Brave Souls Participate in the Annual Polar Plunge
By Caleb Gladstone
EAST GREENWICH- Local residents of East Greenwich partake in the annual polar plunge and jump in the ocean at Narragansett Town Beach on New Year’s Day.
Although East Greenwich’s representation was only about 20 large, after meeting at a coordinator’s house, these daring souls joined a crowd of almost 500 people who took part in the plunge. All coming from different parts of Rhode Island, they arrived at the beach at about 11:30 a.m. and ran in right at the stroke of noon.
Participants gathered around the beach and socialized beforehand, discussing their mix of dread and excitement regarding what they were about to do. Just minutes before noon, all of the plungers in the large crowd ripped off their sweats and plunged into the near freezing ocean water.
While just about everyone participating in the event entered the water in a mad dash, some of the braver participants didn’t exit the water quite as fast. Garrett Scanlon, a junior at East Greenwich High School, was not one so foolish to stay in the water for long. Referring to the plunge itself, he said, “It absolutely sucks, but the rest of the event is fun.” The majority of the plungers shared his opinion and, after dunking, ran out of the water even faster than they entered.
While Scanlon has only been joining in this wild tradition for three years, older participants have partaken in the plunge for far longer. As a coordinator, participant, and father to Garrett Scanlon, Dan Scanlon has been participating in the polar plunge for almost 20 years. While promoting the event, he asks, “No one does anything New Year’s Day, so why not jump in the water and freeze your butt off?” This year the senior Scanlon had the East Greenwich crowd meet at his house and, after serving a classic waffle breakfast, ushered the plungers into a coach bus to head to Narragansett.
Although this year Narragansett was the destination, this has not always been the case. Previously, the plungers went to Mackerel Cove in Jamestown to show their New Year’s spirits. However, this year, the locals were not as enthusiastic and denounced the annual plunge. Consequently, Narragansett Town Beach is now the beach of choice.
Acquitted Man Actually Victim?
By Rachel Fried
PROVIDENCE- A recently acquitted man of double homicide seeks legal action and considers counter suing his accuser of perjury in Providence Superior Court, as of November 27, on account of an unfair trial.
The acquitted, Harry Lupine, and his lawyer, Walter Diznay, suspect Bobby Akon of setting up the murder of his two brothers as well as framing Lupine for the murders themselves. Lupine states that Akon was seen at the scene of the crimes, and in fact, was the first responder in the murder of his brothers several weeks ago. Diznay also believes Akon to have motive in that he was the beneficiary of his brother’s life insurance policy. Although, whether the money was transferred has yet to be determined.
Lupine and Diznay also placed a private investigator on the suspect after fishy behavior two weeks into the trial to determine any actions of concern. In fact, Diznay warns, “the little piggy better not get to comfortable. This is war.” The investigator noted Akon’s shady affiliation with the judge of his brother’s trial, and allegedly witnessed Akon out to dinner at Capricio’s with the judge on the case.
Lupine and Diznay are still awaiting an investigative report, which could unveil more charges against Akon than just perjury.
Hope for Haiti Club Fundraiser
By Ben Chester
EAST GREENWICH – A club at East Greenwich High School (EGHS) held a fundraiser at Launch to support their cause on Monday January 14th.
EGHS club Hope for Haiti held a fundraiser at Launch to raise money to support a school for restaveks in Haiti. Restaveks are abused, slave children in Haiti. 25% of the profits from ticket sales on Monday night went directly to the schools in Haiti, equaling a grand total of $280.
“School provides an outlet for these children, a place for them to receive a meal and an education,” said Rachel Fried, founder and President of Hope for Haiti. Many of these Restaveks live in extreme poverty, are treated terribly, and are not provided enough to eat. Hope for Haiti helps these children by raising money in hopes of them living better.
“Hope for Haiti directly supports Cross International, which is a foundation in Florida that provides food and shelter to some of the poorest countries on earth,” said Marina Palumbo, Co-President of the Hope for Haiti Club. Cross International and others consider Restaveks modern slave children. They do not go to school and are paid very little, if nothing, for very hard work everyday.
In the past, there were 72 schools for restaveks in Haiti. But now, there are only 12, one of which is supported by Hope for Haiti and Palumbo’s own charity, Rays for Restaveks.
Black Cats, Big Problem
By Maddie Eustis
The answer to the question of why black cats are the hardest to get adopted is not black and white. One might think the problem has to do with superstitions, and while that could be the case for some potential adopters, it is not for most. The real problem, explained Nancy Dyer, the head of cat adoptions at the East Greenwich Animal Protection League (EGAPL), is that people tend to just walk by their cage because their dark coats simply just make them blend in with the dark cages. “Black cats are the most overlooked cats at shelters and statistically the hardest to get adopted.”
To illustrate, Shadow, an all black cat was brought into EGAPL in April of 2012 and was just adopted 3 weeks ago. The same went for Panther, a beautiful boy with exotic green eyes, who was with EGAPL for a year and was adopted about a month ago.
While superstition and dark coats do have a part in slow adoptions, explained Dyer, “this has no effect on their personality, as with any other color cat black cats are often very loving, sweet and all around personable.”
What doesn’t help these black beauties is kitten season: a time that stretches from the late spring and can last all the way through mid-fall. People who might have come in for older or black cats will usually leave with a kitten.
Dyer warns potential adopters to, “not be too quick to judge a cat by its color.”
Currently, EGAPL has 4 black cats: Fenway, Levi, Romeo and Bingo. Fenway and Levi are both under a year and will therefore have less trouble getting adopted. Whereas, Romeo, 10, and Bingo, 13, will face more trouble finding a forever home.
Local Concert Date Changed
By Rachel Fried
EAST GREENWICH-Local high school concert date changed due to conflict with semi-final football game on Wednesday November 28th.
The date of the East Greenwich High School Avenger Band conflicted with the Avenger semi-final football game. Music Department Chair, Brendan Carniaux, consulted his band class on Monday November 26th to determine a plan of action together after the date conflict was brought to his attention by Christopher Cobain, East Greenwich Athletic Director.
After discussing as a class and deciding to move the concert, the date was pushed from Wednesday November 28th to Wednesday December 5th, where the Avenger band opened for the Cole Middle School and East Greenwich High School Jazz bands at 7:00 p.m. Carniaux admitted that the only other option would be to go ahead as scheduled on the original date without the kids on the football team.
Carniaux notes, “This band class is like a family. Unlike most classes, we see and get to know each other for four years. The concert wouldn’t be the same if six of our band mates didn’t attend.” He also comments that many members of the band also participating in football hold important solos, which would have affected the performance of the band as a whole.
Andrew Miner, football player and soloist in Avenger Band, was particularly relieved that the concert date conflict was resolved. He claims, “I was happy when we decided to change the concert date. Obviously it was a huge game and I was happy to play in the band concert as well. It was a lot of fun.”
Yet, if forced to choose between band and football, Miner admits he would have chosen to play in the football playoff game rather than the concert. In fact, Miner states, “Obviously I wanted to play in the concert, but we haven’t been to the playoffs in a while so if I had to choose it would definitely be football. But, fortunately it worked out and I was able to play in both.”
Julia Elson, flute player in Avenger Band and senior at East Greenwich High School, also discusses how the date change affected the band performance. She claims that, “If we didn’t have the football players in the concert, we definitely wouldn’t have done our best. Most of the players had solos and important parts in the concert.”