WE LIVE IN A GREAT COMMUNITY
Dear Editor:
We would like to take a moment to thank all the amazing people in our City.  We had an idea to create a calendar of events for kids with special needs, particularly autism, during Autism Awareness month in April.
Our idea became a reality when we reached out to businesses and city employees and they offered their space and time for free.
Children got to experience indoor events at Revere Recreation like sensory play, egg hunt, paint night, visits from Disney characters from Dance Revolution and a visit from a service dog. Revere Recreation hosted two outdoor events for soccer and t-ball. Leone Sports treated the kids to indoor beach ball soccer.  Revere Public Schools held two open gym events. Dance Revolution,
The Studio Dance Complex, and CrossFit hosted movement classes. Children enjoyed a visit and tour to the fire station. Revere Public Library held a story hour with songs. A special thank you goes out to Wahlburgers in Lynnfield for opening their restaurant to us for a private dining experience and tour.
Our Special Olympics Young Athletes program ran during this month with the support of volunteers. Thank you to Mayor Arrigo for supporting us over this past year.
Thank you to City Councillors, School Committee members, and Representative DeLeo for gift cards and financial support.  Thank you to individuals for donating food, drinks, gift cards, and financial support for our events.  Thank you to all volunteers for giving your time to help out at events. We are unable to name everyone individually, but you are in our hearts.  We took a chance and our chance paid off.  Our kids were so excited each day when we told them of the day’s event. We hope that somehow we can keep this going.  Our kids and community deserve it.  We will continue to run our weekly Drop and Stay Playgroup on Monday nights at 6:00 at Revere Recreation.  Please contact us with any questions or ideas.
Jennifer Duggan and Enza Goodwin
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Moroccan Festival a Success
Dear Editor:
On Saturday, May 20, the Moroccan American Community in Revere held a cultural day entitled “Your Gateway to the Kingdom of Morocco.†from 4 to 6 P.M at 151 Shirley Ave.. There were more than 50 booths displaying a different picture of the various regions and cities of the country and the culture of each. It is amazing how different each region is, from the cities to the mountains to the desert. Many of the booths were displays were from businesses of all kinds in Revere owned by Moroccan Americans.
This Moroccan American Cultural Day was a rousing success and the number of people attending was estimated to be close to one thousand. This was a festival which promoted not only the Moroccan American Community in Revere but also the rising awareness of the beauty of their culture. The organizer of the event, Rachid Moukhabir, said “we are not only promoting Morocco in the city of Revere but we are also promoting Revere in Morocco because a lot of the people back home have been following our activities here in Revere through social media. In fact, Revere has become one of the most famous American cities throughout Morocco.
The cultural day featured four aisles with tables displaying art, cuisine, traditional handicraft, and tourism. It was no surprise that the cuisine tables were the busiest, especially the pastry tables. We thank the Casablanca House of Pastry for providing the Moroccan sweets and suggest that you visit this pastry shop.
The children were not left out of the cultural day. In fact, they had a wonderful time and brought a spirit to the affair. A clown played by Bouchaib got the attention of the youngest children, whom I might add, seemed to have more fun than anyone else. Young people enjoyed the D.J., Hicham, who played Arab music all afternoon. A raffle was held and conducted by Mohamed Ziani. This was provided so that the children of all ages could participate. Many of them won prizes, some as high as $100 dollars. The raffle prizes were donated by Moroccan businesses in Revere. Many of the adults seemed to have as much fun as the young people. It was such a special day seeing everyone have a great time.
Later in the day the master of ceremonies, Wissal Rachad, a 7th. grade student at the Garfield Middle School, took to the podium. She was very well prepared and professional. In the future we should not be surprised if she becomes a television personality or even a politician elected to a position in Revere. The first person she introduced was the Mayor of Revere, Brian Arrigo. Mayor Arrigo has been very close to the Moroccan American people in Revere, attending many events throughout the year. He gave a great speech praising the Moroccan Americans for their many contributions to Revere. He said that this community is an integral part of our city and thanked them for all they have done to bring diversity and respect to our city. The audience gave the mayor a well deserved ovation when he completed his remarks. Wissal also introduced other city officials who were in the audience including the city councilors and members of the school committee.
The final part of the day was the presentation of the grand prize which is acting as the Moroccan Ambassador to Revere for 2017. Bill Jackson was the judge assisted by Hassan Gliel. Bill said it was an extremely difficult task because there were so many excellent exhibits. The grand prize winner was Abdelaati Ait Ahad, a great artist whose paintings showing many scenes of Morocco from the cities to the mountains to the desert were stunning.
There are many people to thank including the volunteers and the exhibitors and also Police Chief Cafarelli for providing a police detail and thanks to the officers also. Wissal then told the audience†God Bless all of you. God Bless the City of Revere. But most of all God Bless the greatest country in the world, The United States Of America!â€
See you all at the Moroccan Cultural Day next year.
Bill Jackson
