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April 10, 2009

Heard around town: School principal changes hair color for a good cause

By Tom Dalton, Chris Cassidy and Amanda McGregor

Carlton School Principal Phil Burke was feeling blue last week.

His school did a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and he promised the students a "blue hair day" if they met their $1,000 goal.

"I wasn't completely sure we'd make the goal, since we're such a small school," said school adjustment counselor Laurie Mendoza.

But the school of roughly 170 students raised $1,025, exceeding their target for Pennies for Patients.

So Burke made good on his promise.

During an all-school assembly last Thursday, he was seated in a chair on stage, wearing a black hairstylist's cape. Behind him, aide Donna Callahan was poised with a can of electric blue hair color.

The students chanted "Do it! Do it!" and erupted into cheers as she was "covering Burke's normally gray hair with bright blue dye," Mendoza recalled.

Moustakis miracle

Planning Board member John Moustakis, the pride of North Salem, has been playing golf for more than 50 years with ... well, mixed results. That all changed a few days ago when he got a hole-in-one on the 14th hole at The Glades Country Club in Naples, Fla. It was 157 yards, par three.

There was even a witness — Bill Cullen, the former Salem High golf coach who used to serve with Moustakis on the Planning Board.

Opening Day

The Red Sox may have been rained out Monday, but not Salem Harbor Station.

The power plant went ahead with its Opening Day ceremonies, serving up red and blue balloons, hot dogs and sodas, and a medley of baseball songs.

They raffled off Red Sox jackets, sweatshirts, baseball caps and, as a grand prize, four box seats to a June game against the Texas Rangers. Guess who won the tickets? Plant GM Mike Fitzgerald.

That's almost like the Red Sox holding a raffle and announcing that the lucky winner was John Henry.

The real winner, though, was the Jimmy Fund, which will get a check for $1,500 from the plant.

Too sexy for Palmer Cove

Belated congratulations to the Palmer's Cove Yacht Club, which celebrated its 75th anniversary with a banquet at the Peabody Marriott.

The club was honored with proclamations from the city, the state Legislature, the U.S. Congress and even former President George W. Bush (who was still in office when the request was made).

The highlight of the night had to be the impromptu and inspired dance performance by yacht club Commodore Rich Morneau, who gyrated to the lyrics of "I'm Too Sexy."

Youth of Year

Congratulations to Manny Cruz. The 17-year-old junior at Salem High who was named 2009 Youth of the Year at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Salem.

He was one of four finalists based on contributions to his community and family, academic excellence, and overcoming challenges.

The other finalists were Ashley Colon, a sophomore at SHS, freshman Alex Moreta and junior Yibelis Pena.

Kid power

Grade-five students at Witchcraft Heights Elementary School got a recent visit from Mayor Kim Driscoll, who gave a lesson in city government.

Driscoll led a mock discussion on curfews to demonstrate how an ordinance is passed.

When she opened the floor, kids asked questions like "Why did you want to be mayor?" and "Is there a vice mayor" and how to deal with noisy neighbors.

The last student, Richard Ferrier, cut to the chase with a constituent concern.

Richard was frustrated by a big pothole in front of his house that made it difficult to ride a bike or skateboard, he told the mayor.

Right there, Driscoll whipped out her BlackBerry and sent a message to the DPW.

Two days later, the pothole was filled in.

"It was a great example of government in action," said Joyce Harrington, a reading specialist at Witchcraft Heights.

Take a bow, Rex

There was a nice moment Monday night at Salem State when Jay Leno announced that Rex Trailer was in the audience. Leno thanked the television pioneer for sending him an autographed photo in the 1950s. Trailer, who hosted "Boomtown," was still wearing his trademark cowboy hat.

In another nice touch, a lot of former employees of Lennie's on the Turnpike came to pay tribute to Lennie Sogoloff, the jazz club owner who gave Leno his big break. They included Bobby Morelli, Al Moses, Jim Murphy, Tom Moore and David Claridge.

Smoke with caution

After City Councilor Tom Furey proposed a smoking ban inside the city's public housing units last week, Housing Authority Chairman John Boris hopes to send out letters to all tenants asking them to be more careful the next time they light up.

Boris said there have been a number of smoking-related fires inside Salem Housing Authority properties over the years and that he hopes a letter will make smokers more aware of both the dangers of secondhand smoke and the possible fire hazards.

"I was a smoker for 35 years," Boris said. "I never gave it a second thought."

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