Dare County Friends of Youth

Eight hours per month.  That's all that it takes to make a tremendous difference in the life of a child.  The Dare County Friends of Youth mentoring program has been helping to improve the lives of young people in our community since 1990.  Dare County Friends of Youth program is one of 54 Governor's One-On-One Volunteer Programs throughout North Carolina. It is County funded as well as grant funded by the State.

 

Our volunteer mentors include small business owners, health care professionals, educators, retirees & many others who give freely of their time & talents to provide at-risk youths in the community with the guidance & friendship that they desperately need.   Mentors & youths are matched for the period of at least one year, often creating lifelong friendships.

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Pet Love Week, Currituck Animal Shelter

The Currituck Animal Shelter is located across from the Currituck Regional Airport at 204 Airport Rd., Maple, NC 27956; phone: 252-457-0011.   

When your mind is clouded with the details, fears and planning ahead of pregnancy, birth and parenthood, you miss the opportunity to enjoy these miraculous stages of life. In this session Molly Harrison will guide us through yoga and mindfulness techniques that help us connect to the breath, feel the body and quiet the mind so that we're ready to face the unknown with relaxation and joy!  February 9th.  7pm. If you are a new parent, pregnant, thinking about becoming pregnant, or are passionate about birth and babies, this FREE educational event is for you! Partners, family, friends, and babes in arms are welcome. For more info Email or call 252-207-5601. Please invite your friends. All events are FREE and open to the public.   

 

Neighbors: Partnership for the Sounds.

Film on Margaret Sanger

February 17. The League of Women Voters Dare County is presenting a film series featuring women's history.  After each film,  Dr. Lin Logan facilitates an open discussion of the film's accuracy, relevance, and entertainment value.  The February focuses on Margaret Sanger, the mother of the birth control movement in the US.  All films are free and open to the public and will be shown at 2:30 PM.

Spring Arbor Community Room, 803 Bermuda Bay Blvd., Kill Devil Hills, NC. For Further information - 252-480-2866

Saltwater Connections Team will return to Hatteras in February.

 On Thursday, February 16, the team will present its report for Buxton, Frisco and Hatteras at the Fessenden Center (2-4 pm) and at the Hatteras Village Civic Center (5-7 pm).

 

Read more of the 50 page Saltwater Connection Report.on the Hatteras Island Communities

On Friday, February 17, team members will hold follow-up workshops for the Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo and Avon report at the Avon Fire Station (11 - 12:15) and at the Rodanthe-Waves-Salvo Community Building (4 - 5:30pm).  The workshops will be informal, and folks are welcome to drop in at any time at either location to talk with team members about implementation of recommendations in the report, and to discuss ideas for community projects using SaltwaterConnections funds.

 Saltwater Connections, as part of the overall program of work funded by the NC Rural Center, has funding for small community projects that build on community assets and help create and support jobs. 

 

Currituck Heritage Park Winter Educational Series "Corolla in Retrospect~ Ocean to Sound"

8th Annual Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony Blues Jam

Music from the Civil Rights Movement

Soundtrack for a Revolution Trailer

In recognition of Black History month, the Outer Banks Peace and Justice Interfaith Coalition will be showing 

Soundtrack for a Revolution which tells the story of the American civil rights movement through its powerful music - the freedom songs that protesters sang on picket lines, in mass meetings, in police wagons, and in jail cells as they fought for justice and equality. A unique mix of historical documentary and contemporary musical performance, the film features new performances by top artists including John Legend, Joss Stone, Wyclef Jean, and The Roots; riveting archival footage; and interviews with civil rights foot soldiers and leaders, including Congressman John Lewis, Harry Belafonte, Julian Bond, Andrew Young, and dozens more.  Tuesday, February 21, 7:00 pm  Kelly's.  Public Welcome.

  

Albemarle Area United Way to Host "Dancing Under the Stars"!

Fox trot, tango, the waltz and swing, anyone - or just judge. 

Attend the 2nd annual "Dancing Under the Stars" event Saturday, February 25 at the K.E. White center on Elizabeth City State University's campus.  The event will feature local celebrity dancers as well as professional ballroom dancers from Virginia.  There will be a "People's Choice" award given to the celebrity dancer receiving the most votes.  Votes are $1.00 and may be made the night of the event or by visiting our website, www.albemarleareauw.org or you can place your vote directly to the celebrity dancer.  Celebrity dancers include:  Angela Gary, Albemarle Hospital; Pat Albert, Wells Fargo;  Debbie Morrisette, Long and Foster;  Ann Hoffman, Daily Advance;  Mike Etheridge, Pasquotank County;  Officer Darrell Valentine, Elizabeth City Police Department;  and Diana Etheridge, YMCA.  Tickets are $35.00 and may be purchased from any First Citizens Bank in Elizabeth City or Chowan Hospital's Gift Shop in Edenton.  FMI call 252.333.1510.

Purple Martin Stamp

The U.S. Postal Service has issued a new, stamped envelope featuring the image of a purple martin. The new No. 10-sized, no-lick envelope has "Forever" postage, meaning the value of the postage is always equal to the value of the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce rate. Purple martins have special meaning to Manns Harbor and the Outer Banks because the William B. Umstead Bridge between Manns Harbor and Roanoke Island's north end is a summertime roost for the birds. In July, more than 100,000 martins will come to the bridge to roost overnight, protecting their young and preparing for their long migration south to Brazil in late summer.

 

The annual sign of spring is when martins return to the area in late February to settle into their housing and bring new hatchlings into the world. Purple martins rely soley on humans for their housing, in nesting boxes or gourds. To learn how you can attract the birds and manage a colony, attend a workshop on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 2 p.m. in the Kill Devil Hills library. Members of the Coastal Carolina Purple Martin Society will explain the behavior of these birds and how to manage nesting colonies.

www.purplemartinroost.com

Kelly's Parade looking for Floats and Volunteers

2011 Kellys St. Patrick's Day Parade

The 23rd Annual Kelly's St. Patrick's Parade set for Sunday, March 18, will celebrate The Outer Banks Hospital's 10th Anniversary and a decade of care.
This year's Theme is "Health is Happiness!"  Parade participants may choose around "Health is Happiness" in which to theme their float/entry or the traditional green of the Irish.  Kelly's is seeking volunteers to assist along the parade route to help keep the units moving and offer other directions. Contact Mary Ann Newman 252-441-4116  kellysrestaurant@earthlink.net. 

 

The 4th Annual Kelly's Running of the Leprechauns is 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 17. The point to point course starting at the Ark Church, runs thru Nags Head Woods, Ocean Acres and finishes in front of Kelly's Outer Banks Restaurant. The finale of the parade tradition is the post-parade party at Kelly's.
Parade applications are available at Kelly's and online atwww.kellysrestaurant.com. To register for the 8k, visitwww.outerbanksrunningclub.org.

 

The Dare County Friends of Youth mentoring program will hold training session for new volunteers on Tuesday, February 28, 2012 from 5:30 - 9:00 p.m. in Manteo.  If you are interested in attending the training, please give us a call at (252) 475-5753 and we will be happy to send you a volunteer application.  Let your friendship be the gift in a young person's life by volunteering with the Dare County Friends of Youth mentoring program! Fill out an on-line request for information, click here  On-line Request.

If you would like to speak to a representative about the program and the upcoming training, please contact Bonnie Bennett, Program Coordinator or Jennifer Wooten, Program Assistant at 475-5753.

 

New research (2011) from David DuBois, Ph.D., and his coauthors confirms that mentoring programs not only seem to improve outcomes for young people in the areas of academic achievement, behavior, and social and emotional health, but they also can improve these outcomes simultaneously. DuBois is a member of MENTOR's Research and Policy Council, a professor of community health sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a nationally-recognized researcher in the youth mentoring field. The research comes from what is known as a meta-analysis. DuBois and colleagues reviewed more than 70 evaluations of mentoring programs from the past decade and analyzed their findings into an overall report that has been published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The research suggests that establishing an effective mentoring relationship can happen for young people of all ages. As DuBois noted, these findings "speak to the universal importance of caring relationships for us as social animals, whatever our age."

According to the report:

• Mentoring programs over the past decade have been most effective with young people who have pre-existing difficulties or are exposed to higher levels of environmental risk. 
• Programs matching mentors and mentees according to their interests have yielded greater benefits for participating youth.
• Mentees have benefited more in programs that are structured to have mentors offer guidance and act as advocates for their mentees. 

"Mentoring is a strategic intervention that gives communities a way to multiply their support for young people," said DuBois. To read How Effective Are Mentoring Programs for Youth? A Systematic Assessment of the Evidence, go to http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1529100611414806. For more information on the research-based keys to making youth mentoring effective, download the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring, 3rd Edition™at www.mentoring.org/elements.

 

 

  Expo Continued 

The Expo will serve as both an educational and informative event for adults, with local professionals providing materials and valuable information regarding adult and child health and wellness, financial and estate planning, social and educational programs and more.  More than 30 local professionals, such as pediatricians, dentists, OBGYNs, lactation consultants, chiropractors, massage therapists, doulas, financial planners, attorneys/estate planning, preschools, dance and music programs and many others will be represented.

 

There will be several speaking engagements from 12-3 PM.  Speakers include Scott Brown of Edward Jones on Financial Planning and College Savings;  Christen Buchert, "The Swim Lady", on Aquatic Safety and Infant Swim Resource;  Outer Banks Birth Network on Pregnancy and Childbirth; Laurie Everett, Certified Lactation Consultant, on Breastfeeding; Dr. Benjamin Winfree, M.D., Gynecology and Obstetrics; and Beth Tillet, Children and Youth Partnership for Dare County, on Parenting and Power Struggles.  Seating will be on a first come, first serve basis.  

 

The Nags Head Fire Department will provide free car seat checks in the parking lot;  breastfeeding stations will be available and brought to the Expo by the Outer Banks Birth Network; and free childcare from 1-3 will be provided on a first come, first serve basis by the Outer Banks YMCA.  There will also be translators on hand to help our Spanish speaking guests.

 

This event is brought to you by the Outer Banks Mommy & Me and the Outer Banks YMCA.  Sponsors include:  Access Designs; The Outer Banks Community Foundation; Complete Business Services; Ocean Atlantic Event Rentals; and Outer Banks Child Magazine.  For more information, please go online to our website:  www.outerbanksmommyandme.blogspot.com.