Kevin Williams poses with his little ones.
Photo* by Lay la Fanner
Daddy Dearest
YMCA program strengthens bonds between .
fathers and their children
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
The YMCA reacquainted
local fathers with its popular
Adventure Guides program at
the Central Y last Friday
evening.
"My dad and I were in this
program back when it was
called Indian Guides," related
Darryl Head, executive direc
tor of the Central YMCA. "At
that time, I was a Wild Wolf,
my dad was a Wise Wolf. It
was really a wonderful experi
ence."
Adventure Guides places
father-child pairs in groups, or
"circles" of 10-15.
Participants engage in a vari
ety of activities designed to
foster positive and harmo
nious parent-child relation
ships.
At last week's event,
father-child pairs enjoyed
popcorn and took part in a
"Polar Bear Swim" splash
contest and had "bounce
time" in an inflatable bounce
house.
"Statistics say that dads
spend less than 19 minutes of
constructive quality time with
their children a day,"
explained Adventure Guides
Director Lisa Lide. "That's
why it's imperative for us to
support the dads in spending
quality time, because quality
time is really important."
The program has afforded
Head and his own' son some
precious moments. He cited
the program's Apple Hour as
one of his most rewarding
experiences so far. In Apple
Hour, fathers and their chil
dren go off on their own to eat
apples and give each other
their undivided attention for
one hour. .
"You just go eat an apple,
and you sit there and talk for
an hour. And I often think,
how many times do we just sit
and talk just about what's
going on in his life and how
he's feeling growing up?" he
related. "We were in front of
the lake, sitting on a log, eat
ing an apple and we did that
'for an hour together. It was an
hour I won't forget for a long,
long time."
A national initiative 01 tne
YMCA for 82 years, the
Adventure Guides program
has provided many families
with similar happy moments,
says Lide.
More than 450 Forsyth
County children and fathers
participated in Adventure
Guides last year, a number
that Lide says she hopes to see
increase this time around.
"I was thinking that we
would increase our program
by 30 percent," she remarked.
"However, the wonderful
thing that I've learned about
working at the Y is being able
to touch one life has impact
enough because that's what
we're about."
For Attorney Kevin
Williams, Adventure Guides'
reputation preceded it.
"Even before I ever had
children, I'd heard about the
program," stated the father of
three. "When I had children,
it was a foregone conclusion
that we were going to join the
program."
Williams said the program
has also allowed him to create
bonds with other dads.
"The kids love it, they
Tom Bull with his daughter, Andrea.
Lisa Lide
love the fellowship; I've made
some of my best friends in
Winston-Salem through the
program," he said.
Tom Bull, an optometrist,
was a member of Adventure
Guides as a child and has par
ticipated in the program with
his eight-year-old son, Bryan
for three years. This year,
Bull is doing double duty, as
daughter Andrea, 6, is finally
old enough to get in on the
action.
"She's been very jealous
and now she gets her chance,"
he said gesturing to his little
girl. "This is going to be her
first year doing it and she is
very excited."
Bull says he still has a
shield he made with his own
father as an Adventure Guides
. participant 30 years ago.
"It's nice being able to
kind of just slow down and
take time to really pay atten
tion to what (my children)
have to say and remembering
that this time - when they're
that young - goes by so fast,"
he said. "It's fun to be able to
have that carved out time ...
to really stop and appreciate
every little moment with
them, to create memories for
them when they're older, and
then also to have the memory
from us for me(fj
For more information
about Adventure Guides, con
tact Lide, at (336) 72T-2100
ext. 2059.
News
Clips
The MIX at the MAX
"The MIX," the city's new
entertainment event for
teenagers, has almost maxed
out.
Officials announced last
week that with almost 800
teenagers having registered to
attend The MIX in its first three
weeks, the event can only
accommodate about 50 more
teenagers. That number may
have now decreased since last
week 's announcement .
Registration forms for those 50
spots were being accepted first
come, first-served basis.
Teens must have parental
permission and obtain a MIX
ID badge to enter The MIX,
which is held at Hanes Hosiery
Recreation Center on most
Friday nights from 8 to 11 p.m.
The Recreation Department is
considering options for accom
modating more teen-agers..
Applications being taken for
Citizens' Police Academy
The Police Department is
accepting applications for the
fall session of the Citizens'
Police Academy, which will
start Aug. 26, 2008. The acade
my is designed to increase
community awareness of the
law enforcement profession
and the role of the Police
Department by informing citi
zens of the administrative phi
losophy, internal policies and
guidelines, and principles of
law and ethical conduct that
govern the delivery of police
services within our community.
The curriculum is similar to
recruit training for new police
officers, with a mix of class
room and scenario/hands-on
training.
The Citizens' Police
Academy will meet from 6:30 -
9:30 pm. on Tuesday evenings
for 12 weeks, starting Aug. 26.
Enrollment is open to any citi
zen 18 years of age or older
who resides, works or attends
school in Winston-Salem.
Anyone interested in
attending the Citizens' Police
Academy may call the
Winston-Salem Police
Department for an application
at 773-7788, or complete an
application online at
www.wspd.org.
The class is limited to 30
students. Applications must be
submitted by Aug. 12.
Bill to help better serve
domestic violence victims
Gov. Mike Easley has
signed into law House Bill
2 18 9,
An act
to pro
v i d e
domes
tic vio
1 e n c e
victims
with
informa
tion and
assis
tance.
and to
study a statewide automated
notification system for per
sons with domestic violence
protective orders, as recom
mended by the Joint
Legislative Committee on
Domestic Violence."
This new law requires that,
within 72 hours of identifying-^
a victim of domestic violence,
the victim is told about med
icil, criminal law enforcement
and crime victim services
available along with being
given information about the
arrest of a person believed to
have committed the crime.
The law also directs the North
Carolina Domestic Violence
Commission, along with other
agencies, to study the adop
tion of a statewide automated
victim notification system for
those who are covered by pro
tective orders.
The bill was sponsored by
Reps. Marion McLawhorn (D,
Pitt), ?>eborah Ross (D,
Wake), Jean Farmer
Butterfield (D. Wilson) and
Garland Fierce (D, Scotland).
The law becomes effective
July 1
Bank of America Foundation
gives to innovative Wake
Forest program
The Institute for
Regenerative Medicine at
Wake Forest University
Baptist Medical Center has
announced a $250 .(XX) grant
from the Bank of America
Charitable Foundation to sup
port the construction of a Good
Manufacturing Process (GMP)
facility where engineered
organs and tissues will be
built. The lead gift will support
the construction and equipping
of the GMP facility to ensure
its compliance with U.S. Food
and Drug Administration
(FDA) standards.
One of the first uses of the
GMP facility will be to apply
regenerative medicine tech
nologies to wounded soldiers.
The Wake Forest Institute for
Regenerative Medicine
(WFIRM) has been selected by
the U.S. Department of
Defense to co-lead the new
Armed Forces Institute for
Regenerative Medicine, a
multi-institutional consortium
of research centers. The
group's goal is to create tissues
for burns and other wounds,
craniofacial reconstruction and
limb reconstruction that will
aid soldiers' rehabilitation.
The GMP facility will
require the addition of skilled
personnel such as laboratory
technicians, equipment main
tenance specialists and quality
control experts. In its first
year, five full-time employees
will be required to operate the
new facility. As the work
advances, and more tissues
become ready for clinical
development, more personnel
will be added.
Farmer -B utterfield
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