Mothers Are The Ultimate Teachers
This week is National Teacher Appreciation Week and Sunday is Mother’s Day - which got me thinking about how mothers are often the best teachers in our lives.
Our parents can have the ultimate positive impact and mothers personify this in their role of teaching us so many life lessons that we could never get in a school. Often they know us better than we know ourselves and can offer guidance in a meaningful way.
Moms teach us how to be compassionate and kind. They do this by caring for us in only the way mothers can. It is our job as their students to listen and learn.
So this Sunday please don’t forget say ‘thank you’ to one of the best teachers in your life, your mother! And please enjoy this week’s video – A Positive Conversation About Education!
Gold Star Mothers
While we will be celebrating Mother’s Day on Sunday, the following day, Monday the 13th, is officially designated as Children of Fallen Patriots Day. States and cities across the country will be recognizing the sacrifices of those families who have lost a loved one in military service and recognizing the important work of the Fallen Patriots organization in helping to provide a debt free college education for those children who have been left behind.
Meanwhile, it is especially important that we also mark this occasion by recognizing our Gold Star Mothers. Those mothers who have lost a son or daughter while serving in the military and defending the freedom that we hold so precious and dear. So, on this Mother’s Day, I suggest that we all say a special prayer and extend our deepest gratitude the most special mothers among us. Our Gold Star Mothers.
Sunflower Seeds Being Planted … On Way To World Record!
One in four Americans will buy flowers for a loved one this Mother's Day. Flowers have a way of lifting people's spirits, bringing color and happiness into our lives. Which is why the Newport Sunshine Initiative has partnered with our Recreation Department to bring flowers, Sunflowers to be exact, to every home in town!
We kicked off our first annual Sunflower Project this past Sunday and the excitement has been incredible. Children and young adults of all ages volunteered in an after school program, packaging up literally 4,000 packets of Mammoth Grey Stripe sunflower seeds. These packets are being distributed ‘door to door,’ dropped off at local schools, handed out in front of the local grocery store and mailed to hundreds of households. And, best of all, planting is taking place right now!
The most popular and iconic of all sunflowers, Mammoth Grey Stripes can reach 10-13 inches in diameter! Feeding birds, insects and eventually humans with their flower heads full of seeds, these flowers are sure to bring happiness, excitement and lots of nature to the Sunshine Town.
Residents are being prompted to visit our website and enter their planting location so a town map of all of the sunflowers planted will be created. This fall, Newport will be blooming with sunflowers at every corner and we are so excited to see the finished product! If you live in Newport, want to get involved, and need more seeds make sure to visit www.NewportSunshine.org
Profiles of the Week: Thank You To Mothers!
Natalie Healy
As we celebrate our mothers or that special someone who plays the motherly role in our lives, we are so pleased to highlight my good friend, Natalie Healy.
Natalie is a small business owner in the seacoast region of New Hampshire, having founded Olde Towne Hall Antiques. She has a fine eye for antiques and much more important is a kind and compassionate person. Admired and respected by all who know her.
Importantly, Natalie has a positive spirit and has used this gift to turn personal tragedy into a story of hope and inspiration, after losing her son Dan,, a United States Navy Seal who gave his life for our freedoms. Dan was killed in the mountains of Afghanistan during operation Red Wings in 2005.
Natalie is the founder of the Dan Healy Memorial Foundation. This special organization is helping in ways only a mother could see fit. The foundation provides scholarships for area students to attend college or trade school, helps single mothers and veterans, and supports a very special initiative – working with Elementary School students on a program called ‘Courtesy Matters.’
Natalie personifies the utmost in what it means to be a caring and loving mother. Her commitment to her son’s legacy while also playing a nurturing role to so many individuals across New Hampshire and beyond. This is why I am so deeply honored to call her a friend and someone who deeply deserves our warmest wishes on Mother’s Day!
Valarie Sununu
Extending our best wishes for a Happy Mother’s Day to our First Lady in the State of New Hampshire, Valerie Sununu. A devoted wife and mother, Valerie has steadfastly and successfully focused on her family, ensuring a normal and positive upbringing for the Sununu’s three children, despite the potential tugs and pulls of political life that can take time away from family life.
At the same time, she has managed to have a dramatically positive impact on issues facing children throughout the State. Supporting early education, addressing mental health issues, and working on domestic challenges in the home, the First Lady of the Granite State has quietly emerged as a powerful and effective force for our children. Thank you, Valerie!
Karen Ballou Lucas
To Karen – A wonderful mother… An incredible wife. A leader and partner in business and always a positive and inspirational force – Happy Mother’s Day!!!
Quotes of the Week: Mothers
“I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. I have clung to them all my life……All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” Abraham Lincoln
“If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?” Milton Berle
“When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.” Sophia Loren
“To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.” Bill Wilson