ReadingPals looking for 200 volunteers in 2013-14

Want to make a difference in a child’s life?
Join ReadingPals, a program in its second year with the United Way of Manatee County and its Women’s Leadership Initiative in partnership with the Manatee County School District and the Children’s Movement.
Funded by Carol and Barney Barnett of the Barnett Early Literacy Initiative, it targets the reading skills of Manatee County kindergarteners and requires only one hour a week from volunteers.
“With only 60 minutes a week, each of us can help transform the lives of our community’s children through a mentor/teacher relationship that can be life-altering by increasing the probability of success in school,” said Philip Brown, United Way’s chief executive officer. “Do you remember an adult who had a major impact on your life as a child just because they cared about you so authentically? Become one of those adults to our children as a ReadingPal.”
It takes place from September through May and is a one-on-one, guided reading program for kindergarteners attending four of the county's Title I elementary schools.
The site locations and times are:
• Ballard Elementary School, 912 18th St. W., Bradenton; Tuesdays or Thursdays, 1:30-2:30 p.m.
• Blackburn Elementary School, 3904 17th St. E., Palmetto; Tuesdays, 9:20-10:20 a.m.
• Daughtrey Elementary School, 515 63rd Ave. E., Bradenton; Tuesdays or Thursdays, 8:15-9:15 a.m. (awaiting approval).
• Rogers Garden Elementary School, 515 13th Ave., W., Bradenton; Tuesdays, 8:30-9:30 a.m.
The goal is to enlist 200 volunteers for this 25-week program.
Each volunteer will be matched with two students and divide their hour-long session between each student to give them one-on-one attention.
Interested?
Contact Sandra Holmes at 941-748-1313 or via e-mail at sholmes@uwmc.net.

Big assist helps Trojan cagers win national title

National champions!
That’s the Palmetto Youth Center’s Trojans basketball team, now the USSSA 17-and-Under Division 2’s best team in America. Coach Reggie Bellamy’s charges shining moment came at the USSSA National Tournament of Champions last weekend in Kansas City, Mo.
In the title game, the Trojans defeated Topeka, Kan., 58-50, the only team they lost to in round-robin play.
They qualified for nationals by winning the USSSA Southeast Regional Championships in Suwanee, Ga.
The national champions Trojans are:
Nick Buto, Tre Clark, Terry Collins, Brandon Drake, Kyle Edwards, Kahlil Garcia, Keiwon Jackson, Jarrid Rhodes, Stepvon Saunders, Christian Zanders and Dequon Washington.
“This was a huge undertaking in a very short period of time, but the experience these young men had was well worth all of the effort,” said Chris Lukowiak, the PYC executive director. “They have created life-long memories and have grown in countless ways.
“Their demeanor on and off the court reflected well upon themselves, the Palmetto Youth Center, and Manatee County. We could not be more proud of them.”
Lukowiak and Bellamy also expressed heartfelt gratitude for all the donors and volunteers who helped make the trip possible.
Approximately $15,000 had to be raised within two weeks in order to fly the team to Kansas City.
“This truly was a community effort,” Bellamy said
Among those donors were:
Medallion Homes, Neal Communities, Sheriff Brad Steube, County Commissioner Larry Bustle, Commissioner Michael Gallen, The Bike Shop in Bradenton, Attorney Cliff Walters, Battalion Chief Mike Williamson and the North River Fire Fighters Association, Bob Davis and The Panda Foundation, Reverend L.C. Livingston of Eternity Temple First Born Church in Palmetto, Brenda Rogers, Ted and Mary Tillis, Josh Baker and Amanda Fister, Frankie Craddock, Eddie Shannon, Rich Higgins, Palmetto Dentistry, Kevin and Gale Garcia and several anonymous donors.
“We cannot thank them enough,” Lukowiak said.

Senseless shootings harm boy and community

At Sunday Mass at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, Pastor Joe Connolly always blesses the children gathered near the altar.
It’s moving to watch the procession of innocents.
Four-year-old Davien Martinez was usually among them.
The same Davien Martinez who is recovering in All Children’s Hospital after being shot in the head by a stray bullet following an exchange of gunfire between two vehicles near the boys’ home off 26th Street West.
That was July 27.
Such a senseless act of violence is heartbreaking, especially on a little boy.
Yet little did we know.
It would be the first salvo of a series of outrageous shootings over a nine-day period that have rocked our community.

Read more Sunday in Mannix About Manatee on Bradenton.com.

Trio of longtime pals to become Eagle Scouts

William (Willy) Kidd, Wyatt Lewis and Allan (AJ) Baily.

Congratulations to Allan (AJ) Baily, William Kidd and Wyatt Lewis.
The three young men, who started as Tiger Cubs in first grade at Kinnan Elementary School, will become Eagle Scouts Monday at Kirkwood Presbyterian Church.
An honors Braden River High School graduate, Baily earned the rank by building a bird-of-prey instructional platform at Crowley Nature Museum. He’ll go to the University of Florida.
Also a Braden River grad, Kidd built a seeing eye dog training platform for Southeast Guide Dogs. He’ll attend State College of Florida.
Lewis upgraded a playground for South Trail Church of Christ, adding safety features and sustainable landscaping. He is a Braden River senior.
• Big ups to Wyatt McLeod, the Lakewood Ranch High School tight end who verbally committed to Miami University of the Mid-American Conference.
Not only is Miami tradition rich academically and athletically, but it has to be the prettiest college campus in Ohio.
• The Krewe of Jolly Rogers and Barefoot Tiki Bar are collecting school supplies and gently used children’s clothing to give to Turning Points for Manatee County’s estimated 1,684 homeless students.
Donations can be dropped off at Barefoot Tiki, 5704 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach. Or Turning Points, 701 17th Ave. W,, Bradenton.


Read more Friday in Vin's People on Bradenton.com.

Will more shoes drop in district investigation?

Bob Gagnon

What a juxtaposition of events Monday.
A.) Bob Gagnon and Scott Martin  were put on paid leave by Manatee County Schools Superintendent Rick Mills.
B.) Attorney Ed Mulock filed to have seven of 10 counts dismissed against Rod Frazier.
C.) Manatee High School began football practice.
Coinicidental or otherwise, Monday's series of events point toward some kind of closure at last to an episode that has been ongoing and been investigated by three separate agencies over the past nine months:
1.) Boca Raton Police Department.
2.) State Attorney's office.
3.) Manatee School District.
Gagnon, an assistant superintendent, and Martin, a staff attorney, made their abrupt exit from the school administration building because of information obtained in an internal investigation into the case involving Frazier, formerly an assistant football coach for the Manatee Hurricanes and parent liaison at the school.
On July 19, Frazier was charged with seven counts of misdemeanor battery involving allegations of improper conduct involving students and staff members at Manatee.
Frazier denied the charges, but he resigned from the school district July 26.
Now another shoe has dropped.
Gagnon was principal at Manatee during a portion of Frazier's time there, but the extent of his involvement in this episode is unclear.
The same goes for Martin, who took over the district probe before Bradenton police began their investigation in early February.
It's possible other names will be forthcoming before Troy Pumphrey, the district's new investigator who reopened its investigation two weeks ago, is done.
Stay tuned.

Korean War vet looks back at forgotten war

The scars are remnants of a war Dale Long dismissed from memory.
The bayonet mark near his throat.
The indentation on his head from a mortar attack.
Then there was the mysterious shrapnel the surgeon found during a procedure for colon cancer.
Think the doctor was surprised?
Long was even moreso.
“I didn’t even know I had it in there,” he said. “It was a piece of steel I got 30 years ago.”
Thirty years ago...
The Korean War.
America’s forgotten war.
It took place between World War II and Vietnam.
We didn’t win it, we didn’t lose it and it ended in a stalemate that cost 36,516 American lives.
Six decades later the Korean peninsula remains a flashpoint instigated by North Korea’s calculating Stalinist regime.
“It’s like we didn’t do a thing there,” Long said. “But we had a rough time.”
Now an 81-year-old widower, he served in 1953 from January through September, primarily in the infantry.
Yet when the 60th anniversary of the Korean armistice arrived July 27, he paid no attention to it or the televised scenes of North Korea’s orchestrated military celebration in Pyongyang.
A forgotten war, indeed, for Long.

Read more Sunday in Mannix About Manatee on Bradenton.com.

Palmetto Youth Center cagers still need an assist

The players on the Palmetto Youth Center Trojans USSSA Southeast Region 17&-Under basketball champions are Nick Buto, Tre Clark, Terry Collins, Brandon Drake, Khalil Garcia, Keiwon Jackson, Jarrid Rhodes, Stepvon Saunders, Brandon Thomas, Tyler Thomas, Dequon Washington, Paul Wiggins, Jordan Young and Christian Zanders. Coach Reggie Bellamy’s staff are James Bacon III, Jacob Durrance and Travarius Woodie.
The team is still trying to raise money to pay for nationals in Kansas City, Aug. 9-11.
Want to help? Call 941-722-0783.

• Cedar Hammock Battalion Chief  Leigh Hollins is retiring after 37 years. There’s a celebration 7-11 p.m. Aug. 31. Call 941-224-1716.

• Southeast High School graduate Tiana Smith received a $1,000 Dolphin Aviation Scholarship and will attend Florida Gulf Coast University.

Read more Friday in Vin's People on Bradenton.com.