Newtown Joins Observance Of National Family Day To Encourage Unity

By Larissa Lytwyn

In today’s hectic world, filled with dual-income families and students’ increasingly time-crunched schedules, the need for family time is often compromised.

On Monday, September 27, families are encouraged to come together in commemoration of National Family Day.

Research by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University has consistently found that the more often children eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink, or use illegal drugs.

National Family Day, traditionally held on the fourth Monday in September, campaigns that families pledge to eat dinner together on the evening of September 27.

According to CASA’s website, the dinner is “a simple, effective way to reduce substance abuse by children and teens and raise healthier children.”

In support of Family Day, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal issued a citation released on September 21 urging “all Newtown citizens to recognize and participate” in Family Day’s observance.

Family Day, it should be noted, is not just for families.

The CASA website states that it is a day “for all to celebrate, including businesses, unions, religious organizations and community groups. The symbolic act of regular family meals should be promoted and celebrated inside and outside the home throughout the year.”

Newtown Youth Services’ (NYS) Executive Director Anthony Tozzi, Nina Allred, NYS’s director of prevention services, District Health Director Judy Blanchard and Parent Connection Co-presidents Dorrie Carolan and Donna DeLuca witnessed Mr Rosenthal’s proclamation on September 21.

“Sometimes the value of life is found in the simplicity of things like family,” noted Mr Tozzi. Organizations like NYS, he continued, seek to be an “empowering” force for children and their families, as well as the overall community.

Mr Tozzi suggested that, as a society, “We need to get back to the idea of family.”

Family, he said, can be vital to a person’s quality of life.

Among its numerous activities, programs and services, NYS holds a Hope and Support group for families struggling with substance abuse-related issues every Monday evening from 7:30 to 9:30 pm at the NYS location at 10 Glen Road in Sandy Hook.

Ms Carolan and Ms DeLuca lauded the Hope and Support group’s growing number of members, all, they said, committed to raising substance abuse awareness, increasing preventative measures, and managing abuse-related issues with the aid of a support network.

“We have about a dozen members, many new ones,” said Ms DeLuca. “While we do have some out-of-town members, the core is from Newtown.”

Parent Connection will be holding its first forum of the academic year on Tuesday, September 28, from 7 to 9 pm at Newtown Middle School.

The evening will feature Norm Bossio, an internationally known speaker on parenting and related issues.

Mr Bossio is a former teacher, principal and superintendent of schools.

Parents of children of all ages are encouraged to attend.

Ms Allred, who chairs NO SUDS, a youth group committed to encouraging peers to stay alcohol-free, described Family Day as a “remarkably simple” way to connect with one another.

Mr Rosenthal said that the Family Day dinner could, as the CASA study indicates, prove to be a “strong preventative method” in curbing substance abuse.

“[Family Day] is about families taking the opportunity to openly engage in communication,” he said.

Ms Blanchard said she was looking forward to tighter preventative measures being initiated under the direction of groups including the town’s Prevention Council.

The council meets one Thursday a month; its first meeting of the academic year was September 23.

Council members are currently designing definitive “action plans” with the aim of preventing substance abuse in four major “domains”: child/peer, community, school and, of course, family.

In recognition of Family Day, the Housatonic Valley Coalition Against Substance Abuse, Inc, (HVCASA) is sponsoring a regionwide raffle; entries must be returned by September 24.

Winners drawn on Family Day will receive gift certificates to various area eateries, including Chuck’s Steak House in Danbury, a family brunch at Stony Hill Inn in Bethel, a chicken-pot pie dinner for four from Loree’s Kitchen, as well as a DVD player and gift certificate to Bob’s Discount Furniture.

Families can email their names and phone numbers at Housatonic.valley@snet.net.

For more information on Family Day, visit www.CASAfamilyday.org.