Lee LeBlanc Corrigan

Lee LeBlanc Corrigan has twice run and completed the Boston Marathon.

Lee LeBlanc Corrigan is committing to getting up early five mornings a week to meet her friends around 5:30. Then they run and run and run some more. And on Patriots Day, she ran and completed the Boston Marathon for the second time. Lee made the 26.3 mile run in 3:49.47, cutting 10 minutes off her time from the 2001 marathon. The health education coordinator for Citizens for Citizens Family Planning, is a strong advocate of exercising at least 30 minutes a day. She said, “I know not everyone will want to go out and run a marathon but there is no doubt exercising even 30 minutes a day is a key to sustaining a healthy body.” As a member of the Greater New Bedford Track Club, she qualified for the Boston Marathon last year through a lottery. That was a matter of luck but she would have to prove herself in order to be invited back. Lee never ran a marathon before. Once she was chosen by lottery, Lee just put her mind and body into the concentrated effort of completing the effort. Her determination and training gave her a marathon time of just under four hours and ensured she would run again in the 2002 Marathon. “Running the Boston Marathon is unlike anything I could have imagined. I wrote my name on my arm and people would call out to me all along the way. They would yell out ‘Go Lee go’ and it was inspirational.” The mother of two ran much of the marathon with her friend and running companion, Cathy LaPlante, who finished several minutes in front of her. At the Boston Marathon finish line, her feet aching and her body exhausted, the Family Planning coordinator threw her hands up in the air in celebration of her accomplishment. Lee said that committing to something, whether it be her family, friends, job or running five mornings a week to achieve a goal, is an important part of her life.

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Successful childcare providers have to “think small.” That is the philosophy applied by Pat Flanagan as she cares for six youngsters who make their way to her home ~ Monday through Friday ~ and find a place where they can thrive. Her well-equipped learning center is located in the basement of her raised ranch in Fall River’s North End. Pat is the pride of Citizens for Citizens Family Day Care Program. She is the first CFC childcare provider to earn certification by the nationally-acclaimed Child Development Association. She hopes to earn certification from the National Early Childhood Association and is taking steps to earn a degree in education. Being certified meant taking courses, attending workshops and staying on top of the rules and regulations that provide for safe environment to the children of working parents. With figures of Pinocchio, Dumbo, Charlie Brown and other popular children’s characters looking down from a shelf, Pat gets down on her knees during art time and she helps four boys, ages 2 to four, sitting in small chairs pulled up to a low table. “I want red,” shouts Bruce, 3. “I want brown,” Nathan calls out. “You have to love working with children to do this job right,” the mother of three says as she hands out tubes of paint to four boys protected by plastic red and blue smocks. The children begin dabbing paint onto leaf-shaped pieces of paper.

The youngsters enrolled in the program, many of whom stay with her for up to two years, become a part of Pat’s family. Her husband, John, a senior computer technician for Hasbro, often uses vacation days to take the group on field trips. Their children, Cassie, 14, Courtney, 12, and Sean, 9, enjoy the company of their “siblings.” Cassie was only two when the first Family Day Care child entered their home and the other two were not yet born when Pat began her career a dozen years ago. Pat greets her first child about 7 a.m. and the last to leave heads out around 5 p.m. In between are lots of structured activities involving numbers, science, colors, and stories. There is breakfast, snacks, lunch, plus some free time for creativity and a nap or two. There are two computers in the basement divided into various learning areas. “Some of these kids jump on the computer and are amazing,” she says. When it comes to learning, the lessons are age-appropriate and made to be fun. “I want the children to be excited about discovering something on their own and not to realize that they are, in fact, being taught.” Since 1988, Pat has been taking pictures of the children. Several albums are on a shelf and as she flipped through the pages she smiled and told little stories about those youngsters who worked their way into her heart. She has an impressive collection of “thank you” cards from parents. They tell of how a child learned to speak properly, how another’s attitude improved, how they developed educationally. One mother wrote: “I had a lot of doubts about her (Erica) going to a home-based day care. You have shown there was no reason for concern. You have done a terrific job with Erica and I know she will miss you terribly.” As two of the boys gleefully shout that they are going to build a pirate ship and scatter building blocks on the floor, Pat Flanagan declares, “This is what I always wanted to do and seeing these children happy and healthy and learning something new every day is exciting and rewarding.” Linda Wheelock, CFC Family Day Care program coordinator, says that CFC is recruiting responsible individuals to meet the childcare need that exists in the community. For more information about how to become a family day care provider, or details on enrolling children in the program, contact Ms. Wheelock at 675-7517 Ext. 125.

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Barbara Cleinman, Citizens for Citizens Retired Senior Volunteer Program participant, reads to Head Start youngsters at the Aldrich Site in Fall River. The books were donated to Head Start by RSVP.

Bill Leary, RSVP director, is shown in the group photo taken at the school library. The books are used on the Head Start Bookmobile which travels from site-to-site serving hundreds of children.

Tags: Uncategorized, Weatherization, anniversary40 by amello
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FALL RIVER ~ “It’s Steve the crocodile hunter,” shouted one of the boys sitting on the floor during a spring school vacation program presented by Citizens for Citizens After School Day Care. The child was not far off.

Reptileman

A girl holds an American alligator.

Michael Ralbovsky, trained herpetologist, also known as Reptileman, and some of his traveling companions had his young audience mesmerized. The former manager at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm and Zoological Park and operator of Rainforest Reptile Shows, began his program by telling the youngsters they would see the biggest, meanest ugliest animal they had ever seen and then he pointed to himself. The reptile expert brought out a tortoise named Georgie. He described how land turtles are different than those living in water. He noted that the tortoise had elephantine feet made for walking as opposed to webbed feet of turtles that live in water. He noted that the tortoise had a large round shell whereas those turtles living in water have a flatter shell more adapted to swimming. He demonstrated how the tortoise retreats into its shell for protection from predators. Tortoises, he noted have a long life span and can live from 60 to 90 years. The main threat to the tortoise is disease, Ralbovsky said. He put Georgie on top of his head and said it looks like a bicycle helmet sending the children into uproarious laughter. “Say hi to Roswell,” he told the group as he took a three-foot long monitor lizard out of a large plastic box. Some of the children sitting on the floor moved back at the site of Roswell. “Holy moly,” one boy yelled out. He explained how reptiles use their tongues for smelling. The animal, native to Africa, kills and eats cobras and is immune to the snake’s poison. The long tail is used as a whip to defend itself against larger animals, Reptileman explained. Next, Reptileman asked, “Want to see a snake?” He pulled out a boa constrictor that wrapped itself around his arms. Joey Manchester, 7, a second grader at Westall School, volunteered to meet the snake up close and personal and showed no fear of it. He explained that he once had a boa constrictor but it died.

Reptileman

a boy wears a boa constrictor during a presentation by Michael Ralbovsky, a.k.a Reptileman.

A four-year old American alligator Reptileman pulled out of a pond in Tewksbury, MA., had children squirming. The jaws were taped shut and a volunteer came forward to unwrap the tape. Ralbovsky let the youngsters see the teeth and the damage they could do. He explained, “Alligators are illegal to keep, this one was released into the wild and will eventually go to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm.” Reptileman allowed all the children to hold or touch the gaiter once its jaws were secured. Some just couldn’t muster the courage to touch the creature.

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