A Ducky Day Was Had By All

The ducks had a great day on Sunday, because they were the ones floating in the nice, cool water of the Pequabuck River.
Wow, it was hot out there in Forestville -- at least in the upper 80s -- but everyone had a great time anyway. We especially appreciate the hard work of D.J. Roberge -- he is awesome at the music and the microphone.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by the Youth Journalism International booth to say hello!

My Favorite Festival

Oh, the joys of the annual Duck Race on the Pequabuck!

There's something quite wonderful about this little Forestville festival and if you've never attended, you should give it a try this year.

It'll be Sunday, from about 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., in the center of Forestville. I wrote about it for today's edition of The Bristol Press (http://www.bristolpress.com/.)
It's truly a family festival. There are things for kids to do, and some friendly vendors selling food and ducky stuff.

My organization, Youth Journalism International, has been part of the festival as a vendor since it began six years ago. We think it's cool, from the yellow ducks to Waddles, the mascot, to the awesome disc jockey who makes life at the festival a hoot for everyone.

We especially appreciate Dave Pasqualicchio, the honorary mayor of Forestville, who has done so much to make the festival what it is today, and to keep the village clean. He's an asset to Bristol and lately, he's been getting a vicious and unfair trouncing in the blogosphere just for speaking his mind. I hope he'll feel the love on Sunday in Forestville because I know he'll be there, working hard and probably picking up litter.

For the past couple years, my students at Youth Journalism International and some of our alumni have given away temporary duck tattoos to anyone who wants a little devil duck, angel duck, hippie duck... on their arm, hand or even on their face. Mostly it's kids who get them but older people sometimes do.

This year, we'll have the ducky tattoos and we also have a few Youth Journalism International trinkets on hand for anyone who might like a postcard, magnet or information about this non-profit organization.

Oh, and get this: we will have INTERNATIONAL ducks for display this year! They'll be making their community debut at the duck race, but I'll introduce them one by one to you as we count down the days to the festival. The handsome fellow in the picture is our German duck. We'll call him Sgt. Schultz after one of my favorite readers!

Mark it on your calendar for Sunday and be sure to come by and say hello to the folks at YJI!

Banish Cart Vendors, Pasqualicchio Says

The unofficial mayor of Forestville, Dave Pasqualicchio, jumped into the fight that's heating up over food vendors that sell out of vans and carts downtown, mostly across from City Hall.
Pasqualicchio, who co-owns Nuchie's banquet facility on Central Street in Forestville, says these temporary vendors don't pay property taxes and their fees aren't enough. They hurt permanent restaurants that provide jobs and pay property taxes, he said.
"They should be run out of town," said Pasqualicchio. I wrote about this for Thursday's edition of The Bristol Press. (www.bristolpress.com)