5 Things You Need To Know Today: May 20

Helping Those Who Help Others

American Legion Post 85 will host a fundraiser this Sunday for Because He Lives Ministries. The soup kitchen, run from the basement of First Baptist Church for the past 25 years, has been shut down due to plumbing problems at the church. Knowing Woonsocket's hungry depend on the facility, owner Pat Dempsey has resorted to to deliver food.

The Rite of Spring Bash will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, May 22 at 870 River St. The event will include burgers, dynamite, beer, live music, and a DJ.  Tickets are $10 per person and can be purchased at Ciro's Tavern on Cherry Street. For more information, call 401-447-6511.

Cicilline Unveils Six Point Manufacturing Plan for Rhode Island

U.S. Congressman David Cicilline (D-RI) introduced the Make it in America Block Grant Act of 2011 (H.R. 1912) yesterday as part of his Six Point Manufacturing Plan for Rhode Island. 

Bill H.R. 1912 establishes a grant program at the Commerce Department to provide small to medium-sized businesses in communities hardest hit by unemployment with the resources and strategies they need to retool and retrofit their operations and train their workforce in order to transition to the manufacturing of clean energy, high-technology, and advanced products.

Cicilline cosponsored five additional congressional bills aimed at manufacturing, trade, and job creation as part of the six point plan, introduced at a press conference yesterday in Pawtucket at the former Paramount Cards Company. 

“If we’re really going to re-build our economy, we must focus on making things again in this country, and we will, when we give our manufacturers the incentives and tools they need to do it,” said Cicilline.

Hazardous Waste Collection This Saturday

The City of Woonsocket Solid Waste Division in conjunction with RI Resource Recovery Corporation Eco-Depot will be hosting a FREE Hazardous Waste Collection Day on Saturday May 21, 2011 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m at Woonsocket Public Services Division Facility, 943 River Street.

What is hazardous waste?

A substance is hazardous if it falls into any of the following categories:

• Toxic: poisonous or lethal when ingested, absorbed, touched or inhaled
• Flammable/Combustible: ignites under almost all conditions
• Corrosive/Caustic: deteriorates metal and causes irreversible alteration of living tissue by chemical action
• Reactive: creates an explosion or produces deadly vapors

        * Such as oil-based paint
Hazardous materials often bear the labels, "Danger", "Warning", "Caution", and "Poison". Many products contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which are extremely hazardous to human health. Misusing or mishandling products can result in serious injury, burns, permanent damage to human tissue and organs, severe illness such as cancer, and death.

Appointments are recommended and can be obtained by calling 942-1430 extension 241. This collection day is open to all Rhode Island residents.

Other items that can also be dropped off are:  Propane tanks, car batteries, clothes, books, Styrofoam, rigid plastic, metals, TV’s, all electronics and cardboard.

Questions can be directed to the Solid Waste Division at (401) 767-8880.

Upcoming Woonsocket Blood Drives

June 2: Citizens Memorial Elementary School Gym,  3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

June 9: Sacred Hands Massage & Wellness, Bloodmobile, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

June 14:  Woonsocket Health and Rehab Center, Main Dining Room, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.             

June 24: Landmark Medical Center, Christiansen Conference Center, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.       

And for your final "thing to know," REFLECTIONS with Connie Lemonde:

ENOUGH!
     (time)

When I walked into my friend Laura's house, she was out of breath again.

“What happened?” I asked.”Are you sick?”

“Of course not,” she answered coolly, although her face had reddish tones. “I was just trying to get my dusting done before you arrived.”

“Why?” I said. “I'm coming to visit you; not the biloos in your house.”

“I know,” she said, as she put away her feather duster and went for her coat. “Come on. Let's go.”

“We've got all day to shop!” I argued. “Why are you always in such a hurry? Sometimes I think you're trying to get two days of work out of one! You're always complaining about about how time flies, but you seem to be enjoying flying along with it. That can't last forever, you know. Sooner or later, it'll get to you. In fact, it already has. You're so hooked on running that you can't stop, and your body isn't keeping up with you.”

“Well, it's true, isn't it? No sooner does the summer start; it's gone. It just passes you by.”

“Time doesn't pass you by,” I said assertively, “You're the one who keeps racing against it. Maybe it's time for you to stop once in a while to enjoy the lovely world around you, or to look inside and discover the richness of your spirit.  Take a moment to listen to the following poem from Uphill and Downhill:

Run, walk, drive, talk.
ENOUGH!
It's time to pause
and listen to the inner sights
before I go,
because the treasures of the earth and soul
will ever be unseen,
if I don't put the brakes upon
my pressing “hurry-up” dreams.

Think about it. And may you be blessed with the gift of quiet, enriching moments  in your daily hurry through time...