News Briefs

Mayor Arrigo proclaims Valentine’s Day Organ Donor Day

On, Tuesday, Feb. 12, at 12:30 P.M., Mayor Brian Arrigo will join heart recipient and Revere resident, Bob Sawyer, and others touched by organ donation to celebrate Valentine’s Day and national Organ Donor Day in the Revere City Hall Council Chamber.

Valentine’s Day is a day of caring and sharing your heart with others. What better way to share a heart than to register as an organ and tissue donor and getting a heart on your driver’s license/ID.  The celebration of Valentine’s Day and national Organ Donor Day commemorates those who have received or continue to wait for lifesaving transplants as well as the families of individuals who chose to be donors.  In 2018 over 1,120 lives were saved here in New England because of the generosity of individuals who became organ donors.  Thousands more lives were enhanced through the gift of tissue donation.  With the need for lifesaving transplants growing every day – over 113,500 patients are now on the U.S. transplant wait list – it is crucial to educate our communities about taking action to register as donors.

 There are now 110 million registered donors in the United States; still, the number of people in need of transplants continues to rise.  The solution to this problem is to continue educating the public about the lifesaving effects of donation and transplantation and encouraging them to sign up through their state donor registry.  The vast majority of individuals in MA (99.7 percent) register to be an organ and tissue donor at the state Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV).

 To register to be a donor outside the RMV office or for more information visit www.RegisterMe.org/MA.

Revere Dentist Honored at Yankee Dental Congress

Revere dentist Dr. Charles Silvius was presented the James W. Etherington Award at the Yankee Dental Congress 2019 (Yankee) Awards Ceremony on Feb. 2 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. The award, established in 1976, recognizes New England dentists who dedicate much of their professional lives to furthering the high ideals and objectives of organized dentistry.

 Yankee, New England’s largest dental meeting, is run by the Massachusetts Dental Society (MDS) in cooperation with the dental societies of Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Nearly 27,000 dental health professionals and guests from around the United States attend the annual meeting.

 MDS President Dr. Howard Zolot said, “Each year, the leaders of the New England state dental societies select the recipient of this prestigious award. Dr. Silvius stood out among his peers for his long record of service to the Massachusetts Dental Society and advocacy for the profession. He is a shining example of servant leadership and a role model for the next generation of dentists.”

Dr. Silvius is a graduate of the Temple University School of Dentistry. Upon graduation from dental school, he served as a captain in the U.S. Army Dental Corps. Now a partner in the group practice Drs. Becker, Becker, and Silvius, he has practiced in Revere for more than 40 years.

Dr. Silvius has been a member of the MDS for more than 40 years. He also is a member of the American Dental Association (ADA) and the North Metropolitan District Dental Society, which he chaired from 1982–1984. Dr. Silvius served as MDS President from 2011 to 2012. He also previously served as MDS Secretary, MDS Speaker of the House, and ADA First District Caucus Whip. He spent more than 20 years as a District Delegate to the MDS House of Delegates.

He has been an active Yankee volunteer for many years, helping provide first-class continuing education and networking opportunities for the dental community through his service as chair of the General Arrangements, Hospitality, and Registration Committees.

Dr. Silvius is a Fellow in the American College of Dentists, the International College of Dentists, and the Pierre Fauchard Academy. He resides in Swampscott with his wife, Barbara, and is the father of two sons, Geoffrey and Jonathan. Outside of the office, he enjoys playing with his grandchildren and doing projects around the house.

For more information on Yankee Dental Congress® 2019, please visit yankeedental.com or call 877.515.9071.

Revere Beautification Committee and DCR Join Forces

The Revere Beautification Committee (RBC) and the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) have again joined forces to improve Revere Beach.  For over the last 12 years, these two organizations have worked together to obtain necessary improvements to the beach though a state sponsored “Matching Grants” program. 

The state funded program allows an organization to work with their local DCR to determine necessary improvements for their beach.  When they have decided what is necessary that year, they apply for a “matching grant”.  The organization pays one-third the cost of the improvement, the state pays the remaining two-thirds.  Over the years, covered trash barrels have been bought, drinking fountains have been bought, a trailer to haul the pressure washer has been bought, hand dryers in the bathrooms have been bought, and others too numerous to mention. 

This year, the RBC was appalled at the condition of the decorative lamp posts that flank the pavilions on the beach and thought it would be a good project for the “Matching Grants” program.  DCR agreed, so they applied for the grant and was awarded the grant at a ceremony at the State House earlier this month.

This is one of the many projects that the RBC has done and continues to do in order to improve Revere.