FUN for TOMORROW!!!

The Friends of the Phillips Street Play Area invite you to the:
 
PICNIC IN THE PARK SERIES
Ice Cream Social and Jazz Music by Dan Foley and Friends
 
Tuesday, June 28th
5:30pm - 7:30pm
Phillips Street Play Area, Beacon Hill
 
Bring your picnic baskets and enjoy a fun evening outdoors with neighbors and friends.  Free ice cream and music.
 
For a full summer event schedule or more information please visit www.phillipstreetplayarea.com or email friendspspa@hotmail.com. 

Chiara

Drink any one?!!

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO JOIN YOUR NEIGHBORS, FRIENDS, LOCAL AREA PROFESSIONALS, AND ALL OTHERS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN A RELAXING AND FUN AFTERNOON / EVENING HAVING DRINKS, MAKING NEW FRIENDS AND ENJOYING $1 OYSTERS AT WEST END JOHNNIES!!

DATE: Thursday, June 23rd.
TIME: 5:30 pm – whenever
PLACE: West End Johnnies
ADDRESS: 138 PORTLAND ST. BOSTON, MA
Note: West End Johnnies also offers a full lunch and dinner menu.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU THERE!!!

West End Community Center

Phillips Street Playground Events

The first "Picnic in the Park" event scheduled for tomorrow, June 14th has been postponed until June 28th due to bad weather.   
 
The Friends of the PSPA is pleased to announce Free Summer Programs and Community Events
taking place at the Phillips Street Play Area in Beacon Hill.
  This year, the Friends group will host a "Picnic in the Park Series" to be held Tuesdays from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. 
Bring your picnic basket and join friends and neighbors for a fun evening outdoors. 
There will be special entertainment at each picnic including musicians, magicians and other local entertainers.
 
 
Summer Programs and Community Events 2011
 
June 14th - Picnic in the Park Series - 5:30pm - 7:30pm - Jazz night featuring the cool sounds of Dylan Foley and Friends (POSTPONED TO JUNE 28th)
 
June 28th - Picnic in the Park Series - 5:30pm - 7:30pm - Ice Cream Party - Join Friends and Neighbors for an "Ice Cream Social"
 
July 12th - Picnic in the Park Series - 5:30pm - 7:30pm - Jeff Jam - Sing-along with musical performer Jeff Jam as he plays family favorites
 
July 26th - Picnic in the Park Series - 5:30pm - 7:30pm - Stunt Planes and Gliders - Learn the basics of flight and aerodynamics and build your own stunt planes and gliders in this MAD SCIENCE Workshop
 
August 9th- Picnic in the Park Series - 5:30pm - 7:30pm - Tilly the Clown - Have fun sharing the silly antics of Tilly the Clown with magic and balloon sculptures           
 
Sept 10th - Back-to-School Swap - 5:30pm - 7:30pm
 
Oct 22nd - Second Annual Harvest Festival - 12:00pm - 3:00pm
 
Attached is a full summer schedule.
 
For more information or to join the Friends of the Phillips Street Play Area, please email friendspspa@hotmail.com , visit www.phillipsstreetplayarea.com or contact Cindy Sullivan 617-785-9458.
Chiara

FREE Arts and Crafts Saturday, June 11th

Bring the kids to the West end Museum for some arts & crafts!!

Children's Workshop with Traci Jansen
Saturday, June 11th at 12:30pm
At the West End Museum

7-11 years old

Traci Jansen, head of children's programming at the Middlesex Museum will be offering a child friendly introduction to the Middlesex Canal. It will include a short lecture about the canal, a role play of canal personalities, as well as paper boat building. Participants will use maps, drawings, and models to learn about this engineering marvel. Please reserve your space with Traci Jansen at middlesexcanal4kids@gmail.com

Chiara

It's that time of year again!!

THE SCOOPER BOWL!!

Tuesday 6/7 thru Thursday 6/9
12 noon - 8pm

Enjoy all you can eat ice cream at Government Center to raise money for cancer care and research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute! More than 30 flavors of ice cream!

$8 for adults
$4 for children 3 -9 years old
Children under 3 are FREE!!

Chiara

Touch A Truck

Sunday, June 5th
10am - 1pm

FREE event sponsored by the Charelstown Mother's Association.

Location: Bunker Hill Community College Parking Lot

There is NO on-site parking!!

Chiara

Measels at the Aquarium

Quoted from Boston.com:

BOSTON -- Health officials warned recent visitors to the New England Aquarium that they may have been exposed to the measles after a volunteer was positively diagnosed with the virus.

The Boston Public Health Commission on Friday reported that a 17-year-old Vermont resident was contagious when they volunteered at the aquarium on May 19 and May 22.

The Commission's Infectious Disease Bureau said anyone who was at the aquarium's main building after noon on those days may have been exposed to the virus.

Anyone who was in the building during those times and who does not know if they are immune to measles was advised to refrain from public activity until 21 days after the exposure, according to a Health Commission news release.
The aquarium was working with health officials to minimize the chance of infection spreading.
The latest outbreak of the measles in Massachusetts has state health officials concerned.

"It really is a real worry for us. We have not had this many cases since 2006. We've had 17 cases so far this year and 12 since May 1," Massachusetts of Public Health Dr. Al DeMaria said.

With measles on the rise, the Department of Public Health said young children, anyone who works in health care or anyone who plans to travel should get vaccinated.

Health officials said they believe the source of the outbreak is from people traveling out of the country, who haven't been immunized.
An infected person can easily spread the airborne disease, and doctors say anyone returning from a trip with symptoms should call their doctor.

The vaccine is widely available and should be considered for anyone born after 1957.
Measles is a very contagious disease that usually lasts a week or two and can cause serious problems such as ear infections, pneumonia, swelling of the brain in some people, especially pregnant women, infants and those with weakened immune systems, according to health officials.

Adults are also at increased risk for severe disease and may need to be hospitalized due to complications, health officials said.

The DPH said measles looks and feels like a cold at first. A cough, high fever, runny nose and red, watery eyes are common. These symptoms start about 10 days after infection. A few days later, a red blotchy rash starts on the face first, then spreads to the rest of the body.

FYI from an email from momsrising

Quoted: (not from me :) )

This week I found out my son's car seat probably contains neurotoxins and carcinogens! (1)

I thought my little boy was safe when I buckled him into his cozy car seat.

But then I saw the news.  A study just published in the journal "Environmental Science & Technology" found that the majority of foam samples from baby products  (like car seats, changing pads, and infant carriers) were laced with toxic flame retardants shown to be neurotoxins and carcinogens. (2) Yikes!

After reading this information, my first instinct was to ransack my bedrooms and closets, and make sure not a single shred of foam was left in my house. But after a deep breath (well, maybe a few deep breaths), I realized there's a better, long-term solution, for all of us.  

We need Congress to effectively regulate toxic chemicals in this country and make it easier for us to keep toxics out of our homes and lives.

*Please ask your U.S. Senators to immediately co-sponsor, and urge your leaders to support, the Safe Chemicals Act today!  http://action.momsrising.org/go/958?akid=2764.1554137.lOlEQq&t=4

When I read about this new foam study, I was super shocked that toxic chemicals are in so many children's products.  I was also blown away by the information about the double-dose of chemicals kids get through both touch AND through the air. (3) That means my asthmatic son is exposed to toxic chemicals through both his skin while he sits in his car seat AND through his lungs as he breathes the air around his car seat.

The neurotoxins and carcinogens in many flame-retardant foams aren't just in baby products, they're also in our couches and chairs.  In fact these toxins are so prevalent, a recent study found them present in nearly 100% of the U.S. population.  And these toxins have been shown to cause reproductive, thyrod, endocrine, developmental and neurological disorders including decreased fertility, birth defects, learning disorders, and hyperactivity in animal studies. (4)  

(To learn about how to reduce your family's exposure to these chemicals, check out the information in the P.S. below.)

The Safe Chemicals Act is a much needed update to our not-so-current toxics legislation, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976. In 1976, we didn't know as much about how toxic chemicals can migrate into our bodies and accumulate causing health issues now or decades later. Under the outdated TSCA, the EPA has only been able to require testing of a few hundred of the 62,000 chemicals that have been on the market since TSCA was passed, a number that has increased to 85,000 chemicals today. (5)

Thirty-five years after this law was first passed, the Federal Center for Disease Control has found that every American carries hundreds of these chemicals through their blood and tissues. These chemicals aren't just in our bodies; they're in our babies too. Just last year, the President's Cancer Panel found over 300 contaminants in the umbilical cord blood of newborn babies. (6)  It's clearly time to update this outdated toxics law!

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Medical Association (AMA) have already spoken up for our kids and have come out in favor of toxic chemical reform, but now our leaders need to hear from you. (7)

Our kids deserve safe toys and car seats, and parents shouldn't have to worry about the products they buy.

Here's that link again to ask your Senator to cosponsor the Safe Chemicals Act:

http://action.momsrising.org/go/958?akid=2764.1554137.lOlEQq&t=6

And please pass this link along! We need lots of parents to speak up.  Together we can protect a lot of families and a lot of kids from harmful chemicals.

 Wondering how to reduce your family's exposure to this type of toxic chemicals?  Here are a few steps you can take:

1) Keep dust levels down by wet mopping and vacuuming with a HEPA filter
2) Purchase baby products and furniture filled with cotton, polyester, or wool instead of polyurethane foam
3) Avoid products that use polyurethane foam and have a TB117 label which likely contains chemical flame retardants
4) Contact manufacturers to inquire whether retardants were added to products

Some manufacturers state their products do not contain halogenated flame retardants, including (but always double check each product): BabyLuxe organic pads and mattresses, BabyBjorn baby carriers, OrbitBaby strollers and car seats, and Boppy nursing pillows.

You can read more about practical tips for reducing your family's exposure to toxins by going to these great sites:

Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families

Green Science Policy

(1) Freeman, Dan "Baby products contain toxic flame retardants, study says: Are kids at risk?," CBS News, May 18, 2011

(2) "Identification of Flame Retardants in Polyurethane Foam
Collected from Baby Products,"  Environmental Science & Technology (PDF).

(3) Ibid.

(4) Green Science Policy Center

(5) The Safe Chemicals Act of 2011: Introduced Today, Legislation Would Protect American Families from Toxic Chemicals.

(6) Kristof, Nicholas, "New Alarm Bells About Chemicals and Cancer," New York Times, May 5, 2010

(7) "Pediatricians Urge Tougher Chemical Safety Law," CNN

There is a Tornado Watch!!

There is a tornado and severe thunderstorm watch in Suffolk, Essex, Worcester, and Norfolk counties until 8pm tonight!!

Please be safe!!

Chiara