2008 Youth Program Plans, Christmas Greetings

By Chris Puskar

I hope everyone is doing well and having a great fall/winter. I have received some questions about the upcoming Junior Volleyball Tournament and the Youth Bowling Tournament. Here is the information that I have for everyone right now.

Junior Volleyball Tournament
The Tournament will take place in Middletown, Conn., with Nest 519 as our gracious host. It will be the weekend of April 4-6, 2008. The following is a list of the mileage reimbursements from your Nest to Middletown, Conn. It will be round-trip mileage. It should help you when planning your fundraising events for getting your group to the Tournament in 2008. Please let me know if I have missed your Nest and I’ll be happy to add you to the list.

Nest 6, Buffalo, N.Y.: 830 miles, $124.50 per participant.
Nest 8, Pittsburgh, Pa.: 958 miles, $143.70 per participant.
Nest 31, Detroit, Mich.: 1344 miles, $201.60 per participant.
Nest 36, Southwestern Conn.: 70 miles, $10.50 per participant.
Nest 45, St. Louis, Mo.: 2146 miles, $321.90 per participant.
Nest 80, South Bend, Ind.: 1594 miles, $239.10 per participant.
Nest 86, Hamtramck, Mich.: 1364 miles, $204.60 per participant.
Nest 118, Pittsburgh, Pa.: 958 miles, $143.70 per participant.
Nest 123, Erie, Pa.: 1004 miles, $150.60 per participant.
Nest 176, Pittsburgh, Pa.: 958 miles, $143.70 per participant.
Nest 564, La Porte, Ind.: 1652 miles, $247.80 per participant.
Nest 580, Pittsfield, Mass.: 194 miles, $20.10 per participant.
Nest 725, Milwaukee, Wis.: 1956 miles, $293.40 per participant.
Nest 907, Cicero, Ill.: 1782 miles, $267.30 per participant.

Additional information regarding the 2008 Junior Volleyball Tournament will be posted on the PFA Web site.

Youth Bowling Tournament
The next youth event coming up is the Junior Bowling Tournament, which will take place from January to April of 2008. All applications must be postmarked by May 3, 2008. District scores are preferable and only one set of scores is acceptable for each participant. We will keep the same cost and the same age groups as last year, although we will be changing the application form to make it a little easier to fill out. Look for more details soon.

Remember, if you have any other questions, feel free to call or e-mail me. I will get back to you as soon as I can.

The Christmas Season
During your Falcon Christmas parties, I hope that you would share some of our Polish Christmas traditions. A great one to use is the sharing of the Oplatki. You can share it with the kids and explain its meaning. Then you could give each one a piece to take home and share with their family. It’s a great way to spread the tradition.

The tradition starts with the eldest person at your Christmas Eve dinner taking the Oplatki and breaking it with the next person in line. Each person then shares pieces of the oplatek wafer with everyone else present at the table. The sharing comes with many kisses, embraces and exchanges of best wishes like good health, happiness and bountiful blessings. It is a very tender and touching moment between family and friends and a meaningful tradition that can be easily passed on to others.

I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, along with good health, much happiness, and bountiful blessings.

For any questions regarding PFA Physical Education events, programs or other related information, you can contact Co-National Physical Education Director Christine Puskar by e-mail or by phone at (412) 831-6297.