So I watched the tape of Reagan's funeral. Pretty powerful. My heart goes out to Nancy. She's been a rock of strength this past week. Although the eulogies by the politicians at the Washington Cathedral were well done (particularly the love shown by George Bush Sr.), I was most impressed by the speeches of Reagan's three children at the burial site. I was most struck by Ron's comment, "My father was a religious man but, unlike many of our politicians, he never wore his religion on his sleeve. He viewed his convictions as a responsibility but not as a mandate. And believe me, there is a difference." Wow, that statement seemed to be a subtle jab at Bush. Between Ron's statement and Nancy's push for stem cell research, would it be too hopeful to wish for the Reagan family to join the Kerry campaign? I'm sure it won't happen but the signs are there that they are not in lock-step with the current Republican administration. And right now, the heart of the nation is with Nancy Reagan.

It has been a busy week at the Parks. On Wednesday, we held an event at Taaffe Playground in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Children from the public school across the street, spent the year collecting $1000 in pennies in their Penny Harvest Drive. The kids then decided that they wanted to use the money to fix up our playground. So at the event, the Principal presented the Borough Commissioner with a ceremonial check for $1000. It was a very sweet gesture. Then on Thursday, another check presentation ceremony was held at Grand Ferry Park in Williamsburg. This time, we received a check in the amount of $300,000 from the New York Power Authority to fix the park up. Next on the schedule is a ribbon cutting this Tuesday at Brower Park in Crown Heights.

On the sidebar of this webpage, I have added a feature with links to other friend's webpages. Basically, there are two ways that you can get your page listed there. You can either link my page to yours or, failing that, you can leave a comment about one of my posts. It's all about reciprocity!