascot, the
friendly, fluffy Husky dog cartoon
logo. The school won a bunch of
national championships using the old
logo, so why mess around with success?
The other reason I don’t like the
new logo is that it was created by
Nike, the gigantic sports apparel manufacturer,
with the cynical goal of
forcing zillions of students and state
residents into purchasing new hats,
shirts, jackets, etc. It’s a total sellout
by university officials to the corporate
weasels, and it’s causing many longtime
fans to break out in a low moaning
sound.
So as summer sadly draws to a
close, what is the mood of our state?
Exactly: low moaning.
Bill Dunn is a freelance writer
who resides in Torrington. He can be
reached via his website at:
www.boomertrek.com.