Olliepalooza!

Hey guys! This past Thursday, the South Boston Neighborhood House hosted an event at Moakley Park called OlliePalooza. This was a fun free event for anyone to come to. They offered free hot dogs, popcorn, slush, water, water balloon games, moon bouncing, a DJ for dancing, an inflatable GaGa Ball arena, and much more. We were invited to set up a fish printing table, and to assist the pirate Mary Read with her stories about the Boston Harbor.

We set up the table in the shade of one of the giant moon bounces, as Thursday was one of the hottest days we have had this summer. Fact: children and families are likely to come visit your table if you are in the shade rather than in the sun on a day like that. We were using sea bass instead of flounder, which was new for me. I was unsure at first because these fish were significantly smaller than the flounder we have been using all summer. However, smaller doesn't necessarily mean worse. The fish prints came out beautifully on the t shirts we were using, and our visitors had a great time choosing their colors and making multicolored fish prints. I have to say though, one of the best moments of the day was when one of the teachers at the Ollie Preschool thought we were doing face painting, and I said "No, Ms. Cathy. Fish printing." And she looked and saw a real fish on the table and actually squealed in disgust. It was hilarious.

I also loved capturing the looks of interest, intrigue and excitement on the faces of children who stopped to hear some stories from Nora Dooley .. I mean Mary Read the pirate. They had so many questions for her, and listened so intently, that they were able to answer any questions she had at the end when she quizzed them on her information. Aside from the heat, OlliePalooza was another successful better beaches event that I am thankful we got to be a part of!

See you at the beach!
Bridget

Olliepalooza Takeover

On Thursday, some of the staff and I took part in a fun event across from Carson beach, called Olliepalooza. Between fish printing, free slushies, and moon bounces left and right, if you didn't have fun I feel bad for you. The day started out with a few of us fish printing. But instead of putting them on paper, we started to print them on shirts. I think it was a good idea to print them on t-shirts since it was so hot. Besides the heat, no one ever fish prints on t shirts. I'm sort of glad Save the Harbor thought of it first. They came out pretty good and the children loved that they could wear their art home.

After stuffing my face with what seemed to be the sixth slushie, I went over to relive my childhood in one of the moon bounces. I hopped in the moon bounce with Maruicio and to our surprise, it was a race. The two of us took off as a child screamed "ready, set go!" As we took off in the moon bounce. All I saw were kids on the outside racing us from there, trying to see who reached the finish line first. As I came out of the moon bounce victorious. I celebrated by playing GaGa ball. A game where you hit the ball at somones legs in order to get them out. It was my first time playing so of course I was a main target for the kids. I lost the first game, but ended up winning the next one. I had a fun time at Olliepalooza, and hope that its here next year by popular demand. Until next time, and keep on exploring. Preston.

Olliepalooza !

WOOOO, Olliepalooza

Being a resident from South Boston this event really gets me excited. Nothing brings the community closer together than events like these. From the slush icee's to the Kayem hot dogs that are served to all - this event is truly phenomenal. As everyone knows, this years event was held on arguably the hottest day this summer. And when I say everyone I am referencing those who heard my minute by minute commentary on the weather that did nothing but potentially make us hotter.

Nora telling some great stories to a young lad

The evening went well. It was right after our fan pier fishing tournament. We had great staff attend and things ran smoothly for the children. We did some fish printing and a ton of story telling with Nora our Pirate friend.

There was not a dull moment at this event. Personally I think its because of the free Hood Ice Cream cups but hey thats just me.

-Ahmed