We live in a time when words like acorn, bluebell, buttercup, dandelion, fern, mistletoe, pasture, and willow are being culled from the Oxford Junior Dictionaryto make way for words such as blog, broadband, chatroom, cut-and-paste, and MP3 player. It means that those earlier words of nature have been deemed less significant in the lives of modern-day children, used less frequently in the lexicon of childhood, while the latter words that were seemingly non-existent in the last generation are now common everyday words, ones that children must know in the 21stCentury classroom.
It is true now that only about 10 percent of children play regularly in settings of nature compared to 40 percent of the last generation, with about 40 percent of children never regularly playing anywhere outdoors.
But then you see a group of kids outside in the park playing pumpkin bowling and families enjoying an old-fashioned hayride through the village streets of Mattapoisett and, even if just for a day, the simple joys of childhood are preserved and enjoyed.
We have the Mattapoisett Lions Club to thank for luring the hundreds of families and neighbors out to Shipyard Park on Sunday, November 3, to enjoy a crisp autumn afternoon of outdoor games, treats, entertainment, and hayrides during the Lions’ third annual fall Family Fun Festival, a day of free fun for all to appreciate.
And what would this community look like with the Lions Club, which provides us with some of the very staples of Tri-Town life – Harbor Days, Holiday in the Park, the Ned’s Point Easter Egg Hunt, the Triathlon, and now the Family Fun Festival, not to mention the various other seasonal fundraisers that provide our community with generous gifts to charities and individuals, and scholarships to our young adults. Their motto is, simply: “We serve.” Did you know that some of the gifts the Lions Club has given to Mattapoisett over the years include the Shipyard Park gazebo, the covered picnic tables at Ned’s Point and Town Beach, and the tennis courts next to Center School?
Mattapoisett is blessed to be served by a group of dedicated individuals who make up one of the area’s strongest and most visible Lions Clubs. By contributing to the Lions Club, we contribute to our community and, ultimately, to each other and ourselves. To learn about becoming a member of the Mattapoisett Lions Club, contact Bruce Rocha at lionsmembership1@gmail.com or call 508-758-2345. Their website is www.mattapoisettlionsclub.org, featuring membership and event information.
By Jean Perry
