The temperature hit 95 degrees in Winthrop Tuesday, officially making it a heat wave – the definition of which is three consecutive days when the temperature is 90 degrees or higher.
Yes, it’s hot, but it’s summer and in general, summers in New England are great.
What’s also great is the Winthrop Parks and Recreation’s Summer Parks Program led by Director Sean Driscoll, his talented staff of Jill Caputo, James Carroll, and Toni Titemore, and a group of dedicated summer instructors. Let’s meet two more of the teams in the program:
Meet the Purple Power Party
The Purple Power Partiers – who range in age from 6-10 – are certainly enjoying their summer in the Parks Program and they have a lot of admiration for the dedicated staff. One camper voted for five instructors – Mark, Bella, Jianna, Jimmy, and Emily – in the “Favorite Staff” balloting while another voter selected the “All Purple Team.” Overall it looks like Jianna topped the ticket – which is a political term meaning she received the most votes – though Bella, Emily, Mark, Jimmy, and Steph had strong support as well.
The Purple contingent had arts and crafts – which is a group of activities in which a person makes things with his/her hands – as the leader in the “Favorite Camp Activity” category. Also receiving votes were: field trips, the beach and aquatics (water), and the playground.
The campers were also asked in the survey taken by camp staff: “What is the best part of Winthrop?” The Twist and Shake ice cream store on Shirley Street received multiple votes. Some of the other responses were: “Nice people and a small town, going to the beach, living here and being close to the beach, and the Parks and Rec program.”
And in the “Favorite Thing To Do With the Family” part of the survey, the responses were varied, with family trips to Twist and Shake getting yet another vote. The other responses were: “Going on vacations, helping around the house, going to the park, watching a movie, going to the beach, taking walks with my parents and the dogs, and playing games (We used to like the game of Monopoly and candlepin bowling – though we consider bowling to be a sport, not a game – though one does bowl a “game” in ten-pin bowling; in candlepin bowling, one bowls a “string.”)
Meet the Red Ravens
They are the Red Ravens of Winthrop – not the Ravens of Baltimore or the Ravens of Franklin Pierce University (where Winthrop’s Jack Wallace is a collegiate pitcher) and they like sports.
‘Sports and games’ and ‘playing sports and games in the old Middle School gymnasium’ outpointed ‘arts and crafts’ in the “Favorite Camp Activity” category
We like one of the answers especially in the “Best Part of Winthrop” portion of the survey as in: The best of Winthrop is absolutely everything. Others also agreed that “living here” is the best part of Winthrop. ‘Having so many sports to play’ was also cited as a great thing about Winthrop – and having so many sports facilities – a rink (the Larsen Rink at the Mike Eruzione Center), basketball gymnasiums, a brand-new Miller Field, baseball fields, tennis courts, not to mention the Winthrop Golf Course – certainly affirms that point.
Bella and Jimmy were the clear choices in the “Favorite Staff” voting by the Red Ravens.
And in the “Favorite Thing to Do With Family” -playing sports and games was again among the prime responses. Keep enjoying your sports, Red Ravens. And let’s hope we can enjoy MLB, NBA, WNBA, NHL, WNHL, and NFL games over the next several months. We hope to see you next week with Sean Driscoll and his feature on Summer Parks teams.
