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Health & Fitness

Altrusa hosts 20th Annual Gerard F. Melito Senior Citizens' Poetry Contest

Saturday afternoon I had the pleasure of attending the 20th annual Gerard F Melito Senior Poetry reception. This event is hosted by Altrusa International of Central CT at the Cromwell Community Center in Cromwell. The yearly senior poetry reception is to honor the thirty-five poets who sent in their poetry submissions this year to this annual senior poetry event. There are always 3 honorable mentions and 3 winners- a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place with a small cash amount for each…the monetary amount is not important as the special recognition to place in this poetry event. Each Poet with their guests were welcomed by Altrusa Club members, offered home baked goodies and refreshments while they choose just the right seat. Every Poet waited anxiously for the event to begin. The Club President Elsie Mathews thanked all for coming and spoke about the many literacy projects the Club does in the local community. Pat Jackowski spoke about the origins of the contest and how Gerard F Melito one of the original judges and had passed 17 years ago. The Altrusa Club then renamed the event to honor Gererd F. Melito. The event has been a part of the senior community for 20 years and continues to grow each year. The Judges for the 2013 Senior Poetry contest are Dennis Bourgue, retired English teacher Glastonbury, CT and Marilyn Fabian, retired English teacher Manchester High, CT. The 2013 Poetry Contest Coordinators Ellen Paris and Linda Kranyik went to the podium with certificates for each poet and the secret list of 2013 of the Gerard F. Melito Senior Poetry winners. The Poets and their families received maze colored booklets at their arrival with no winners names listed. This was not an error, Linda Ring, the club publisher had another green cover with the Senior Poetry winners to be stapled to each book after the winners had been announced. And the 2013 Gerard F. Melito Senior Citizens’ Poetry Contest winners are…....... Honorable Mention: Jim Meehan with his poem- Evanescence, Eddie Morales with his poem- The Hungry Tomb, Eddie Bower with his poem- The Gift. Third place: Jim Kenney with his poem- Wonder, Second Place: Lynn Paper with her poem- Unspeakable, and First Place to Lucille Blanchard with her poem- The Year Turns. Each of the winners read their poem and often spoke about why the poem was written. Then one of the highlights of the event, all the other Poets who submitted thier poetry were called alphabetically and came to the podium to read their poetry. Each Poet read their poem and each face told a very unique story. Every poem was read with the tone of voice and feelings that only the writer can do with their own writing of poetry. The common bond was the love for sharing the written word with others, their poems. Each Poet appreciated the other Poets written word and a loud applause for each was a special thank you to Altrusa and each of the Poets!

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