June 7, 2020 ~ Building East Bridgewater Community One Positive Story at a Time

The morning's rain showers

were perfect for

taking photos of irises.



This iris smells so sweet.

Photo & Story Credit: Mary Wright Juliu s

Since its inception, your BuzzAround has built bridges across divides: our focus on the goodness of all humanity. We bridge generational, religious and social divides. Diversity and inclusion within each community are the building blocks of our message as we share stories and events that show, time and again, that empathy and compassion are core to the human experience. In sharing these stories, we can truly see our neighbors, appreciate our similarities and understand where and why we differ.  

Thankfully, our U.S. Constitution allows for freedoms so that we can express ourselves and make the changes necessary to build a fair and just society. We believe our way of life is dependent on all people being served equal justice. It has been proven clear that our criminal justice system is not color blind. There is systemic racism built into the fabric of our institutions at every level, disadvantaging and discriminating against people of color in ways that go beyond individual intent to discriminate, and so we need to educate ourselves and change our systems.

What we are seeing is the public expression of pain and outrage. It is good that Black people know that they are worthy. It is good that we live in a society that allows for freedom of speech and assembly. It is good that people of all colors educate themselves, stand together and have empathy. 

The majority desire to protest peacefully to draw attention, educate, motivate change, stand together and act from a place of power and love. Also, saying Black lives matter is not in opposition to the importance of lives of our law enforcement personnel. BuzzAround promotes & supports goodness in all humanity. While the narrative of violence and destruction is dominating media coverage, in your BuzzAround, you will continue to see good news, including the efforts communities are making toward positive change and the stories of people of all colors, ages, interests and religions doing good. 

If you would like to provide access to education and basic needs to those hardest effected: please contribute to Brockton Library Foundation & United Way Brockton Together Fund. If you would like to support legal reforms NAACP Legal Defense Fund

Make sure you view your whole BuzzAround: View as Webpage

East Bridgewater High School Graduation and Recognition Ceremony

East Bridgewater High School's graduation and recognition ceremony will be held on June 7th at 11a. The ceremony will be held using safe social distancing guidelines. It will be held outside in the parking lot and front of the building, allowing each graduate to have one car only. Graduates may also decorate their cars for the parade that will conclude the ceremony.

Other guidelines must be followed including:

*One car per graduate.

*Only graduates and their car capacity of guests allowed in the car.

*No one is allowed out of their car.

*Only the graduate being recognized is allowed out of their car, one at a time. They must return to their car immediately after receiving their diploma.

*Each graduate will receive a parking pass and a parking spot number where they will wait to be recognized.

*On June 7th, please arrive by 10am to make sure the ceremony begins promptly at 11am.

Photo credit: East Bridgewater Junior-Senior High School

EBBA Scavenger Hunt 2020 Is Looking For Businesses to Participate

East Bridgewater's Business Association is looking for 10 businesses to participate in their annual East Bridgewater Business Association Scavenger Hunt. They will be things differently this year because of the crazy situation we are in.

*Saturday, June 13th & Sunday, June 14th. * Participants have the whole weekend to complete. 

*The businesses do not have to be open.

*There will be no charge to EB businesses.  

*Each business will place a symbol (of their choosing) in the window/door of their business; anywhere that is visible from the parking lot. Each symbol will have a letter/letters underlined in its name. 

*Participants will write down the symbol and the letters and when they are done with the hunt, will unscramble the letters to reveal a word or phrase. 

*There will be no prizes this year, just a fun activity for the families that will also help introduce/reintroduce the E.B. Businesses to the community.

If you would like to participate, please email  [email protected] .

FOOD DRIVE DONATIONS

THANK YOU!

Saturday, June 20th

9:00a - 12:00p

St. John’s Church & the Union Congregational Church

Venturing Crew 29 is doing a Food Drive for our local Food Pantries.

We will be at the St. John’s Church parking lot. If you would like to make a donation of food or other contribution to help out, please stop by or get in touch with Venturing Crew 29 at this email address: [email protected] and we will be able to make arrangements to pick up your donation! You can also call Frank at 508.241.4597. Thank you for your help as we work to help our Food Pantries to help others! YIV, East Bridgewater Venturing Crew 29

Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

The Union Congregational Church's

Pastoral Search Committee is seeking your Feedback!!

The Union Congregational Church (105 Pleasant Street – The Church on the Hill) is in the process of seeking a new “Settled” Pastor. As a part of that process we were planning to reach out and meet with folks face to face to discuss and gather this information, but during these unprecedented times that’s not really an option. This process is not an effort to reach or attract new members; it is simply a way for us to learn from our neighbors.

For those who are interested, we’d like to provide you with two different options to respond;

1)If you’re a talker and would like to have a conversation with one of us (approx. 10 minutes), please send an email and include your phone number, your name (only first necessary) and a suggested time that would work best for you and your schedule.

2) You can simply send us an email and we will forward the questions to you for your consideration.

Please send all inquiries to [email protected] – Subject “Search Committee Questions” and we will respond accordingly.

We thank you in advance for your time and your willingness to help us in gathering this important information. www.facebook.com/UnionCongregationalChurchEB

Community Garden Spots Available

Right behind Community Covenant Church

400 Pleasant St., EB

We have a few plots left. Contact Kristy to

reserve one or two, [email protected].

There is a nominal charge of $10 per plot,

which goes toward upkeep and maintenance.

Spuds Are Up!

East Bridgewater's Community Garden has spuds growing! The patch that's pictured is dedicated to growing potatoes for EB's food pantries.

They look forward to once again providing the community with fresh, organic food.

Community Garden updates & info: visit their Facebook page.

Photo credit to Ken Reale.

$1,000 Scholarships Announced

The MassHire Greater Brockton Workforce Board is pleased to announce a new scholarship program for graduating seniors within our Connecting Activities Partnership. From now until June 15, 2020, applications will be accepted from graduating seniors of the Class of 2020. $1,000 Scholarships will be awarded on or by June 30. Advancing college and career readiness, the Connecting Activities Partnership promotes the connection between education and employment through internships and career awareness. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CLASS OF 2020!!

Who is Eligible? Graduating seniors from: Brockton Public Schools, Avon High School, Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical HS, Oliver Ames High School, Abington High School, Stoughton High School, Whitman-Hanson High School, South Shore Regional Vocational Technical HS, and Bridgewater Raynham High School. Application Deadline is June 15, 2020.

Click HERE to view and share application.

Spread the Word!

June 11th all East Bridgewater bus drivers will be driving their routes for Mitchell and Central Schools at the normal time they would have brought the students home from school. It's an opportunity to go out and wave as they say goodbye!

Story credit: Cindi Youngs McGrath

For more info on EB Central School News check out their Facebook page.

There Is Us Anthology Of Hope From Writers Across the World

By Sasha Rockwell

Sierra Blasko has spent the past two months pulling together an anthology of poetry, art, photography, and short prose pieces from 35 different artists and writers across the US and around the world, (including East Bridgewater High School's very own graduates Amanda McCoy, Gabby Campos, Brian Rinkowski, Margaret Ferreira and herself).

On June 13th she will be hosting a virtual Facebook party from 3:30-10pm to celebrate the release.The anthology is centered around themes of hope in times of difficulty and darkness. The final book will be 226 pages long. Sierra is fundraising for the World Central Kitchen and Direct Relief for her ebook because they are providing important COVID-19 aid in this time.



The full-color ebook will be available for free to anyone who gives more than $3 to World Central Kitchen or Direct Relief and sends her a screenshot of their donation to prove that they donated through her Facebook page. It will release on June 13th right before the party and she will be taking pre-orders through the fundraisers on her Facebook profile, Sierra Blasko , and on the virtual Facebook release party event page. As of May 29th, she has already raised $85.

She says she feels really good and happy and excited about this project, that she gets to use her own talents and experience to start something that can make a bigger difference than she can on her own. She also says it’s been a huge blessing for her to be able to put together the book, meet so many new and lovely people, and see everyone’s reactions and excitement for the project. She hopes the stories and emotions captured inside the pages can be just as great a blessing to the hearts of those who read them.

To get more information or donate to get your copy of her ebook visit her fundraiser Facebook pages at World Central Kitchen Fundraiser, and Direct Relief Fundraiser. You can also contact her on Instagram @ there.is.us, or by emailing her at [email protected].

Photo credit: Sierra Blasko

THE WINTER STORM OF JANUARY, 1982

By Paula Coffey

I have long, thick, curly hair, so to save time, I book a weekly hair appointment with my local hairdresser. When I do my hair at home, after the shampoo, I have to put 2 books on my kitchen table, set the portable dryer on the books, stretch the big plastic hood over my giant, round, pink plastic rollers and sit there for at least an hour to dry my hair.

On this particular day, I went to the hair salon at Paul Wolfe Plaza. I had been under the dryer for about two minutes when the wind gusts from the winter storm caused us to lose power. It had been spitting snow and windy when I left my house, but the storm was definitely ramping up.

Everyone in the shop waited for about a half hour and when power wasn’t restored, we all headed for our respective homes. When I did arrive at my house, , I found that I also had no power or heat . So in my puffy “down coat”, a long woolen scarf wrapped around the big wet rollers, mittens and boots, I climbed under the covers in my bed – hoping to get warm. Read More

Photo Credit: Sarah Hagan

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