Today: A Day for Lovers and a Fond Farewell

Many Bests on Cherry-

has been reader nominated for four categories in the Providence Phoenix BEST issue. Tell them our local gem has the area's best Trivia Night, Happy Hour and Karaoke, or that it's Northern RI's best Restaurant by voting at http://contests.thephoenix.com/thebest/providence/2012/vote. Take the entire poll or visit every day to vote for your favorites from across the state.

A free year on the ice-

Synagro Technologies, Inc., presented Mayor Leo Fontaine with a check for $5,000 for Ice Skating Rink on Monday.  Synagro’s contribution will be used toward general maintenance of the rink, helping it to remain a free facility for residents and visitors to enjoy all winter.

“Synagro is proud to support the communities in which we operate, and our relationship with the City of Woonsocket is very important to us,” said Pamela Racey, Vice President of Development, Synagro.  “We are always looking for ways that we can help enhance the quality of life for Woonsocket residents while improving their surrounding environment.”

Fontaine said the contribution covers virtually all operational expenses for the city rink. "We were able to work with the union and restructure the schedule, so there's no overtime," he explained.

An additional donation of $1,000 was made by Family Resources Community Action, and the organization will sponsor Community Ice Skating Days with complimentary hot chocolate on February 22 from 2 to 4 p.m., and March 9 from 4 to 6 p.m. 

Valentine's Day-

Many believe that Valentine's Day has it's origin in the pagan festival of Lupercalia - once celebrated on February 15 and then adapted by the Christian Church. According to History.com, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at a sacred cave and sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They then choped the goat's hide into strips which they dipped in sacrificial blood before taking to the streets to gently slap women and crop fields. Enjoy your flowers and chocolates, ladies. 

YWCA gets $60,000 for breast cancer awareness program-

The Avon Breast Health Outreach Program has awarded a $60,000 one-year grant to YWCA Northern Rhode Island to increase awareness of the life-saving benefits of early detection of breast cancer through yearly mammogram screenings and to educate and empower women concerning their breast health. The program will work in partnership with YWCA's sister agency in the Central Falls community and will focus on the underinsured and uninsured minority and elderly women in Rhode Island. It is the 15th year that the program has received funding from the Avon Foundation for Women to support its work on this important health issue, and in recognition of the program’s excellence.         

The breast health program ENCOREplus® at YWCA Northern Rhode Island will educate Rhode Island women and refer them to low-cost or free mammograms and clinical breast exams in their own communities. During 2011, the ENCOREplus® Program reached more than 11,000 women with information about the importance of early detection of breast cancer and referred almost 1,100 women for mammograms and clinical breast exams. In addition, YWCA Northern Rhode Island's “Sister to Sister” program, a peer educator breast health home party funded by an Avon Foundation grant, has been recognized by the International Cancer Council, the National Cancer Institute and the Rhode Island American Cancer Society as a successful outreach program serving the minority community with cultural linguistic appropriate services.
           
For more information on ENCOREplus® at YWCA Northern Rhode Island please call Joyce Dolbec, MA, ENCOREplus® Consultant at 401-769-7450. For more information about breast cancer, contact the American Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345 or www.cancer.org, or the National Cancer Institute at 1-800-4-CANCER or www.cancer.gov.

To learn more about the Avon Foundation for Women, call 1-866-505-AVON or visit www.avonfoundation.org, where you can access free printable Breast Health Resource Guides in English and Spanish. For information or to register or support the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer events, visit www.avonwalk.org or call 1-888-540-WALK.

Goodbye, and thank you-

Today is my final day with Woonsocket Patch after more than a year of serving as editor of this news website. It has been an exciting ride and I have enjoyed helping to build this local platform for news and interaction, but it is time for me to explore new opportunities. I would like to thank all of our readers and contributors for making this such a fantastic experience.

The Patch platform empowers the community to contribute, to shape the day’s news picture, and to feature the work they do to make Woonsocket great as well. There is no limit to what the Patch can do, and I believe whoever will replace me will continue to show you that. For now, Associate Regional Editor Patrick Luce will be your guide until a permanent replacement is found. Please direct future communications for Woonsocket Patch to Luce at patrick.luce@patch.com.