Parks & Rec nominated



Each year the Rhode Island Recreation and Park Association present awards to individuals and communities in Rhode Island for their outstanding contributions to the field of parks and recreation.

This year the Cranston Department of Parks and Recreation, under the direction of Anthony Liberatore, has been nominated for the Distinguished Department of the Year Award. Congratulations to Anthony and the entire Department for a job well done!



Apajee and Lynch qualify in Jr. Olympics



Congratulations to Cranston residents Jessica Apajee and Cianna Lynch, age 10, who have advanced to the USA Track and Field Junior Olympic Cross Country Nationals being held in Richmond, Va., this coming weekend. The girls competed in the New England Junior Olympic Cross-Country Championship on Nov. 16, earning Junior Olympic medals in the Bantam Girls 3k run. Jessica Apajee finished fifth, qualifying for the regional championship with a finishing time of 13:26:53. Cianna Lynch finished seventh, qualifying for the regional championship with a finishing time of 13:32:30. Apajee and Lynch then advanced to the UASTF Region 1 Junior Olympic Cross-Country Championships held at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, N.Y., on Nov. 23.

Once again, both girls earned Junior Olympic medals in the Bantam Girls 3k run. Jessica Apajee qualified for the national championship with a finishing time of 13:38:90. Cianna Lynch qualified for the national championship with a finishing time of 14:03:66.

The USATF awards the top 15 runners in each category a Junior Olympic medal and advance the top 20 runners in each region to the National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championship. This year will mark the first time a CLCF cross-country runner has advanced to the Bantam Girls 3k run at a national championship. The girls are training daily for the nationals with Coach Kevin Aucoin and his dedicated staff, which includes CLCF Coach Tom Aman.



Urbani-Craddock promoted



Congratulations to Lynne Urbani-Craddock of Cranston, who has been named chief executive officer of the Rhode Island Free Clinic in Providence. The clinic provides care to adults without health insurance. Urbani-Craddock had been senior vice president of external relations at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island.



Aiello wins jingle contest



Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture announced the grand prize winner of its Jingle Video Contest on late last month at a special event at the Saugus, Mass., store. Stephen Aiello of Cranston got the most votes – over 1,000 – from the general public for his entry, “Dreamin’ of Bernie & Phyl’s,” and won a brand-new 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid.

Since the contest began this summer, hundreds of individuals submitted videos of themselves singing the retailer’s well-known trademark jingle: “Bernie and Phyl’s, quality, comfort and price, that’s nice!” A panel of judges selected 10 finalists, based on originality, creativity and quality of production. Over 4,000 people voted online for their favorite video.

The Honda Civic Hybrid, which was awarded in conjunction with Cambridge Honda, was on display at each of the Bernie & Phyl’s stores throughout the contest.



Roderick joins Washington Trust



Jonathan A. Roderick has joined The Washington Trust Company as assistant vice president and branch manager of the bank’s Oaklawn Avenue branch in Cranston. He is responsible for managing the daily operations of the branch, growing the branch’s deposit base and loan portfolios and representing Washington Trust in the community.

Roderick has more than five years of bank management experience, including retail branch management, and retention and development of new clients. His background includes retail management experience and military service in the U.S. Navy. He is a member of the Greater Providence County Chamber of Commerce.



Auburn Library extra



Saturday’s drop-in craft at the Auburn branch of the Cranston Public Library has been changed. Instead of a snowman pin, participants will be making candy cane reindeer. All ages are welcome at this program, which will run from noon until 4 p.m. No registration is necessary.

The Auburn Library, located at 396 Pontiac Ave., will also be showing two more family movies in December, on the 20th and the 27th. Please call the library at 781-6116 for more information and to find out what movies will be showing.





Domestic Bank commits $1 million



Cranston-based Domestic Bank has announced its commitment of $1 million to community organizations to bolster financial literacy programs throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The program, The Partnership for Financial Literacy: Providing a Roadmap for Success through Education, will kick off at Progreso Latino, a local Hispanic advocacy organization that is one of the organizations receiving funds from Domestic Bank.

The event program, held earlier this week, featured speakers from Domestic Bank, Progreso Latino and United Way of RI. Community members also shared their stories about their struggle with money management issues and the need for financial literacy education.



Did You Know?



A must for children of all ages! Visit www.noradsanta.org to view the latest in tracking Santa this year, games, entertainment and history of how NORAD, the bi-national U.S.-Canadian military organization responsible for the aerospace and maritime defense of the United States and Canada, actually tracks Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. The site is now up, complete with a Santa Arrival Countdown, 3D Santa Tracking and videos.

According to NORAD, Santa maintains a long list of children who have been good throughout the year. His list gets bigger each year by virtue of the world's increasing population. Check out the world’s population right now at the official census site at www.census.gov/ipc/www/popclockworld.html.

As a result, Santa has had to deliver more toys in the same amount of time. If one were to assume he works in the realm of standard time, he would have to limit his stay to about two to three 10,000ths of a second per home!

The fact that Santa Claus is more than 16 centuries old yet does not appear to age is our biggest clue that he does not work within time as we know it. His Christmas Eve trip may seem to take around 24 hours, but to Santa it may last days, weeks or even months in standard time. Santa would not want to rush the important job of distributing presents to children and spreading Christmas happiness everyone, so the only logical conclusion is that Santa functions within a different time-space continuum than the rest of us.

NORAD has also just announced the closing ceremonies for the Reindeer Games have taken place at the North Pole. More than 48 reindeer participated this year. Challenges included take-off speed, freestyle sky-dancing, synchronized touch-and-go and hoof patty-cake for the fawns.

NORAD officials have also verified that production of electronic toys has sped up significantly due to the overwhelming number of requests from children around the world. Not surprisingly, the Wii was at the top of the list. Elf production is reported to be at full speed! (Courtesy of NORAD Santa Tracker)



If you would like to submit any items of interest, please e-mail Meri R. Kennedy directly at CranstonChatter@aol.com. You may also address your items to Cranston Chatter, c/o Cranston Herald/Beacon Communications, 1944 Warwick Ave., Warwick, RI 02889. Photos are also welcome.