"Neighbors"—Seeking a Little Help From Friends

Get your checkbook out! Get your checkbook and make a check payable to the Greenwich Public Library, right now.

That's what popped into my head while thinking about what should be my opening line for this blog, and while looking back at the evening's video footage of NEIGHBORS at Greenwich Library’s Friday Night Chess Program. I omitted Chess club and replaced it with Chess Program because, all are welcomed at the public library’s sponsored programs. We videoed father's engaging their sons and daughters, and children teaching and helping one another.  The small meeting room was packed.

So I figured if some checks came into the library, there can be two or three Friday Nights Chess Programs until June when the library’s Summer hours start. By then we should see some Chessboards of different sizes and colors at our local parks and playgrounds. (Let a sister dream, okay!)

According to Wikipedia: "A chess master is a chess player of such skill that he/she can usually beat chess experts, who themselves typically prevail against most amateurs." I had to look it up because my definition of a Chess Master is a little different. No matter how skilled you are or how many tournaments won, if you can’t see that fewer and fewer folks are sitting across the board from you (unless you go to jail), you are a winner among the few. But a true Master Chessman knows he has to share has much sort after and needed mental talent with young people in the community, and that’s Master Rich. Sir I bow to you and your contribution to this community. When I think of Master Rich, I liken him to President Lincoln best General, General Grant. Because believe it or not every time Rich facilitates a Chess event he's standing on the front-line helping children to stand up against, gangs and peer pressures. While listening and watching Master Rich’s brief oral presentation about some Chess strategies, he was mesmerizing, inviting, entertaining and informative.

Back in the day when I was a columnist with the Westchester Guardian I mentioned that the best thing at any library beside the books are the reference librarians because they’re the real “know it alls". They share their information and knowledge with patrons all the times. For real, I don’t have to know everything cause I can just ask them. I still feel the same way today, even more so after Friday’s video interview with Margaret Walsh the Teen and Young Adult Librarian and hearing all the program that she has lined up for the youth in this town. Margaret gets program Intel and puts it to practice. Go ahead now and sign the bottom of that check, it’s an investment in Greenwich's future.

On Monday, Feb. 11 at 1 pm NEIGHBORS will be filming, Fun With Chess at the Byram Shubert Library. I hope to see you and/or your child there.

Please watch NEIGHBORS on Greenwich's Community Access channel 24 Verizon FiOS; Government Access Ch. 79 check GCTV website and Ch 88 Cablevision Wednesdays at 6pm and Sundays 8:30am. Danbury Community Access Ch 23 at 8:30 pm Mondays and phillyCAM.org Video On Demand. Like us athttps://www.facebook.com/neighborstv our Matthew athttps://www.facebook.com/YourCruiseTA and Allegra Dance Studio at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Allegra-Dance-Studio/117287282092?fref=ts.   Thank you for supporting NEIGHBORS.