Welcome to the
Saratoga Partnership for Prevention's
e-Newsletter
Summer 2007
Dear Partnership members,
Welcome to the second issue of our online newsletter. Don't forget -- all Partnership members are encouraged
to submit articles. Our next issue will be sent in early September, so if you'd like to have your information included, please send it via e-mail to robin@preventioncouncil.org by August 20th.
As always, thank you for your support and involvement.
Saratoga Partnership for Prevention staff
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Table of
Contents
In this issue
you'll find:
- DARE Officer Scores New Car
- All Stars Camp Hires Director
- All Stars Camp Goes Green
- Prevention News
- Misc. Partnership News
- On a Personal Note
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Prevention News
Anheuser-Busch Will Stop Selling 'Spykes'
Cocaine Energy Drink Pulled from Shelves
Camel No. 9 Marketing Sparks Federal Inquiry
Cheese -- Cheap, Addictive, and Deadly
Pot Potency has
Doubled Since Mid-80s
New Flip Flops have Hidden Alcohol Compartment
First Drinks Often Come from Parents, Study Says
Young Pot Users Face More Problems than
Drinkers
Study
Shows Half of College Students Binge
Drink, Abuse Drugs
Higher Beer Taxes, 21 Drinking Age Reduce
Traffic Deaths
Research Shows Link between Pot and Mental
Health Problems
Researchers: ADHD a Risk Factor for Alcoholism
Research Identifies Genetic Link to Alcohol
Consumption
Depression Linked to Underage
Substance Use
Alcohol Advertising Linked to Underage
Drinking
Female Brain Hurt Faster by Alcohol, Study
Says
On a
Personal Note . . .
D.A.R.E. Officer Tony Straus
recently returned from Ft. Leonard Wood, MO, where he serves every
spring as a drill sergeant for active-duty soldiers. Tony himself is a
veteran of the Iraq war, where he served for 10 months in 2005 and
earned his combat infantryman's badge. He's been in the Army for the
past 24 years, 20 of which he's also worked full time for the SSPD.
Dave Torres' son, Nick, has decided to
attend Harvard University next year.
Congratulations to the Torres family!
Columbian Springs Assistant Principal Bob Loggins and his fiancé, Karin Hazlitt, took time to snap this picture while they were skiing in
Winter Park, CO, during April break.
Karen and Bill Pettigrew dressed for their parts in the "Wings, Wheels, and Tracks Military Vehicle and Living History Show" at the Cobleskill
Fairgrounds in May. They're involved in the living history of WWII in order to honor Veterans and all who supported the war effort, and also to educate the public about the WWII era.
Karen hosted a WWII Home front display, complete with 1940 furnishings and a period portable phonograph, radio and telephone. She also displayed many WWII-related home front items, such as ration coupon books, V-mail, music, magazines, maps, posters and other items.
Bill portrayed an Air Corps photographer with a tent set up as a dark room. Included were all WWII Air Corps aerial cameras, ground cameras, gun cameras, movie cameras, film developing equipment, and a photo printer, copier and enlarger.
Congratulations to outgoing Superintendent John MacFadden. His retirement party will take place on Friday, June 15 at the City Center. Invitations are in the mail.
Congratulations also to outgoing seniors Sami Lawrence and Emily Koella, two favorite All Stars Camp counselors who are heading to college next year. Sami will be going to Vanderbilt University and Emily will be going American University.
We wish them all the best.
Two unidentified people, who are also Partnership members, served as chaperones
at this year's Post Prom, which took place on Saturday, May 19th from 11 p.m. - 4 a.m.
at the Saratoga Springs Senior Center.
Any idea who they are?
D.A.R.E. Officer Scores New Car
D.A.R.E. Officer Tony Straus'
students were always asking him if he'd done something wrong to be
driving an SSPD police van instead of a "real" police car. So he and
Capt. Mike Biss put their heads together and decided to pitch an
idea to Bob McKenna at New Country Toyota. Would New Country
donate a car to the D.A.R.E. program in exchange for a bold sponsorship
on the car's exterior? New Country agreed, and this year's vehicle is a
brand new 2005 Toyota Camry, complete with New Country's logo as well as
the D.A.R.E. insignia.
But the deal doesn't end there.
Every spring, New Country will replace the previous D.A.R.E. car with a
new one. New Country will also take care of all maintenance on the
vehicles while they're being used for the D.A.R.E. program.
The donation was accepted by the
Saratoga Springs City Council in April, so keep an eye out for the new
D.A.R.E. car around town, at each of the elementary schools' D.A.R.E.
graduations, which are broken up between May and June, and at D.A.R.E.
All Stars Camp this summer.
DARE All Stars Camp
Hires New Director
In an effort to
keep Partnership business rolling throughout the summer, Partnership
staff have hired Erin Lloyd to oversee all camp activities this
summer. Erin has been a counselor at camp since its inception in 2001,
taking charge of the Purple Team, pinch-hitting as a golf instructor,
and impressing other staff with her unstoppable energy. A Corinth
native, she has a Master's Degree in Education with special education
and literacy certifications, and is currently filling a maternity leave
at Schuylerville High School and looking for a permanent teaching
position in the Capital Region.
In the past, all three
Partnership staff have spent all four weeks of camp at the camp site on
Weibel Avenue. This year, Youth Development Specialist Kati Behrens
will join Erin at camp every day, coordinating activities and teaching
the All Stars program, but she also plans to spend a couple hours in the
office each day to plan middle school and high school programming for
the fall. Partnership Coordinator Maureen Cary and Information
Specialist Robin Ambrosino plan to spend most of their time in
the office this summer, with the exception of Mondays and Fridays, when
extra hands are needed for camp activities.
DARE All Stars Camp Goes Green
Several new initiatives are planned this
summer to make camp more environmentally friendly. One of the biggest
changes will be an effort to minimize paper correspondence with camp
families. When a family registers their child for camp, they will
provide an e-mail address so subsequent communication can take place
electronically. This will make a big difference during the school year,
when staff will be able to send out a mass e-mail instead of sending
snail mail announcements about Lunch Group and After School activities
to hundreds of families on a regular basis. This year's 7th and 8th
graders will still receive snail mail announcements - as will anyone
without access to e-mail - but the goal is to phase out paper
communications in the coming years.
Other go-green initiatives
include a canvas tote bag art project, seedling tree donations for all
campers from the DEC's Saratoga Tree Nursery, a formal recycling program
for glass, plastic, cans and paper; and an effort to minimize the number
of cars idling in the parking lot as parents wait to pick up their
campers at the end of the day.
Misc. Partnership News
Judy and Jay Ekman
Honored as Child Advocates of the Year
The Ekmans were honored by
Saratoga Center for the Family in April for their work preventing child
abuse and neglect. Their efforts began in the 70s via a task force at
the Presbyterian New England Congregational Church, which grew into a
full-service agency serving children and adult survivors of abuse, as
well as families seeking counseling. To read the full article,
click here.
Saratoga and Shen Coalitions Sponsor PSAs
A letter to parents with tips about how to keep kids safe during prom
and graduation season ran for two weeks each in The Saratogian and
Community News. The letter was signed by prominent members of each
community, including the district attorney, school superintendent,
police chief, school principals and other key coalition members.
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All Stars Camp
As of March 31, three weeks of D.A.R.E. All Stars camp are full, and
only a handful of spots are free in Week 4.
Sustainability Committee to Meet this Summer
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Partnership staff will be
contacting key coalition members this summer to brainstorm ways to keep
the Partnership and its mission alive
despite dwindling federal funding. Several
coalition members have already
expressed an interest in being a part of this
group. If you'd like to be included, please contact
Maureen.
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Robin Ambrosino has an article in the Spring/Summer issue of Garden Ideas and Outdoor Living, a Better Homes and Gardens quarterly publication, featuring Ballston Spa resident, Kerry Mendez. Kerry runs a perennial gardening consulting business called