Letters to the Editor

Thanks for support

Dear Editor:

The Revere Public Library would like to thank the following donors for bringing the new statue “Hope” to the Library and to the City of Revere!

Revere

Revere-Winthrop Pediatrics

Leonard Piazza

Victoria Natoli

Burnett Moynihan Inc.

Robert Haas

Elena Furia

Arthur Guinasso

Beverly Pinto

Fred Pratt

First Priority Credit Union

Stephen Reardon

Linda Redding

Rep. Kathi Reinstein

Beverly Ann Rogers

Catherine Romano

Agladee Romero

Carol Tye

Lee Farley

Olivia Ferrante

Michael Ferrante

Regina Daley

Daniel Flynn

Chelsea Neighborhood Dev.

Phyllis Nazzaro

Nicholas Laezza

Elaine Harkins

Aurea Digs

Election Department

Robert DeLeo

Rosalie De Rosa

Regina Daley

E.B./Revere Rotary Club

Paul Rupp

Frederick Sannella

Randy Staples

Phyliss Tanen

Gloria Thomas

Helen Fulco

John Verrengio

Revere Women’s Club

Renzo’s

Rita Paul

Jeanne Ostrow

Ira Novoselsky

Kearsarge Lodge

Sound & Vision Media

Evelyn Morris

Antoinette Martignetti

Julia Alburez

Cataldo Ambulance

Ruth Armstrong

Danilchuk Auto Body

Louise Belmonte

Annette Bornstein

Jewelry Box

Justin Capodilupo

Revere Women’s Club Inc.

Ethel Cohen

St. Jean’s Credit Union

Phyllis Crespo

“Autism speaks”

Dear Editor

Who would have ever thought that our whole family would soon be drawn into the world of Autism.  This happened seventeen years ago when my sister and her husband gave birth to their second child, a beautiful girl they named Adrienne.  As Adrienne started growing and approached the age of two, my sister started to notice that Adrienne was not making eye contact and at age three, was not forming any words.  After genetic testing, Adrienne was diagnosed with Autism.  My sister then became a warrior to obtain all the information she could regarding the Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Did you know, that 1/68 children and 1/42 boys are affected by Autism?  The CDC reports that this can occur in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups and is the fastest growing, serious developmental disability in the US.  About 1 in 6 children in the US had developmental disabilities such as speech and language impairments to serious developmental disabilities such as intellectual disabilities, Cerebral Palsy and Autism.  At this time, there is no medical detection or cure for Autism.

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel, after speech therapy and Neurofeedback at Project Child in Beverly for the past two years, and one year at the Higashi School in Randolph. Adrienne is now starting to form words and learn speech, stabilize her behaviors and to express her feelings.  Can you imagine the frustration level if you could not express your feelings?

My sister continues throughout each passing year to advocate for Adrienne, for Autism Speaks and raise funding.  On September 27, 2014 from 9:00 – 4:00 she will be organizing a huge yard sale at her home at 5 Richie Road in Revere in support of children and adults with special needs and for Autism Speaks.  So, come down and join us as there will be plenty of items for sale.

We need to realize, that children with special needs can overcome some of their obstacles if they have access to the educational programs that will help them grow.  I couldn’t be more proud of my beautiful niece, Adrienne and to share in the progress she has made.

Nancy Williams , sister of Dorothy (Scooby) Wells

On Suffolk Downs

Dear Editor:

My name is Caitlin Lezell. I am a lifelong resident of Revere, Massachusetts, and a recent graduate of Suffolk University in Boston. And, more significantly (for the purposes of this letter), I come from a long line of Suffolk Downs employees: parents, grandparents, uncles; the list goes on.

I know that final decisions regarding the fate of Suffolk Downs and the placement of the Massachusetts casino have not yet been made. However, I am still compelled to give my two cents regarding the outcome of yesterday’s vote, as I am just one of so many that are going to feel the impacts of the impending closure of Suffolk Downs in the upcoming months: a side of the story that I do not believe has been accurately portrayed by the media in the slightest bit.

I am extremely aware of how highly contested the matter of the casino in Revere has been and continues to be. However, what I have always been most hopeful for as this political and economic battle has waged on was not at all for the success of the casino itself, for the sake of having a casino in Massachusetts, but for the continued livelihood of my family and our closest friends, in the city which we have called home for decades, for generations: and if the only option for that to be realized was through the construction of a casino, then so be it.

And as of today, it is not just that a casino will not be coming to Revere; it is so much more significant than that. It is not about what my city is not going to be getting, but what it and several hundred people are to be losing if Suffolk Downs closes at the end of this racing season.

Suffolk Downs has given so, so much to its employees, fans, and neighbors for nearly eighty years. Please allow me to speak from my experiences alone for a moment (and, also, please keep in mind that mine is just one story of hundreds): I spent almost my entire childhood within both this racetrack’s fences and those of Rockingham Park in Salem, New Hampshire (which, too, has since unfortunately stopped hosting thoroughbred racing). I learned how to ride a bicycle here, how to drive a car – heck, probably even how to walk. It was my first summer job, my primary weekend activity for years and years, where my parents first met, and, furthermore, the main place of employment for half of my family since decades before I was even born. Through watching my relatives and our friends work for hours and hours, day in and day out, summer, winter, rain, snow (if a horse isn’t going to take a day off from eating, a horseman isn’t going to be taking a day off from working), I learned from my earliest days what it means to work hard, to stay at “the office” hours before and after what any “normal” punch-in clock may dictate, to give your all for an outcome so uncertain, and to stick with a job not because of comfort, monetary gain, or glory, but out of true love. And I could not be more thankful for any of the above. With that all being said:

I will remain optimistic in the next few months that Suffolk Downs can remain open by some other means. At the risk of speaking for other members of this community, I would like to say that prayers and support are incredibly appreciated, and we sincerely hope that the the politicians and the businessmen involved in any upcoming decisions would consider keeping our needs, our families, our livelihoods, and our homes in mind.

But, regardless of what is to come in the upcoming days, above all else, I would like to thank Suffolk Downs for being an incredible place to grow up, not just for me, but for so, so many others.

Caitlin Lezell