By Ashley Lodato
The season of gratitude and giving kicked off nicely this weekend with a small but appreciated gesture from fourth-grader Sam Patterson. A customer called Sam’s mom’s store, Glover Street Market, inquiring about buying pumpkins. The store didn’t have any, and the customer hung up. But a few minutes later the customer got a call from Sam, who had overheard the phone call, offering the customer one of his own pumpkins. Who needs any more Halloween sweetness when you’ve got kids like Sam?
More gratitude came in the form of Winthrop’s Volunteer Appreciation Dinner last week. The town did a great job with the food and the dessert, but the biggest treat came afterwards, when Mayor Anne Acheson talked about the critical role of volunteers in our community. As we all know, there are great things that simply wouldn’t happen in our community were it not for volunteers. Jill Calvert, who was among the volunteers, said “And then she lifts up this ream of paper. It was a solid 2 inches thick, and I am thinking ‘What is that?’”
The ream of paper turned out to be certificates of appreciation from the town, awarded to volunteers who gave time and/or resources to town projects. As Jill and her sister Laurie Ulmer — both of whom have been instrumental in facilitating ice rink construction and upgrades over the years — sat there listening they realized that the majority of the names being called were rink volunteers. Although most of them were not present at the dinner, there were more than 200 individual and business volunteers for the most recent phase of the rink renovation.
Jill says, “We asked our community to volunteer and they rose to the occasion big time! It just made me feel so big and fuzzy about where we live and what people choose to do to give back to the community.”
Jill wants to invite everyone to a grand opening and volunteer appreciation night at the rink on Dec. 1, just three days after the logo contest closes.
What is the logo contest? Well I’m glad you asked! The Winthrop Ice & Sports Rink is rebranding and changing its name to the Winthrop Rink, and thus a new logo is needed. Jill says, “Since the facility was such a community effort, it only seems appropriate that the community would have a chance to create the new logo. The winner will receive a season pass to the Winthrop Rink. The new logo should be simple, enduring, memorable, versatile, and appropriate. Check out the rink’s website for more details: www.winthropicerink.com.
