Editor’s Note 6/27/2014
By Editor at June 27, 2024 | 8:15 am | Print
I am continuing my push for donations for the Halloween Safe Zone event. The more money we receive the bigger and better it will be. It is up to residents to help us put on this one.
I thought it may be nice to understand how this all came about. After having a storm a few years ago that pretty much canceled Halloween as many of us did not even have electricity, I wanted to do something special.
My first thought was not actually a celebration downtown. I wanted to sign people up who we knew were responsible residents, for a map. Then put the map in the paper of homes that were safe to trick or treat. There are so many kids who want to trick or treat and some neighborhoods just aren’t safe.
The problem became how do you really know who is safe and who is not? I had hit my first dilemma in the plan.
I could think of no one better to call than Gerry Amodio, downtown district director. He immediately saw the problem and suggested it be done by businesses downtown. Maybe, five minutes after saying that, he changed his mind. He said it was too much for downtown and did not want to be involved.
I kept talking in hopes of coming up with another idea. After about fifteen minutes Gerry started to get excited. He realized it could be done downtown and that this was going to be something special. He planned a meeting for anyone who wanted to be involved. It took off from there.
Here we are three years later, still excited and trying to make it bigger and better than ever. New blood is always coming in with new ideas and my eyes light up at every meeting. Not sure if Gerry’s eyes still light up, or just roll anymore, but I know he gets a kick out of it.
The first year we had over 1,000 kids and it felt like 5,000 people in total. Last year I was not involved, but was told it grew. It cost the City $10,000 last year. This year we expect even more people, but the City cannot afford to take on any additional costs.
Please see information in the paper on how you can contribute. Even a $5 donation makes a difference.
I’ve always believed in this City and I know this event will happen. Thank you in advance for your help.
Time for a joke or two.
“I’m so old I remember when a hash tag was called a pound sign.”
And
“Why is it 2048 seems like an eternity from now and 1980 feels like yesterday? They are the same distance away.”
Scary, isn’t it.
Until next week please help us with Halloween and live everyday like it’s 1980. And most importantly, keep reading YOUR #1 Most Trusted New Britain Newspaper!
