- February 23, 2025
YMCA waives joiner fee
September is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month and Volusia Flagler Family YMCA has announced it will be waiving the joiner fee throughout the month.
“At the Volusia Flagler Family YMCA, we want families to understand the lifetime benefits of eating right and getting physically active and those behaviors begin in the home,” said Teresa Rand, CEO. “If healthy habits are established at home they will carry over to when children are out of their parents’ care and that will dramatically help reduce obesity in our community.”
To learn more about the YMCA’s healthy living programs, contact Bev Johnson at [email protected] or 738-9622 ext. 313.
County names poet laureates
Dr. David Axelrod and M. B. McLatchey were appointed on Aug. 20 as the first Volusia County Poets Laureate by the Volusia County Council.
The role of the Volusia Poet Laureate is to “promote the reading, writing, and appreciation of poetry throughout the county and in so doing, promote greater literacy, cultural activity and tourism.”
A selection committee recommended both poets to the County Council.While it is customary to select just one person, the council decided to make both candidates a Poet Laureate. Volusia County now has the distinction of being one of only two regions in the U.S. that has two laureates. The other region is Prince William County, Virginia.
According to his website, poetrydoctor.org, Axelrod has published 21 books of poetry and has received several awards. He lives in Daytona Beach, where he is director of the Creative Happiness Institute Inc. He is planning a Young Poets Mentoring Program as well as visits to libraries and public schools.
According to her website, works.bepress.com/mb_mclatchey/, M.B. McLatchey is a widely published poet and scholar with an extensive background in literature, philosophy, and ancient and modern languages. She also has received numerous awards.
Grief Center for children available
Halifax Health – Hospice BeginAgain Children’s Grief Center will present Hearts & Hooves retreats from 9 a.m. to noon on Oct. 3 and 10 at Artquest School of Art & Design, 571 Leeway Trail, Ormond Beach.
Hearts & Hooves is a camp that provides children and teens, who have experienced the death of a loved one, an outlet for their grief expression through art and horses.
To receive an application or information, call 322-4738 or visit halifaxhealth.org/hospice. The deadline to apply is September 25.
