ON THE TRAIL WITH TY; August 12

A TALE OF TWO GYMS:

Once upon a time Hill-Roberts and Hyman Fine Elementary Schools had beautiful twin gym floors. They were original floors in 1975 when the school opened. But now those gyms, designed for 20-25 years, are pushing 45 years old! Municipal funding is the only way to fix these gyms, They are not eligible for Mass School Building state funding.

When I toured both schools in February, 2019, these gyms struck me as ugly, way beyond their usefulness and unsafe. They were both covered with large areas of brownish gunk. Children were trying to run on those floors! So I tried to slide onto the brownish area and came to an immediate halt. I couldn’t slide. Beanbags can’t slide along those floors, much less children!

I serve on the Capital Improvement and City Development Committee of the City Council. Therefore, my highest priority are the Hyman Fine and Hill-Roberts school gyms, listed at $75,000 for each new gym floor.

Since May I’ve been advocating with city officials, families who have children at both elementary schools, with Superintendent David Sawyer and several School Committee Members. I figured it would be a year long effort with uncertain results.

But I really didn’t care. I didn’t want to see any children get hurt. I figured our high school gym would have been fixed a long time ago. I’m not going to quit my crusade….. that’s just how I am.

Today I got a phone call telling me that the city administration is going to ask the City Council to approve the funds to replace both the Hyman Fine and Hill-Roberts school gyms.

It felt like an answer to my prayers.

Tomorrow I hope to take a photo of both current gym floors. I want you to see these floors.

I hope I’m still on the city council when these two floors are finally fixed. I want to throw a bean bag across the new floors…. slide on them myself… and watch the children running and sliding….. safely!

Politics is full of windy roads… help me make these new gym floors possible. All my best … Ty Waterman, City Councilor At-Large

Attleboro COA

Darlene and Madeleine, Attleboro Senior Center directors:

Thank you for producing this list of cooling centers in Mansfield, Foxboro and North Attleboro on July 20-21, 2019. I can assure Attleboro seniors and all other citizens of Attleboro that I would do the same thing if the weather got real hot again. We need to be humane and caring toward one another in weather related emergencies. Asking people to stay in their homes, especially if they are not in air conditioning, is not the only option to deal with excessive heat.

I am so thankful for Father Brown and the staff at LaSallette Shrine for opening their hearts and their Welcome Center to Attleboro and Norton residents on July 20-21.

Rep. Jim Hawkins, members of Centenary Methodist Church, and the Hebron Food Bank who provided food and drink were also instrumental in helping us run the cooling center.

This cooling center did not cost the city of Attleboro a dime as LaSallette covered the cost of air conditioning. But even if it did cost Attleboro money, we should still provide relief in extreme weather conditions.

All my best,
Ty Waterman, Attleboro City Councilor At-Large

Note: This is a copy of my response to a list of local cooling centers in North Attleboro, Mansfield, and Foxboro that were opened in those town facilities the hot weekend of July 20-21. If you want a copy of the list of local cooling centers I suggest contacting Darlene Young at the Attleboro Senior Center. Attleboro did not have an official cooling center so the LaSallette Shrine opened their hearts and their Welcome Center to anyone who was suffering in the heat. Mucho gracias.-Ty

On Fri, Aug 2, 2019 at 10:52 AM Darlene Young <coaad> wrote: