Boys & Girls club

Boys & Girls club gets 20 sets of wheels to ride,and donation from Nuestramusica.com

Friday, December 18, 2009
By LISA BACKUS
Staff writer
 
NEW BRITAIN — Paul Martinook and his wife of 57 years Elinor watched Friday as hundreds of city children clapped to the beat of rap music and watched three mini Michael Jackson impersonators at the annual Boys & Girls Club Christmas Party.

It’s a scene they’ve witnessed with delight for close to 20 years because they helped make it a reality as a way of paying back the club that meant so much to Paul as a child.

“Back in the thirties and forties we were just getting out of the Depression and they had the Boys Club for us,” Paul Martinook, 82, of Newington, explained. “It’s a payback. When we were kids this was the greatest thing for us.”

The more than 300 children that were gathered in the facility’s gym were ready to party with DJ Kevin Grant also known as “KG” at the sound table blasting rap hits. Throughout the event they watched Michael Jackson impersonators including 8-year-old Damon Mitchell who can do a mean moonwalk and can easily spin and gyrate like the King of Pop.
The three contestants thought they were vying for top honors to win tickets to a show at Mohegan Sun with a noted Michael Jackson impersonator who also was a former member of the New Britain Boys & Girls Club.

“I practiced and practiced,” Mitchell said. “I really want to win the contest so I can go to the concert.”

They found out later that all three would be attending with their families and club staff. The kids also enjoyed a circus act, music and performances and each left with a toy.

The concert tickets were donated by nuestramusica.com. The party was staged by staff with help from the Elsie Traut Trust Foundation, the United Way/Joy of Sharing, Toys for Tots and Paul Martinook who for nearly two decades has donated something special to the annual party’s raffle.

He started about 20 years ago with basketballs and other toys. He graduated to bicycles about 15 years ago. He’s since donated more than 350 to the event.

The couple attends the party every year to watch the raffle where the winners will be able to pick out one of 20 bikes they’ve donated. This year Paul was honored with a plaque in appreciation for his efforts. He finds the bikes at tag sales, Goodwill stores and will take donations. He cleans each vehicle up in time for the party.

“Sometimes they just need a cleaning and some air in the tires,” he said.

He’s always on the lookout and estimates that it takes him three or four hours per bike to pick out the best specimen and have it road-ready for the event.

Elinor explained that when her husband was young and growing up in New Britain, his family had little money and the club was a source of fun. “It kept him on the straight and narrow when other kids were getting into trouble,” she said. “He wants to make sure he gives back for that.”

And it still keeps him busy, she said. “We were driving in Newington two days ago and I pointed out a cute little bike,” Elinor said. “The car came to a screeching halt and he turned around and went and got the bike and donated it to the nursery downstairs. He knows what it means to be under-privileged. I love to see the kids faces when they win a bike.”
 
Comment:
Feliz Navidad,and Thank you from all of our staff,board members,and children here at The Boys and Girls Club of New Britain, INC.