By: Ruben Justiniano
Hola Amigos:
Que excitante es poder haber leido los articulos del Morning Call y del Express Times. How exciting was to read the articles from the Morning Call and Express Times about making the trails along the Bushkill creek more walkable and friendly.
It is one more example of the potential we have in the West Ward and how much we can do with our very own resources.
As a father am always worried about what can I get my son involved with so the negativity and the bad influences stay away from my him. Believe me there is many options which are positive for a teenager to be involve, right here in our neighborhood and surrounding areas. Many of you might be asking yourselves, from what you can observe and read, this question; What can possibly be so good about living in the West Ward, if all I observe and read is negative? Well I think I can answer that from my experience as a father who is raising a son in the West Ward of Easton. First let me mention a few options I have taken advantage of for my son: Family YMCA (summer camps, after school programs, family camps etc.), Third Street Alliance (swimming lessons, Family night movies), West Ward Neighborhood Partnership (Good influence to be involved in the community such as: neighborhood canton programs, pocket parks rehab, community gardening, ecology, etc.), Genesis Bicycle (Opportunity to get involved with biking, family groups that go out together and at the end go to "Purple Cow" for ice cream, sponsored by Genesis, Other bike ride options for adults and totally free, CAT program which teaches you how to fix and build your own bike "if you are willing to travel to Bethlehem" ). Boys and Girls Club of Easton (Cyber cafe, sports, etc.) Easton School of Rock (Private guitar or drum lessons "if they are into rock and roll"). These are just some options I have seen for the well being and healthy growth of my son, right here in Easton.
When I think about the neighborhood kids as any parent I fear that he may encounter and let himself go with bad influence. To my own surprise I've seen how he's been able to cope with the pressure out there and learn the to deal with it in a positive way. My biggest satisfaction is to see how he could be a good influence and bring those kids to participate with things such as: community gardening, farmers market, volunteer to work with disabled kids at my job, etc.
By reading this "Blog" almost on a daily basis I see the "passion" and the "willingness" of a large group of people, like myself, want to see this neighborhood working to its fullest potential and we will. We have so many options, resources, and are finally looking to move forward into the future with it. Recuerden que juntos venceremos!!!
It is one more example of the potential we have in the West Ward and how much we can do with our very own resources.
As a father am always worried about what can I get my son involved with so the negativity and the bad influences stay away from my him. Believe me there is many options which are positive for a teenager to be involve, right here in our neighborhood and surrounding areas. Many of you might be asking yourselves, from what you can observe and read, this question; What can possibly be so good about living in the West Ward, if all I observe and read is negative? Well I think I can answer that from my experience as a father who is raising a son in the West Ward of Easton. First let me mention a few options I have taken advantage of for my son: Family YMCA (summer camps, after school programs, family camps etc.), Third Street Alliance (swimming lessons, Family night movies), West Ward Neighborhood Partnership (Good influence to be involved in the community such as: neighborhood canton programs, pocket parks rehab, community gardening, ecology, etc.), Genesis Bicycle (Opportunity to get involved with biking, family groups that go out together and at the end go to "Purple Cow" for ice cream, sponsored by Genesis, Other bike ride options for adults and totally free, CAT program which teaches you how to fix and build your own bike "if you are willing to travel to Bethlehem" ). Boys and Girls Club of Easton (Cyber cafe, sports, etc.) Easton School of Rock (Private guitar or drum lessons "if they are into rock and roll"). These are just some options I have seen for the well being and healthy growth of my son, right here in Easton.
When I think about the neighborhood kids as any parent I fear that he may encounter and let himself go with bad influence. To my own surprise I've seen how he's been able to cope with the pressure out there and learn the to deal with it in a positive way. My biggest satisfaction is to see how he could be a good influence and bring those kids to participate with things such as: community gardening, farmers market, volunteer to work with disabled kids at my job, etc.
http://www.mcall.com/news/easton/all-a11_3trail.7077326nov06,0,6967510.story
By Ruben Justiniano
Posts
7 comments:
Maybe when these bike trails are finished, David and I will be inspired to get our mountain bikes out of the basement! I know it sounds wimpy, but I've always been too intimidated by the hills in Easton to go bike riding here. But the trail along the Bushkill to the river should be relatively flat right? The other reason I don't bike around is that I've always been a little uneasy biking in streets with cars, so the bike trail would be beautiful and stress free...
Please keep us posted on this, Ruben!
Ruben,
I'm glad to see Sam has chosen to be an active participant in Easton's many avenues of adventure. It's also great to hear how well you have taken advantage of the local opportunities to get involved. Really, when you think about it, we have more to do around here on a daily basis than most people realize...and more opportunity to improve our own neighborhoods too. There is free, live music someplace downtown almost every week. The college has many programs - both fun and educational - that mean we never have to sit home and be bored.
A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to spend a great evening in a private studio downtown with about thirty neighbors enjoying jazz performed by musicians from Paris and New York, paintings by an artist from Austria and short films by an Eastern European animator...and they all now live in Easton! I got to enjoy all this - plus wine and cheese - for $10...and it was all close enough to walk to. Last week I attended two events at the Eastonian Ball Room; a presentation on the history of the attempts to dam the Delaware River and a Smart Growth presentation by Renew Lehigh Valley about local communities and transportation - both free.
We often seem knee deep in controversy and complaints about what isn't working here - and that is justified since we can always make things better. But it's the things we already have that make it worth the while to stay and fight instead of becoming another suburban zombie, hypnotized by TV and video games.
As for the bike trails, when the Bushkill corridor is done I will be able to zip out my front door and down the street one block to the trail head. I can be to work by bike in ten minutes and all on flat ground...I can't wait. No more lugging two tons of car down there every day and wasting gas for nothing.
DRL
Thanks for your post,
I need to be reminded of all the great things in the city and the opportunities we have.
It goes to show what happens when a concerned and loving parent invests so much time into his child.
Thank you!
the paths are great with kids, but they are purely recreational (since they really don't go anywhere).
Noel, the hills ARE daunting, but you just have to look at them as a price to pay for the downhill! you can ride from 13th down N'hampton all the way to the circle almost without pedaling at all. blasting around downtown on a bike makes you feel invincible as you see all the people locked in their cars, hardly moving. Bushkill drive up north out of town is a great ride (I'm hoping that one day 13th will be fixed past the Silk Mill so that riding a bike on it isn't so challenging).
as was mentioned, Genesis has some great beginner rides. go see Mary, tell her I sent you and she'll have you going great in no time!
Thanks, EHB--maybe this spring I will!
Thanks Ruben for identifying them many creative things in the WW for your young son to do!
As an adult who had a very happy childhood full of adventures in a similar neighborhood, I sometimes forget that the WW is not only an ideal place for an adult, or old fogey like myself, to "play" in, but also it must be a tremendously positive place for a young person.
If deluded folk think cities are only places where kids to get into trouble, read the horrifying accounts of our nearby suburban youth and what they get up to and jailed for!!
Thanks for sharing Ruben! I also have a child she is almost 13. The thing she most enjoys is the family swim nite at Third Street Alliance and their swim team (although she gets a bit frustrated - I'm trying to use it as a teachable moment :)
I would really like to do the biking thing as we use to bike when I lived on the South Side (she was 7 then and the roads were less congested).
Her being a girl and all she is still very much into the whole slumber party thing which is free and requires very little effort on my part :)
The only real difference I notice is that these days parents just drop their kids off without knowing anything about the parents or kids they are staying with... which can be a little scary.
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