Boys & Girls Club Holds Member Recognition Night

Last Thursday night the Club closed out the school year program with our Annual Member Recognition Night Dinner. Over 300 club members, parents, staff and board members were in attendance as members were recognized throughout the various program areas. After a dinner created by Patriot’s Kids Café Director, Maureen Cooper, 2010 Youth of the Year, Kaila Centeio, our emcee for the evening, kicked off the night with the awards for Summer Athletics and Education followed by Fine Arts and Music. Just a short time later, Maureen Peterson, Past President of the Board of Directors, presented the Youth of the Year Awards to: Tyrell Pugh, Sean O’Donnell, Melanie Barros, Ciara Murphy, David Barry, Joey Brandao (Boy of the Year), Regina Crawford (Girl of the Year) and Aisling Kerr (Youth of the Year).

Aisling also represented her fellow award winners at the Statewide Youth of the Year judging held in Westfield in May. Next on the agenda was a presentation by Alumnus, and former Youth of the Year, Tome Barros. Tome spoke on his Club experience, about moving on to Hampton College and his recently concluded year-long sabbatical teaching basketball in Senegal, Brazil and Cape Verde. After program awards in Athletics (Winter & Spring), Social Recreation, Teen Program, Aquatics and our Denney Center Unit we closed the night with our Program Director Awards, the top award in each program area. These award winners were: Social Recreation – Luis Rodrigues; Aquatics – Olivia McGrath; Athletics – Joey Brandao; Walter Denney Youth Center – Darius Hinds; Art – Parker Traphagen; Education – Alyssa Lopes; Music – Manny Brandao and; Teen Center – Jessica Amado. Congratulations to these winners and all of the members recognized on this night for their leadership, participation and sportsmanship. We would also like to thank our friends at The Greater Boston Food Bank for their help providing and serving dinner, as well as the following Club members who provided the entertainment for the evening: Akiya Ross, Zakiya Ross, Dashawn Borden, Manny Brandao, Anh Le, Emily Carvalho, Ronald Shephard, Isaiah Shephard and Jala Bennett.

Summer Swim Programs

After offering try-outs for new swimmers this past week the Summer Swim Team begins practicing three evenings a week on July 5th. The Summer Swim Team is open to boys and girls ages 6 to 18 who can swim a minimum of 50 yards. Practices are held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings with swimmers ages 10 & younger practicing at 6:00 p.m. and swimmers ages 11 and older practicing at 7:00 p.m. The team is made up of members of the school-year Marr-lin Swim Team, participants from the recently concluded Intramural Swim League and recreational swimmers from our summer program. The first scheduled meet will be on the road against the Blue Hill Club on 7/21. The season will conclude with a home meet followed by a team barbecue on 8/11. Other evening swims being offered include those for Project B.I.N.D. (Mondays and Thursdays), Family Swims (Tuesdays and Wednesdays) and Open Swims for our teen members. For information on our Summer Aquatics program please contact Aquiles Gomes at ext. 2220.

Smile Initiative

The Smile Initiative will return to the Club on July 21st to provide on-site dental care to eligible members. The Smile Initiative aims to increase the availability of oral health services for youth so they may avoid costly services down the road. The program partners with youth-serving agencies to capture the participating youth. To participate, parents must fill out an application while representatives from the Smile Initiative will process the paperwork with the respective health care provider. For more information, or to obtain an application, please contact Social Recreation Director, Zack Soloman at ext. 2121.

Rodman Ride For Kids

The Boys and Girls Club, along with other collaborating youth serving agencies, will be participating in the approaching Rodman Ride for Kids. The Ride is a 25, 50 or 100 mile bike ride through the towns of Southeastern, Massachusetts which is scheduled to take place on Saturday, Sept. 24th. As the event approaches, the Boys and Girls Club is actively seeking teams of riders, individual riders, corporate, local business and individual sponsors, and volunteers. 100% of all funds raised go directly to the agencies. In addition, funds raised from our sponsors and riders will be matched with a 15% grant through the Ride. Last year’s event was a tremendous success and a fun day for everyone involved. Anyone interested in participating in the event, contactHeather Brigham at (617) 288-7120.