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Finding something instead of ‘trouble’

When I was attending Dunkirk High School, I remember hearing students, from my district as well as others, comment to the media that kids needed a youth center or sport programs or a swimming pool so we wouldn’t get in trouble. Frankly, whenever I heard this I was embarrassed. I favored these proposals; in fact I circulated a petition in my neighborhood for the swimming pool that Dunkirk eventually built. But I didn’t think we ought to threaten people with trouble if we didn’t get what we wanted. If there wasn’t enough to do, it was my responsibility to find something to do. “Getting in trouble” didn’t seem like a good idea, especially with the parents I had.

My attitude was directly traceable to the upbringing I had as a young child. I can’t remember how often in elementary school, a teacher would call out a student who was dawdling after finishing his work.

“(Name of student), find something to do, or I’ll give you something to do,” our teachers said. Our parents told us the same thing. And the “something to do” had better be something acceptable to the teacher or parent. I liked to read, so I usually had a library book with me or would quietly get a book from the class library. Sometimes I wrote letters to my pen pal in Florida. Sometimes I put a long word on top of a piece of paper and tried to find all the words that could be made using the letters in the word. At home, I went outside and played — skating, bike riding, building a snowman, walking my dog. I also did chores.

I never said I was bored or didn’t have enough to do. Anyone who said that was told, “Only boring people are bored.” This was followed by the standby “Find something to do, or I’ll give you something to do.”

Make no mistake; this was before Title IX, so there weren’t girls’ interscholastic sports. Indeed, my elementary school, No. 6, had no gym when I attended. I did wish for more opportunity because I liked to play sports. However, I felt it was my responsibility to find enough to do.

At Dunkirk High School, my friends and I played intramural sports and participated in clubs and activities at school. We went to the varsity football and basketball games on weekends. (I walked with friends from the Fourth Ward to school and back home.) Some of us joined Tri-Hi-Y, an organization for girls whose meetings were held outside of school at the Presbyterian Church in Dunkirk. We had meetings, and also had a program afterwards. This group also did mock legislature, coming up with a bill, working with a lawyer and then trying to get the bill passed in local mock legislature and then a statewide one held in Albany.

Grace Leckliter at the Red Cross Office in Dunkirk mentored a group of us who were involved in Red Cross Youth.

We made favors for the VA hospitals for the different holidays, wrapped small gifts for bingo prizes, went Christmas caroling at some of the nursing homes, put on other holiday programs, and assisted at blood banks. Some of us volunteered at Brooks Hospital, sorting the cards and flowers and delivering them to the nurses’ stations. Mrs. Leckliter had me keep track of the number of hours we spent on different activities. I wrote up a monthly report and the Dunkirk Evening OBSERVER published it; sometimes even on the front page. I was proud of our accomplishments. There were many of us who didn’t get in trouble; we made a positive difference in our community. And we had fun.

Some of us took advantage of free and inexpensive entertainment at the college in Fredonia. We learned to enjoy concerts and plays.

One of the comments under my senior picture in the yearbook was “Never a spare moment.”

Years later, as a parent and Girl Scout leader, I tried to help kids find productive things to do. I had the best laugh when one of my junior scouts cautioned others “Don’t say the “B” (bored) word in front of Mrs. Chodan.”

I read with dismay that many of the Northern Chautauqua Young Professionals (OBSERVER, Oct. 5, 2016, Residents unleash dog park support) say that there’s not a lot to do here. I am not sure how I feel about a dog park. Personally, I would rather have a playground in the Fourth Ward to which the kids could walk. Yet a dog park, if it were taken care of (kept clean) might be a good idea. And that would certainly give the young professionals something to do, if they choose to accept responsibility for its care.

While times have surely changed from my high school and college days, I still find enough to do in this area. The college still has wonderful programs well below the cost of comparable events elsewhere. There are clubs and non-profits and church groups that can use help. These entities also sponsor interesting programs and events. Both Buffalo and Erie are near enough to explore. Read the OBSERVER. Pick up a copy of “Explore New York.”

If you aren’t happy, create your own organization. But above all, “Find something to do,” something that will enhance our wonderful community.

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