Brainy puppets

Pilot Club entertains, teaches kids lessons on safety

By Barbara D. Jones
For The Sun News

Posted on Thu, Mar. 19, 2009

The 30 kindergartners marched into the school cafeteria at Risen Christ School in North Myrtle Beach looking around for the puppets they were told they would meet the morning of March 11.

The children sat on the floor in front of the two-member team of Lynne Glair and Dorina Ponessi from the North Myrtle Beach Pilot Club, who would, with the help of the puppets, teach them to protect their brains for life.

The program, from Pilot Club International, is called "Brain Minders."

Glair read from a large flip chart, complete with pictures of animals that illustrated the lessons the women wanted the children to learn. As she read, Ponessi brought the appropriate puppet to life to emphasize the lesson.

Wise Old Owl first introduced Gerald Giraffe, who admonished the children to wear a helmet when riding their bikes and skateboards.

Penny Panda reminded them to always wear their seat belt when in a car. Fiona Fox told them to stop and look both ways before crossing the street. Martin Monkey, who loved to climb and jump, cautioned the children to be careful in their play.

A fish, Danny Deep, told them to always swim with a buddy, and Brave Bob Dog told them if they saw a gun to go get an adult or, if there was no adult around, to call 9-1-1.

There were delighted smiles on the youngsters' faces, and their eyes danced as each puppet took center stage.

"I would say Martin Monkey was the favorite because he squeaks," Glair said.

Beryl Shirer, president of the North Myrtle Beach Pilot Club, re-scripted the program provided by Pilot International to include the fish, Danny Deep, and Brave Bob Dog.

She also, with the use of real eggs, created and introduced a graphic illustration on the danger of not wearing a helmet. She even created a helmet, using the same material that is used to make a regulation helmet, to fit the egg, which had a face painted on it.

Glair showed the children an egg enclosed in a small plastic bag and told them to watch what happened to this egg that was not wearing a helmet.

Their eggs grew bigger and bigger as they watched the egg break inside its plastic bag when it hit the floor.

One child asked if that is what would happen to his brain without a helmet.

Glair then told them to watch what happened when the egg was wearing a helmet. Again their eyes were riveted on the egg as it dropped to the floor. The fact that this egg did not break provided a mental picture they will not soon forget.

"I think it really made an impression on a lot of the kids," Ponessi said.

The women had a little boy in the group come up, and they demonstrated the proper way to wear a helmet.

Glair said at a previous presentation of this program at another school, one little boy commented that his father said he did not need to wear a helmet because his head was already hard.

At the end of the program, the children were asked to raise their hands, and promise to take care of their brain by abiding by the guidelines to wear their helmets when riding their bicycles, to wear their seat belts when they were in a car, to look both ways before crossing the street, to always swim with a buddy, to play safely, and if they see a gun to call 9-1-1.

Each child was presented a certificate that stated he or she promised to protect their brains for life, a raccoon mask, and a coloring book.

The Brain Minder program is just one of the projects of the North Myrtle Beach Pilot Club. Each year the club holds a fundraiser to provide money to purchase beach wheelchairs, which they donate to the city of North Myrtle Beach.

Other programs include donations to the Department of Public Safety for purchase of tracking bracelets to protect both young and elderly residents and working with Alzheimer's patients at Summit Place.

Anyone interested in learning more about the North Myrtle Beach Pilot Club, can call Shirer at 249-8907.

HELP OUR SCHOOOLS 

Replace "minimally adequate education" with "high quality education" in our state's constitution.

Simply go to Goodbye Minimally Adequate and sign the petition. Together, we can make a difference!

Dear Friends of S. C. Schools:

Our petition now has over 30,000 signatures. While this is a great achievement, it's still a long way away from our goal of one million. In order to reach this goal by January of next year, we need to have 100,000 signatures by the end of this month.
A new Joint Resolution was pre-filed in the Senate on December 10, 2008 by Senators Matthews and Leventis. You can find S. 99 at Goodbye Minimally Adequate under "Constitutional Amendment."
Please forward this message to five friends, family, co-workers and classmates today and ask them to join us. Anyone who is a South Carolina resident school aged or older can sign this petition.
Help us replace "minimally adequate education" with "high quality education" in our state's constitution.

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Little River Residents Aim to Get Oak Tree on Historic List

When moving to the Grand Strand, Misty Dustin originally wanted to live in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., to be close to her brother. But something across the street from an apartment in Little River caught her eye.

It was a massive live oak tree, probably hundreds of years old, with a thick trunk and wavy branches that weaved their way in and out of the ground.

"When I came and looked at this condo and saw this tree, that kind of decided it for me," Dustin, 35, who has pictures of the tree hanging in her apartment, said while walking her dog past the tree.

Located on the waterfront in Little River at Oak Street and Riverview Drive, the tree is among the first old trees that Horry County preservationists would like to recognize on the county list of historic places. Another live oak tree on U.S. 17 with an old gravesite underneath was already recognized.

"A tree individually can be as important as a structure or a historical site or a cemetery," said Adam Emrick, a county planner. "It's a different aspect of history that can be explored."

The local push by the Community Coalition of Little River to honor historic trees also comes as American Forests, a nationwide nonprofit conservation group founded in 1875, prepares to launch a national register for historic trees. Americans across the country will be able to nominate trees beginning in March.

"People never miss a tree so much as when it's actually gone," said Deborah Gangloff, the group's executive director. "You can't get it back. Once you've removed a big old historic tree, you're not going to see it again in your lifetime."

Local municipalities have taken other steps to protect their trees. It's illegal to remove live oaks and other protected trees without a permit in Conway, Myrtle Beach and unincorporated areas of the county.

Conway, Myrtle Beach and Georgetown, as well as the N.C. cities of Southport, Oak Island and Tabor City, are recognized by the Tree City USA program, which is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation, a nonprofit group, and the National Forest Service.

"The city of Conway has a long history of protecting their trees, building their roads around them and building the boxes to try and protect them on Main Street," said Wanda Lilly, the city arborist.

In Little River, many of the old live oak trees were probably used to tie up horses as people did shopping along the waterfront, said Lois Edwards, the urban forester in the Pee Dee region for the S.C. Forestry Commission. History aside, old trees also suck up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and help with stormwater runoff by absorbing rain, she said.

Larry Long, who owns the land with the tree in Little River along with his wife, Joyce, maintains that George Washington's horse was stabled under the tree during his famous visit to the Grand Strand in 1791. His wife notes they don't know that for sure.

They also don't know the exact age of the tree, though Long, 69, who grew up 150 yards from the tree, says it was just as big when he was a boy.

The couple bought the tree about 15 years ago from a bank that foreclosed on the property. Joyce Long, who moved to Little River about 40 years ago because she liked its tree-lined streets, said she thought it was unique how the tree's branches dip into the ground.

"I don't know what I was thinking," said Joyce Long, 62, who still resists other people's attempts to buy the site. "I didn't have to own it to enjoy seeing it."

Neighbors said they often see cars stop to gaze or take pictures of the tree and that children play in the branches during the summertime festivals that are held nearby. The neighborhood would not be the same without the tree - or without other old trees in the area.

"As you see several of them, you get that feel of a throw-back in time," said Ann Carris, a real estate agent who lives nearby.

Marcia Lynn Walker, who lives next door to the Longs and serves on the Little River Historical and Cultural Committee , said she is still awed by the tree every morning when she walks past it on her exercise routine.

"It frankly reminds you how small we are," she said. "It reminds me that there's a creator somewhere."

To officially be placed on the county's historic register, Horry County Council must vote on the tree three times, Emrick said. The county's board of architectural review has already expressed support for the tree's recognition and will have a public hearing in March or April.

Historic trees are not always easy to save, Gangloff said.

Government agencies are often more willing to change the route of a road for a historic building than for an historic tree.

But rallying community support behind saving historic trees is usually not the problem.

"Trees give scale to human life," she said. "You can sit under a tree that your grandfather planted, or plant one that your great-grandchildren will sit under, and therefore we have a connection with trees."

The Longs said they do not have any specific plans for the tree other than to protect it. They put a fence around the property about four years ago to protect the tree, and Joyce Long said she has thought about turning the area into a place where wedding groups can gather to take their wedding photos.

"I've always loved the tree," she said. "I thought it was so beautiful with the limbs coming down."