Woodstock CT Café

from Dean

If you think that everything is so great in MA and RI, those two states have been controlled by liberals forever. The only thing cheaper in those states is gas, they get their taxes from other sources.

If you want to call liberals/progressives evil, well shame on you, people like you are the problem. You want to demonize a whole group of people but never want to solve a problem. You ae probably just one of those people who want to keep more in their pocket and damn everything else. That view point is hardly what makes this country great.

Since you think that liberals are evil, lets just go back 2 years when the so-called conservatives were in charge and their record at that time.

The worst recession since the great depression.

TARP, bailout of banks

The greatest debt in this country’s history, of course it has only gone up.

The greatest expansion of the federal government in history with the Medicare prescription plan. How did we pay for that, cut taxes of course.

Skyrocketing gas and food prices.

The worst growth over a president’s term since the depression.

Two wars, one not won, the other we were duped to get into.

I could go on and on.

There is plenty of blame to go around to both sides. Blaming one side just points out that you really dont care about the answers.

Jog with Judy is today .

This year will mark our 6th Annual Jog with Judy Road Race in Woodstock, Ct. The Woodstock community lost Judy Nilan, a social worker at Woodstock Middle School, while she was jogging near her home. She is still and will forever be missed by her friends, family and colleagues.

This road race was developed by the staff at the Woodstock Public School system to honor Judy and to give everyone a way to remember her in a positive manner. She loved to run/jog, so it seemed perfect. Three teachers, Chris Mayhew, Jen Prather and I took on the challenge of organizing this road race. (Jen Prather has taken a leave of absence and Sandy Sanderson has replaced her). We were so astonished to see over 800 people come to the first race. What makes this race special are the volunteers and donations from businesses that give generously to help keep this wonderful day alive. Last year, our 5th year, we had about 720 people come out and support the race.

Each year, we gather at the beginning of Roseland Park Road ready to begin the race and share memories of Judy. All the hours we put into organizing the race finally ends and we can see our efforts shine. It is an amazing day even if the weather is not great. There is food, music, balloons, smiling faces and people from all over. I, personally, will never forget the first race we had. The runners and walkers were told to start and I watched this huge sea of people going down the road. It was quite a sight. I stood there shocked to see so many people coming out to give their respect for Judy and what she believed in.

Judy was a social worker at Woodstock Middle School. This is where I met her and watched her as she planned activities for the students. She was passionate about programs that were geared towards character education as well as drug/alcohol awareness programs. She also liked programs that helped students improve their self-esteem. When she organized a project, she did it BIG. She knew that for such programs to work, you must to get the attention of kids.

All money collected (excluding race expenses) is put into a Judy Nilan fund. Any teacher/staff member in the Woodstock Public School system may fill out a request for funding of a project that fits into the category of character education, self-esteem, and drug/alcohol awareness. Each request must be written out in detail and show how the funds are going to be used. There is a committee comprised of the race coordinators, the principal, the social worker and the school psychologist. We meet and discuss each request and vote to allocate funds for the project. Read the rest of this entry »