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Tuesday, September 3, 2013
What about the weekend? Buddy Bags program to help BV students, families By Donna Barker dbarker@bcrnews.com
MANLIUS — A committee of concerned residents has started a Bureau Valley Buddy Bags program to help make sure children have food when they aren’t in school. Committee Chairperson Brenda Lovick, pastor of the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Manlius, said the Bureau Valley Buddy Bags program started in discussion last February after several residents learned about a similar program started by residents in the Princeton Elementary School District. After meeting with representatives of the Princeton group, the Bureau Valley committee started its program in April, giving out 13 bags to kindergarten students and their siblings. By the end of the school year, the Bureau Valley program was expanded to include first-graders and their siblings with 35 Buddy Bags distributed each week. This year’s Bureau Valley Buddy Bags program will begin this week, Lovick said. Selection for the program is based on the kindergarten or first-grade child’s participation in the school’s free lunch program, along with parental consent. Siblings will again be included because they need the food too, Lovick said. Each bag includes a breakfast item, lunch item, snack and either a juice box or milk for each day of the weekend. On holidays, additional food is put in the bags. As the school year begins, the committee is hoping for support from the entire Bureau Valley community through food and monetary donations, as well as help on Thursdays to pack the Buddy Bags.
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Stamping out smoking! Health department looks at park campaign By Donna Barker dbarker@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — The Bureau/Putnam County Health Department has started a “play hard, breathe easy” campaign to promote tobacco-free parks and playgrounds in the two-county area. The health department’s Public Health Educator Becky Piano said the tobacco-free parks campaign is one of several initiatives funded through the “We Choose Health” community transformation grant received through the Illinois Department of Public Health. In addressing tobacco-free parks and playgrounds, Piano said she has walked around
area playgrounds and seen many cigarette butts on the ground. Playgrounds and parks should be places where children can play without being subject to second-hand smoke. Second-hand smoke is also dangerous for adults as well, especially people with asthma or respiratory concerns, she said. According to the American Lung Association, exposure to second-hand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Studies also show cigarette butts are the most littered item, and cigarette butts don’t disintegrate, Piano said. Children, especially toddlers, pick things up from the ground and often put them in their mouths, she added.
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Red Covered Bridge Several gather for 150th anniversary By Goldie Currie gcurrie@bcrnews.com
Year 167 No. 106
98213 00012 1 7 © Bureau County Republican
The “play hard, breath easy” campaign looks not only at the health-advantages of having tobacco-free parks and playgrounds, but also at the environmental and beautification aspects of being tobacco-free, Piano said. As part of the campaign, Piano said the health department hopes to work with local officials to install more “No Smoking” signage in area playgrounds and parks. Princeton Park District Executive Director Elaine Russell said the park board revised all policies and procedure manuals in 1996, and at that time, park facilities were included in the district’s smoke-free policies. “No Smoking” signs have been posted, but the signs have been vandalized. The policy
Celebrating the
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BCR photo/Becky Kramer
Period re-enactors Heather Whittington (from left), Keith Whittington and Marcia Whittington pose for a photo in front of the Red Covered Bridge during a ceremony to celebrate the bridge’s 150th anniversary. Above, Stephen Gunning recites the speech his father gave at the 100th anniversary. Monday’s event was sponsored by the Bureau County Historical Society and also included other speakers and a picnic lunch.
PRINCETON – A light breeze moved through the canopy of Walnut and Oak trees as more than 100 people gathered in lawn chairs beside the Big Bureau Creek to witness the sesquicentennial celebration of Princeton’s Red Covered Bridge. Bureau County Historical Society President Kathryn Cartwright welcomed the guests gathered around a mini stage erected just north of the bridge and a greeting was given by Mayor Keith Cain. Kathy O’Malley of Princeton provided a brief overview of the bridge’s history. She read from notes that in 1862 the county board was petitioned by voters, most being businessmen, who wanted to build a permanent bridge across the creek. At the time, the only way across the creek was by a pontoon bridge, which frequently was washed away by heavy winds. “A lot of the money came from local merchants who saw the benefit of having it there,” she read. “The county board kicked in $1,000, Dover Township gave $600, and local supporters and businessmen came up with $1,338.”
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