Feature Archive
Camden County Safety Fair
City of Huntington Beach Fun Time Dances
Camden County Safety Fair
On Saturday July 17, 2007, PAETEC, along with the United Way of Camden County, sponsored the 2007 Safety Fair in Camden, N.J. Employees from our Mount Laurel, NJ office came together to organize and host the Safety Fair which was a tremendous success! This was the second year we held the informative and exciting event at Campbell's Baseball Field, with more than five thousand participants. The weather was excellent and the game was great! PAETEC volunteers were spirited, and the event drew a large crowd. Children enjoyed carousel rides and the many activities within the UTZ Fun Zone. There were free drawings for bicycles with helmets, and other great prizes were given away. There were more than 18 vendors demonstrating all kinds of Safety related functions and information. There was even a MedEvac Helicopter which landed at the fair and the crew was available for questions. Everyone was allowed to take a peak into the aircraft as well.
The Safety Fair was designed to educate families on numerous safety issues. Many families secured child identification kits, complete with fingerprints.
The Safety Fair was conceived after a three young boys who were close to a PAETEC family member, lost their lives when they became locked in the trunk of a car. PAETEC employees are doing their best to ensure a tragedy such as this does not happen again. We are already working on the planning for the event in the summer of 2008. Hope to see you there! For more information, visit our website www.paetec.com/safety_fair.
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City of Huntington Beach Fun Time Dances
The City of Huntington Beach Fun Times Dances program was started in 1985 by Dolores Segura, when her mentally challenged son, Martin, was graduating from high school. Dolores felt that Martin and others like him would be unlikely to see their peers again, or enjoy many social
activities. So, with the support of two other mothers in similar circumstances, she approached the City of Huntington Beach with a proposal to operate a monthly dance program for Orange County's mentally and physically challenged community. The City responded enthusiastically
and enabled the program through providing the venue and the support of its staff.The dances have been run ever since on every third Friday of the month, becoming for many of the 80-150 attendees a regular meeting place and a source of wonderful entertainment. The best way to describe the dance is to say it's like a high school prom, with a lively disco, and a different theme for each month. Particular highlights are the July Barbecue in the park and the Christmas Party, attended of course by Santa.
Dolores is the mother-in-law of PAETEC Executive Vice President of Alternate Channels Chris Bantoft. Chris' wife, Yvonne, has since assumed responsibility for the dances, with the help of loyal family members and other local supporters.
"I had never been involved in anything like this and initially I was uncomfortable. Then I saw the enormous pleasure and excitement that the attendees got from the program, and I was hooked," said Chris.
"Funding for refreshments, the disco, decorations, gifts and prizes, has always been a challenge, and PAETEC's contributions have eased the anxieties of the organizers and enabled them to take the enjoyment of the mentally and physically challenged attendees to new heights: they are thrilled and most appreciative."
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