A few months ago, I had the pleasure of participating in community reading day at Dudley Elementary School. I read to Ms. Davis’ fourth grade class. It was a very pleasant experience for me and the students really seemed to enjoy it. As a result, the class offered me a gift certificate. Instead of accepting this, I offered the class an extra credit project. They were to compose an essay on what they believed was their most important safety rule and why. The winner of the contest would receive the gift certificate. In addition, I promised to publish the winning essay in my column. The essays were reviewed by members of the department. The names were withheld to provide a level of fairness. The officers gave their choices for the top essays. One received two first place votes. It was a very difficult decision. All of them were very good. The winner selected was Mr. Bryan Gibree. It is my pleasure to share Bryan’s essay with you:

"The most important safety rule is never talk to strangers. This is the most important rule in many ways. Talking to strangers can be dangerous and harmful to kids and their families. My mom and dad always tell me not to talk to strangers because you never know who would be a bad person, or who is a nice person. There are many bad people in this world that do many bad things. Some will try to harm kids and take them away from their moms and dads who love them very much. Others will try to convince you to do bad things, like stealing, smoking, or doing drugs. These things can also be harmful to my body and cause hurt to my family. Never accept anything from someone you don’t know. You never know what they will do or who they will hurt. That is why you should never talk to strangers."

I wish to thank Dudley Elementary School Principal Mrs. Cafelle and fourth grade teacher Ms. Maureen Davis for all their support and assistance with this project. The children worked very hard on these and they should all be proud of their accomplishments. They covered numerous topics including seatbelt safety, bicycle helmet use, road and traffic safety, power tool awareness, and several more. I also wish to give credit to the parents of these students for teaching their children safety awareness in many forms. As parents, the best you can do is to educate your children to the best of your ability, stay involved in their lives, and provide them with learning opportunities. This can give them the foundation to make good decisions when they are faced with tough situations.

I had the pleasure of attending the 42nd Annual Communion Breakfast on Sunday March 5th at the Webster-Dudley Polish American Veterans Club. This event is sponsored by the club to honor and remember those who have served and continue to serve in our armed forces. Many area veterans’ organizations and the PAV Ladies Auxiliary were on hand to honor these brave men and women. I wish to thank the members of the club for fine program and meal. State Representative Paul Kujawski served as the master of ceremonies and Middlesex County Sheriff James DiPaola was the guest speaker. He offered insight into his career and experiences. This was a special day and is always a fitting remembrance and thank you to all our veterans.

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