This past June,
Primrose Elementary School in Somers had every child in the third grade spend
the school day putting together an essay on "What I like about Somers , New York .” Blue suburban skies,
ample fields of play and a close knit community of kids, the literary types
among the class of 2022 must have reveled in a day to show off their aptitude to
put prose to paper. "I was not that excited," says Viktoria Barbarakis. "It was
the end of the year so I didn't want to do it." But she didn't let the natural
inclination to reach for summer get in the way of her inspiration and beat out
200 other students for first prize.
A good day’s work
definitely had its just reward. “She won a $30 cash prize,” said her
mom.
Of course, with no
guarantees in the face of swimming pools, camp and kicking back, the effort
demonstrates her ongoing maturity, according to her dad. “She’s getting more and
more independent,” said Minas Barbarakis.
Either way, her lead
in was exactly where most of would start. "I like Somers the way it is as a cute
and small town," she penned in her paper.
Soccer and baseball
fields galore at Reis and Fireman’s Parks, Somers meets Victoria ’s approval in its
ability to let all in on the action. “Everybody can play sports in Somers,” she
wrote.
The big town
get-togethers are not to be missed either, according to her piece, and the
Halloween parade of kids this past October was memorable – even if the costume
she wore was not readily available to her recollection. “I forgot, it was last
year,” she pleaded.
Her composition had a
better handle on the annual April carnival where rides, friends and food
dominate the day but still doesn’t amount to the most important part. “I like
going there because I really get to bond with my family,” it says on page two.
That’s what Sundays
are for too, and the Angle Fly Preserve suits her just fine over kick off time.
“One time it was so beautiful outside that we decided that we should have a
picnic outside and in the stream. So we packed the cooler, brought some beach
chairs, and we were on our way,” she scribed.
Outdoors aside, good
eats are just as important to kids as the chamber of commerce and the “delicious
burgers” at the Burger Barn certainly suffice. It’s also easy to understand her
high rankings for its ambiance. “Because it’s like a barn” she asserted.
Old Bet – elephant of
Somers circus pioneer Hachaliah Bailey – maybe knowing that feeling, Victoria is sure where the town
stands in terms of its rich past. “Somers has a lot, and I mean a lot, of
history,” she wrote.
And even though
Richard Somers wasn’t an Indian chief like the one to the south in Mt. Kisco , she says, “He was
an honorable man who died on a ship that blew up.”
Sort of missing the
part where Somers’ ship exploded prematurely in its effort to take out a British
ship off Tripoli , Victoria admitted her
own struggles during social studies. “I’m not good at history,” she
clarified.
Or maybe she actually
did miss that day and doesn’t give herself enough credit – a possibility that
was proven when she completed her essay. “I thought it was ok but not the
winning piece,” she said.
Still, winning was not
as easy as it sounds. Having to get up and read her story in front of 200
classmates, left the answer obvious on how she felt about winning. “What do you
think, I was really nervous,” she joked.
But Dad had no doubts
– especially when a representative from the Somers Women’s Club showed up at the
house and presented the prize. “We were very proud and pleasantly surprised,” he
said.
Looking forward, Dad
doesn’t see any problem maintaining the new bar that his daughter has now set
for herself.
She just has to make
sure she doesn’t wear the same Halloween outfit from last
year.
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