April 19 – May 2, 2014 www.SanTanSun.com
Operation Welcome Home honors Chandler veterans
BASIS seventh grader wins playwright competition
BY MEGHAN MCCOY
BY ANA ANGUIANO
U.S. Army Reserves Maj. Rob Polston has left Chandler once since he moved to the area 10 years ago. It was for a 15-month activation that included six months in Afghanistan for Operation Joint Endeavor. “It was tough to leave my wife and kids,” he says of the experience in 2012. “My son was 2 years old and my daughter was 3 months old. That was a little challenging.” Polston is among the handful of veterans who have been honored by Operation Welcome Home, an initiative introduced by the City of Chandler last year. When Councilwoman Nora Ellen took office in January 2013, her goal was to bring the program to Chandler. Her son, Rep. J.D. Mesnard, brought the program to her attention. She says the program is important because veterans and their families sacrifice so much for Americans’ lives and freedoms. “I want to honor and recognize that,” Ellen says. She says some of the soldiers do not make it back home, while others see their friends die or get injured, and face traumatic situations themselves. “They are our heroes,” Ellen says. The program has a special place in Ellen’s heart. There is a long line of veterans in her family, including her father, who served in World War II. Five nieces and nephews as well as a brother-in-law
When Michael Ford isn’t attending class at BASIS Charter School ... or running with the Boy Scouts ... or taking tennis lessons ... or playing in the school band, he’s writing. Inspired by the adventurous “Harry Potter” book series and humorous narrative of the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series, the seventh grader dove headfirst into his own play about bullying. His piece, “Nerdy Nate and the Anti-Bullying Quest,” was crowned the winner at the Young Playwrights for Change national competition, sponsored by The American Alliance for Theatre and Education and Theatre for Young Audiences USA. “I wanted to talk about bullying because I felt that it’s a problem in almost every school and it’s hard to fight,” Michael says. “A lot of people are bullied at one point or another in their life and some people don’t even know that they are being bullies, so I wanted to do something that would help.” After winning the Childsplay and Rising Youth Theatre’s local competition, Michael was judged for the national prize by a panel that included Paula Donnelly, Gary Garrison, Marty Johnson, Aba S. Kumi, Louis Sachar and Mary Hall Surface. Michael and his family will fly to Washington, D.C., in May where he will accept his award at the New Visions, New Voices festival. His play will also
ARMY: Chandler resident Maj. Rob Polston spent six months in Afghanistan with Operation Joint Endeavor in 2012. Submitted photo
served in the military at the same time.
Debuting initiative The first Operation Welcome Home took place on Nov. 4, 2013, honoring four veterans, including Polston, attracting about 300 onlookers. “It was overwhelming,” Polston says. He heard about the program through the Chandler Veterans Memorial; he sits on its fundraising board. “I found out through the board that Chandler was looking for veterans who have returned from overseas,” Polston says. SEE VETERANS PAGE 6
Celebrate Earth Day at EEC BY TRACY HOUSE
Earth Day, Arbor Day and the sixth anniversary of the Environmental Education Center will be rolled into one celebration from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, April 25, at Chandler’s EEC. Live animal demonstrations as well as crafts and family activities will be featured at the event that will bring to the park companies, vendors and nonprofits from around the East Valley, according to Stephanie Hawkins, recreation coordinator I. The organizations coming to the park include Arizona Science Center, Glassmelts, Liberty Wildlife, City of Chandler Public Library, City of Chandler Police Department, Probest Pest Management, City of Chandler Solid Waste Services, City of Chandler Storm water Management Program, Sun Valley Solar Solutions, City of Chandler Water Conservation, Butterfly Wonderland, All Fun Ices, Ecto Critterz, Southwest Monarch Study, Lisa’s Creatures and East Valley Wildlife and City of Chandler Recreation.
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“Vendors will be set up throughout the park area,” Hawkins says. “Our trails will be open. We have 4.5 miles of hiking trails that go back through our park. We do have our community fishing lake, so bring your fishing license out and we’ll be stocking the catfish. There’ll be all kinds of activities for all ages.” Asked to have a “Green Mission,” the vendors will promote green living, environmentally friendly products, animal welfare and science and environmental education. By combining Earth Day, Arbor Day and the anniversary into one celebration, Hawkins says, “It’s a really great opportunity for the City of Chandler, as well as Chandler businesses and nonprofits to reach out to the community and for the community to come out and see the green initiatives, environmentally friendly and responsible ways, of running your business can be. Inviting everybody into
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SEE COMPETITION PAGE 4
HOLOCAUST-ERA RAILCAR: The 11-ton, 33-foot-long railcar of the type and kind that Nazi Germany used to transport Holocaust victims to labor and death camps was purchased in 2012 by the East Valley JCC and shipped 11,000 miles from Macedonia to the Los Angeles harbor, then trailered to Chandler. STSN photo by Tracy House
SEE EARTH DAY PAGE 5
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be presented in a staged reading by four professional actors and a director at The Kennedy Center. “I’ve always loved writing and I’ve always found it really fun,” Michael says. “I like adventure books so I based it off of that and threw in some humor because I think humor makes everything easier to digest.” For six years, Michael has been a part of Childsplay, a nonprofit theater company of professional, adult artists who perform for and teach young audiences and their families. Michael’s father, Jeff, says the bully screenplay came out of a Childsplay workshop led by Playwright-in-Residence Dwayne Hartford, who has mentored his son.
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CHILDSPLAY: Michael Ford won the Young Playwrights for Change national competition. STSN photo by Ron Lang
Pre-Season Tune-Up
See page 56 for more photos
F E AT U R E STO R I E S Road work ahead for Southeast Chandler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .COMMUNITY . . . . . . . . . . Page 8 Hontech offers specialized services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .BUSINESS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 17 Not My Kid assists youth with life’s toughest challenges . . .YOUTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 25 Fear drives car owners away from mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . .NEIGHBORS . . . . . . . . . . Page 44 CTA student hits the stage in ‘Sleeping Beauty’ . . . . . . . . . . . .ARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 57
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