Parents of Tots

Letter from the Committee

May greets us with sunny skies and plenty of parkdates. We'll be checking out the new Klubhouse playspace, visiting the nursing home, playing at North Suburban Family Network and enjoying fun field trips.

Many thanks to Heather Lane for her outstanding efforts at the Dockside Fundraiser in April. The raffle was incredible, with great prizes netting Parents of Tots over $600! That is an all time high for a raffle for us. Dockside also is sending a $200 check, 10% of the nights earnings to our group. Many, many thanks to everyone who participated.

We've decided to spend some of that money on printing our Places To Go summer booklet and could use your help. We welcome all suggestions of places to visit or things to do over the summer months. If you've visited a new park or have a suggestion please email us at potfieldtrips@yahoo.com by May 15th or fill out the form on the website so we can include your ideas.

I am sad to say BoPoT will be taking a break and not meeting for the rest of the year. There hasn't been much participation so we've decided to let it rest. If people let us know they are interested in book club continuing we can revisit in the fall. We'd like to thank Jenn Cabral for her tireless efforts this year with book club and for the great reading suggestions she made each month.

Please join me in welcoming Emily Amico as our new Member Representative. She is working with Keri Capobianco to transition the responsibilities. Keri has been a tremendous asset to PoT. Emily is adding a welcome committee to her role and is looking for volunteers. The idea is to welcome new members to our group by having a "veteran" PoT person call them and connect. We'll have 12 people on the welcome committee, each person taking a month to be the greeter. If you can help with this effort please contact Emily at eeamico22@aol.com.

Planning for the Festival by the Lake continues. We could really use your help! As this is the first year Parents of Tots is putting together the childrens' game area, we are in need of as many hands to help as possible. Please contact Holly Lannen at sailmarvel@yahoo.com if you or your spouse/friend/family member can volunteer to help that day.

The end of year dinner will be Thursday June 25th at Cafe Jags. Let us know if you can join us by rsvping to potfieldtrips@yahoo.com with "Jags" in the subject line. They have offered us a great deal- an all inclusive three course meal for $25 where each person who comes will be given a $10 gift card to the restaurant to use on their next visit. Dont miss out on this fun night!

Happy Mothers Day!
Jennifer DeCourcy

We can't wait to see you at our upcoming events!

It's spring! Yahoo!! I'm so happy we made it through winter and can be outdoors again. Parents of Tots has lots of fun ideas to help put spring into your step. Check out all the great activities inside.

Many thanks to Amy for hosting a fabulous night out with Avon. We appreciate her kind hospitality. Thanks to thoseof you who made donations for Room to Grow. Our charitable efforts this year are very commendable. Barb and Amy have found another great cause this month, donating gently used books to Children's Hospital. Please see inside for details.

Don't miss the fundraiser this month at the Dockside, it's just days away. You can go anytime on April 8th and enjoy food and drinks. All sales from the day will be credited to PoT. Better still there are FABULOUS raffle prizes available. If you can't make it to Dockside you can still send in your raffle tickets and be eligible to win. This is our biggest fundraiser of the year, the one time we have a huge raffle including a 50/50 and a scratch ticket money tree, not to mention a Boston hotel package, Boston Red Sox tickets and so much more. We greatly appreciate your support. For our veteran PoTers we are not having an event at the Duck Walk this spring, so this is the raffle to get in on!

Our Spring Fling has a new twist this year. We're going to be outside on the Common by Lake Quannapowitt. Teresa from Kidzfun will lead us in fun activities, be sure to reserve your spot.

The Festival by the Lake is scheduled for June 13, 2009 and we need your help. This is the first year Parents of Tots has been invited to help sponsor this event and we're responsible for the Children's games. More specifics inside, please help us to make this a great event for all the New Englanders coming to this crafts fair.

I hope everyone has a chance to come by the Yard Sale this month at the Americal. If you haven't already be sure to reserve your table soon.

Happy Spring!
Jennifer DeCourcy

In an effort tohelp get through the winter months my family has movie nights. We recently saw Mary Poppins. I was surprised by how many questions my children had. How does she fly with her umbrella? How can they walk on smoke stairs? Is supercalifragilisticexpealadocious really a word? Maybe its an indication that my inquisitive children are restless from months indoors.

Fortunately Parents of Tots has plenty to do this month. There are great field trips, a playdate at North Suburban Family Network, We are Women Couples Night Out for a CHOCOLATE tasting and much more planned.

February was a fun month. Many thanks to the Event Coordinators and Co Crafters for a fabulous Winter Blues party. There was quite the crowd bouncing! Robin did a great job with her President Palooza Hoots and Howls event too. We had a blast with the Lincoln Top Hat Coin Toss, drinking George Washington Cherry Juice, coloring Presidential Pictures and reading stories. Hoots and Howls has an outdoor parkdate scheduled, hope to see you there.

Thanks to Amy Caggiano for volunteering to serve as Co-Charitables Coordinator with Barbara. The Gathering Change project in February was great and there's information inside about Room to Grow which is another well deserving charity.

Cheers to Kathleen Rose-Johnsen for volunteering to be our Assistant Web Manager. Be sure to check out our newonline poll, vote on whether Gymstreet should be a monthly field trip. We're also adding a Members Owned Business Page to the website,specifics inside the newsletter.

Our weekly email reminders are in a transition process where we are changinghow they are sent through Yahoo. This will help us be more efficient in our blasts and we applaud Betsy's efforts to streamline the process.

Heather Lane is collecting donations for the raffle baskets we'll have at our Fundraiser at the Dockside Restaurant in April.Please let her know if you can put together a basket, or donate items. Every contribution is appreciated, and tax deductible! Be sure to come to Amy's house March 12th for a special Avon fundraiser for Parents of Tots, details inside.

We'll have our annual Yard Sale at the Civic Center again this April. Start cleaning out those closets and reserve your table soon.

Spring will be here before we know it, or so the little leprechauns say. Until thenenjoy a spoonful of sugar to help the last weeks of winter melt in the most delightful way.

Jennifer DeCourcy

Happy February!

Along with these arctic blasts come warm greetings for a fun winter season with Parents of Tots! We've got an issue chock full of great ideas from aWe are Women night out at the consignment shop Raspberry Beret toa Mardi Gras tot time to get you partying at the end of the month.

Ready to chase the winter blues away? Join us at the Americal Monday February 23rd for our annual Bouncy house party. Preparations are under way, be sure to RSVP today! Please note that we are trying a new time frame, from 4-6 PM, per request of some of the parents. Be sure to let us know if this change works for you or does not. We also are encouraging healthy snacks, and would appreciate it if you could bring something to share. If the children make this their dinner then its just home for baths and bedtime!

We also have some great field trips planned this month. Join us as we explore our theatrical side at Creative Arts or come join us at Kids Playground or enjoy a musical concert with Wayne from Maine.

Want to join a playgroup? Come to our Mix and Mingle February 9th at the Beebe library. This is a great opportunity to meet other local families and find similarly aged children to begin a playgroup. RSVP now so we know to expect you.

Please join me in welcoming our new Master Crafters, Pam Preston and Christy Damphousse. This dynamic duo is taking over from Danielle Marquardt who provided great crafts for us in 2008. We look forward to more crafty projects.

We are looking for help, so be sure to read our volunteer opportunities section. The new and improved website needs a volunteer to help us keep it current with monthly updates. Our newsletter editor is looking for assistance too, Tracy's been plugging away for years now creating a fabulous newsletter each month and needs to train folks to step into her shoes. We also are always looking for photos for the newsletter. Whilewe would love to have a designated photographer. We'd also be happy to have anyone that has pictures from an event submit them. Want to see your child in print? Just snap a shot and email it to potnewsletter@yahoo.com by the 20th of the month.

Lastly, Id like to thank the Sunshine committee for continuing to share their goodwill. When our newest addition, Kathleen, was born we had delicious meals compliments of some very kind PoT folks and it is very appreciated.

Stay warm and happy Valentines'-
Jennifer DeCourcy

Happy 2009! Here we are at the beginning of another new year, one to be filled with joy, fun and good cheer. I am filling in for Jen this month, since as I write this, the DeCourcy family is anxiously awaiting the arrival of baby #3! Happy New Year, indeed!

We had another fabulous holiday party, thanks to the Events Committee, Kara, Roxanne and Honey. Special thanks to Santa for stopping by, and he made sure to point out that Mr. Macaluso is on the “nice” list this year. Thanks to Paul Paglierani, for providing festive holiday music for the sing-a-long, it was a big hit.

A group of moms had a creative night, decorating some festive wreaths, and swapping delicious cookies. It was a fun night, be sure to join us next year.

So-there are plenty of fun activities planned for January, let’s get to it!

It’s sure to be chilly and snowy outside, so be sure to join us for some indoor fun. We have two North Suburban Family Network playdates planned, and a fun trip to Monkey Joes.

Be sure to check out Tot Time, always fun with stories, crafts and snacks. Speaking of snacks, come join us as we tour some of your favorite grocery stores. We’ll learn about healthy eating and more while touring Trader Joe’s, Shaw’s, and Whole Foods. And don’t forget to get dad to come along on the Sam Adams Brewery tour.

We’ll have a class at Gymboree to help you let out all that winter energy, always fun.

Spend a little time brightening the day of the elderly residents at Glen Ridge Nursing Center, and have fun making snowman and snowflake pins, too.

The very popular Sephora makeover event is this month’s We Are Women outing, focusing on a New Year, New You. Take a little time to pamper yourself after the busy holiday season has passed.

And we’ll be dancing along with Elmo and friends as we head to Sesame Street Live, always a rocking good time.

That’s not all, there’s still more! You’ll find all the info inside, along with all the dates and locations for the trips mentioned above.

Don’t forget to check out the Winter Survival Guide for more fun ideas to get you through the winter months, available on our website.

We have an opening on the volunteer committee, master crafter. Many thanks to Danielle Marquardt for providing so many wonderful crafts. We know there’s a crafty member out there, just waiting to let out her (or his!) creative spirit. Now’s your chance!

Wishing you all a happy, safe and joyful new year-

Heather Spizuoco