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Colorful tradition of giving
By Kathy Antoniotti
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Friday, Dec 19, 2008
Principal Julie Gulley will be sporting two-toned hair in colorful Christmas hues this afternoon at Norton Cornerstone Elementary.
Students at Grill Elementary will learn which class wins a goody basket provided by Principal Roger Plaster. Rumor has it a kindergarten class is leading by a wide margin.
These activities are just some of the ways Nortonites have been taking care of their own for more than 50 years. They show the lengths school officials will go to offer incentives to students who collect cash and canned goods to help families in need.
Caesar A. Carrino, 79, of Wadsworth, remembers the phone call that started the program that has been operating in the Norton school district since 1957. At the time, Carrino, who retired in 1989 as dean of the University of Akron's Evening College and Summer Sessions, was principal at Sherman Elementary.
''You are in a very, very poor district,'' he remembers Barberton schools' health nurse, Fannie Lucas, telling him.
''You are the one to do this,'' she told Carrino.
Lucas asked Carrino to accept a $100 donation from the United Way to pay for clothing, shoes, medicine or for Norton children to see a doctor. The money was to take care of anything parents couldn't provide.
The needs were many, Carrino said.
Some homes didn't have running water at the time, ''and many weren't connected to a septic system,'' he recalled.
''One dollar bought 10 times what it does right now.''
Carrino said he could purchase three or four pairs of shoes with $10. He remembers paying for treatment for a child whose parents were giving her kerosene to treat a sore throat because they couldn't afford medicine.
''It didn't take long before the entire Norton community got involved,'' Carrino said.
Back then, the program was called the Underprivileged Children's Fund. It was renamed the Norton Aid Committee sometime after 1967, Carrino said.
Fifty-one years after its inception, Norton Aid still takes care of the needy. The committee provides baskets of nonperishable food items and gift cards from Acme Fresh Markets during the holidays.
Years ago, as many as 70 to 80 families might be helped by the community, Carrino said.
This year, about 45 families will receive food and gift cards, said Norton Aid organizer and Grill Elementary secretary Laury Bryant, who has been in charge of Christmas baskets since 1999.
The program has been around so long it practically runs itself, she said. ''If I wasn't here, it would just start without me.''
For example, Bryant said, she counts on Ralph Dowling, a parent leader with Boy Scout Troop 132, to call and ask when to start mobilizing the scouts to help with collections.
''He is always my first poke to get started each year,'' she said.
Norton firefighters, organized by retired Fire Chief Rodger Ramsthaler, collect the thousands of canned goods donated by schoolchildren, and along with other volunteers will deliver baskets to families Saturday.
Scouts helped the high school girls' basketball team sort and box the food at Trinity Lutheran Church in the Loyal Oak area Thursday afternoon.
Mike Zita, an at-large councilman in Norton, has been providing boxes from his employer, the local Acme market, since 1980.
Service organizations such as the Norton Grange and Women's Club make annual, generous donations and often offer to ''adopt'' a family or two from the committee, Bryant said.
''2004 was my killer year. We had 19,000 food items and the families shared $2,000 in gift certificates,'' she said.
Gulley, in her first year as principal at the elementary school, underestimated the largesse of her classes, resulting in her colored coiffure.
''At first, I offered them a movie and popcorn to collect [the value of] 1,000 items. They met that goal in three days,'' she said.
Gulley said she then upped the ante and challenged students to raise 5,000 items (a $1 donation equals five cans of food). If they succeeded, she said, they could vote on which colors her hair would be for the day.
Students hit the new goal last week.
''It looks like red and green win,'' she said.
Anyone interested in referring a family to the Norton Aid Committee may do so today by calling Bryant at 330-825-2677.
Kathy Antoniotti can be reached at 330-996-3565 or kantoniotti@thebeaconjournal.com.
Principal Julie Gulley will be sporting two-toned hair in colorful Christmas hues this afternoon at Norton Cornerstone Elementary.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Posted 10:43 AM, 12/19/2008
Yeah! Norton Schools are the best! Parents, you should have passed the levy for them this November.
Please make sure you work to do that in the future like these kids and employees have worked to help the needy!
Posted 11:59 PM, 12/20/2008
Despite all of the negative news that the papers like to print about the politics of some Norton citizens, this story is just one of many that happens every day in this town. The schools, civic groups, churches and citizens make this a great place tolive. It is unfortunate that a loud and vocal minority always steal the spotlight from the other uplifting news from this town.
