KESSLER: Annual HEATS winners made summer memorable

Tuesday, September 11, 2007 10:53 PM EDT

Labor Day has come and gone, but, it's still considered summer until Sept. 21, which means it's not too late to hand out the annual Honors for Extraordinary Achievements in the Summer or HEATS awards for 2007. Recipients are:

The North Attleboro Firefighters Kids Day Association for putting on another solid festival in July. As usual, the event was a "must be seen at" one for kids of all ages.

The Downtown Associates of North Attleboro (DANA)'s annual cruise and beach volleyball night, which also remains a must late-July take-in. With plenty of activities for children, beach volleyball games on trucked-in sand, food, vendors and music, there is truly something for everyone at this last Thursday of July event.

Kids Day Race Director John Gautieri, for drawing the largest field to date for the event, which takes place the Sunday morning of Kids Day. One of the best aspects of the race is the fact that the race is family friendly, with youngsters racing free, and all kids getting medals. Bravo!

The Runaways Runaround 5-Miler: This annual benefit run for Community VNA Hospice, turned 5 on a gorgeous Sunday morning, Aug. 19, and is proving itself to be a staple of the summer road-running circuit. Offering a nice course through downtown North Attleboro and on some of the rural roads that border some of the town's remaining farms, it's a nice way to get some exercise on a summer Sunday, and to help an excellent cause in the process. Special HEAT awards to Olympians Amy Rudolph and Mark Coogan, whose participation this year greatly enhanced the race.

Attleboro Chamber of Commerce President Jack Lank and the Arc of Northern Bristol County Executive Director Michael Andrade deserve kudos for the one-day revival of the Wednesday Night Market, which brought people to Attleboro High School on a hot Saturday for the market and the return of the Hottest Act in Town.

Rehoboth Fair organizers earn an award for bringing back the fair, and again making it a four-day event. Organizers deserve credit for keeping the agricultural-based tradition alive, especially given the hard work that it takes, and the fact the most people are content to sit back to let others do the work, and then are the first to criticize.

The LaSalette Shrine in Attleboro for bringing back its holiday weekend festival, which used to be on Labor Day, for Memorial Day weekend.

All of the regular festivals that grace the local summer landscape each year - the Attleboro Elks Barbecue, the Portuguese-American Festival, the Holy Ghost Parish feast, St. Joseph's Festival - as well as the major festivals that occur in September such as Wrentham Day, the Crackerbarrel Fair in Wrentham, which will open this Thursday and run through Sunday, and last weekend's St. Mark's Parish annual festival in the Attleboro Falls section of North Attleboro. These events help define their respective communities.

Area libraries for their 2007 summer activities for children, which took place under the "Catch the Beat" theme.

Summer recreation programs, camps and programs, such as the summer band program, held by the Attleboro YMCA, arts programs held at the Attleboro Arts Museum and the Hockomock Area YMCA, enrichment courses and programs held by Bristol Community College and the Southeastern Massachusetts Arts Collaborative, and the many other summer activities offered. All offer tremendous creative opportunities to students year in and year out.

The Pawtucket Red Sox: OK, they're a professional ball team, but they still deserve an award for offering good clean, family fun at a reasonable price each summer. The fact that the team plays its home games just over the border at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket is a bonus for all area residents.

LARRY KESSLER is a Sun Chronicle local news editor. Reach him at 508-236-0330 or at lkessler@thesunchronicle.com.