Swim Safety

Swim Safety

There has been a number of swimming related tragedies and instances in the news this summer.  Accordingly, it seems appropriate to review some basic swim safety rules.

First, it is important to understand that although swimming is very enjoyable, it can also be very dangerous and even potentially fatal.  Each year in the United States there are close to 4,000 fatal unintentional drownings.  That equals approximately ten deaths per day!

Always obey pool rules.  Walk, don’t run, around a pool area.  Make sure that the depth of the water is appropriate for your youngsters just learning to swim.  Don’t push or jump on others.  You could accidentally hurt yourself or someone else leading to a water injury.

Always swim with a buddy.  Even experienced swimmers can become tired, get muscles cramps, or get in trouble in the water.  When people swim together they can help each other, or go for help in case of an emergency.

Know how deep the water is before you dive in.  Pay close attention to signs that say “No Diving”.  In addition, never dive into a lake or a river unless you are certain as to how deep it is.

When swimming in open water, always watch for dangerous waves or signs of riptides.  Riptides are currents that can easily pull young children under and away from shore.

Always designate a responsible adult to watch children when they are swimming.  Please note this applies to taking baths also!  When adults are supervising young swimmers, they should not be distracted by other activities, such as talking on their cell phone.  Swimming and alcohol do not mix.

        Swimming can be great family fun, fitness, and recreation; but, being careless can result in tragedy.  Please use extreme care when swimming and be sure to watch the youngsters.

Honor - Memorial Day

Honor

Memorial Day is a day to honor our heroes.  Please take some time to honor our veterans and service women and men this Memorial Day.  The fight for our freedom is the highest level of honor.

Memorial Day unofficially marks the beginning of summer. The weather takes a turn for the better, the days are longer and the nights more mild. The reason Memorial Day is a national holiday, however, isn’t for America’s leisure -  it’s to honor the men and women who died while serving our country.

Originally known as Decoration Day, Memorial Day was established to honor fallen Union soldiers who fought during the American Civil War. It is said that the holiday was first celebrated in 1865 by a group of freed slaves who returned to Washington Race Course in Charlestown, South Carolina to dig up deceased soldiers and give them the proper burial they deserved.  Known today as Hampton Park, the historic site is a former Confederate prison camp and was a mass grave for Union soldiers who died while in captivity. The liberated slaves returned the following year to decorate the new grave sites with flowers picked from the countryside, creating what is considered the very first Decoration Day.

The official birthplace of Memorial Day is Waterloo, New York, where in 1868 commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, General John A. Logan, proclaimed that Decoration Day be celebrated nationwide.  Memorial Day did not become commonplace until nearly eighty years later. After World War I, the holiday was expanded to include American casualties of any military action or war, and in 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday.

Today, those that celebrate Memorial Day often visit cemeteries and memorials on the last Monday in May and fly American flags at half mast. Many towns hold parades featuring Rotary Clubs, Boy Scout and Girl Scout Troops, high school bands, and local emergency service personnel along with their vehicles. Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia, celebrates the holiday with an annual parade and memorial service, followed by the blowing of Taps in tribute to the men and women who died while serving their country.

Honoring their fallen comrades, members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars collect donations for poppies to place on grave sites nationwide. The flower’s significance came to light during World War I when Canadian Lieutenant John McCrae wrote the poem In Flanders Fields after witnessing the death of his 22 year-old friend and fellow Lieutenant, Alexis Helmer. The poem is considered one of the most renowned war poems today, and is read at days of remembrance in both the United States and Canada.

While Memorial Day is a time to relax and recharge, and a time to prepare for another great summer, it’s important to take a moment to remember those who fought to give us the freedom and liberties we have today. At Daggett Shuler we would like to thank each and every one of them.

For more information on Memorial Day and its celebrations, please visit: www.usmemorialday.org.

In Flanders Fields 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow 

Between the crosses row on row, 

That mark our place; and in the sky 

The larks, still bravely singing, fly 

Scarce heard amid the guns below. 

We are the Dead. Short days ago 

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, 

Loved and were loved, and now we lie 

In Flanders fields. 

Take up our quarrel with the foe: 

To you from failing hands we throw 

The torch; be yours to hold it high. 

If ye break faith with us who die 

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow 

In Flanders fields.

- Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) - Canadian Army 

Honor our veterans and troops,
David

Mission Accomplished

Mission Accomplished

Whew!  It has been a fast and furious past eight weeks for Safe Sober Prom Night!  There are many stories of teamwork, enthusiasm, participation, passion, and success!

The students’ participation and enthusiasm make us optimistic about the future of our community.  Our students are bright, talented, motivated, and really trying to do the right things for a successful future.  They are well on their way!

Teams of Daggett Shuler attorneys and staff personally visited approximately 38 area high schools in 8 Triad counties encouraging students to sign a pledge not to drink or use drugs on prom night, distributing student designed t-shirts, and speaking to the students.  “Positive messages to our youth ensure the quality of our community for years to come,” says Griff Shuler.

This year the firm has personally paid for, delivered, and distributed close to15,000 t-shirts to high school students in the Triad area.  We have also had some technological breakthroughs with the website at www.SafeSober.com  including virtual pledge cards and many resources for teens.  Next year portends to be even bigger and better!

Of course there are also the difficult parts.  We encounter those who have lost loved ones, or are injured or disabled,  in car accidents due to drunk drivers.  Meeting those suffering folks and hearing their stories really hits home for us since it was our professional contact with people hurting in these ways that inspired us to start the SSPN program 22 years ago.

Most of all, SSPN is a story of success.  Success for our teens, our community, and our Safe Sober team.  We are already brainstorming for our 23th anniversary - Safe Sober Prom Night 2013!  We look forward to having you join us!

Smart Decisions and Choices

Smart Decisions and Choices

This prom season we will be with students in more than 35 high schools in eight counties all across our Piedmont Triad area as part of our Safe Sober Prom Night  program.   The program is more than just don’t drink and drive or use drugs -  it is a program of success based on smart choices.

      Our Daggett Shuler team enjoys spending time with our  local high school students at all of the schools.  Wow, are they impressive!  As impressive as our students are, we are also starkly reminded of the need for continuing encouragement and support.  Teens today face incredible peer pressure.  We need to use and turn this power of peer pressure into a positive direction.

Unfortunately, much of the daily peer pressure facing our students is not as neutral.  Left uncontrolled or not channeled in a proper direction it can often be negative and damaging.  Among the pressures our teens face daily are alcohol, drugs, and sexually activity.

People (teens and adults alike) give in to the temptations of peer pressure for a number of reasons. We’re all afraid of rejection and of being teased by others. Teens particularly want to fit in, or to just be cool.  Peers influence your life, even if you don't realize it, just by spending time with you.  As students readily observe, “You become who you hang with!”

Positive peer pressure can be incredibly powerful too!  Positive, supportive and loyal friendships can lead to academic success, sharpening of social skills, and the willingness to experience new cultures and activities.

We can have an enormous influence on our teen generation by encouraging and supporting positive peer pressure.  We  can encourage positive behaviors and  friendships.

      Most of all, positive peer pressure leads to good decisions and choices that are the building blocks of satisfying and fulfilling lives.

22 Years of Safe Sober Prom Night!

22 Years!

It’s finally here!  The 2012 prom season is here!  Our Daggett Shuler team is excited for the 22nd year of our Safe Sober Prom Night Program.

We founded SSPN in 1991.  In what we do professionally  we all too often see the destruction and tragedy done to children, families and individuals by drinking and driving.  We believed that we were in a unique position in our community to address this issue, and so Safe Sober prom Night was born.  We really never dreamed it would be so successful for all these years.

We have used a two prong attack.  First, we believe that young people need continual reminders of the dangers of drinking and driving.  Second, is to help create an environment of positive peer pressure to help encourage our students in the right direction.

The SSPN program has become part of the values and culture at our firm.  In fact, when we start going to the high schools starting this week our entire Daggett Shuler will be involved reflecting their high personal levels of commitment .  We will personally visit more than 35 high schools and give away more close to 15,000 t-shirts in the triad area.

Over the years, SSPN has won a number of significant awards in additional to local recognition.  The program has been awarded the Governor’s Highway Safety Program Public safety award, as well as the American Bar Association Award for Dignity in Lawyer Advertising.

Of course, the most significant award is from the students who now think Safe Sober is “cool” and proudly participate year to year.  Encourage our young people to go to virtual pledge  that students can take on-line, and of course there are lots of other goodies there too.

Please join our students and our Daggett Shuler Team in make this year the safest prom season ever!

         The 2012 Safe Sober Prom Night public service TV ad hits the air starting this weekend!  See it first here! 

      Please join our Daggett Shuler team in wrapping our arms of encouragement and support around our young people.   PLEASE "Like" Safe Sober Prom Night here:  http://www.facebook.com/SafeSoberPromNight

The Artist

The Artist

      It is hard to believe that the time changed for spring, and prom season is right around the corner!  Our Safe Sober Prom Night program is getting ready for its 22nd  season.  We of kicked things off this past week by announcing the winner of the T-shirt design contest.

The annual T-shirt design competition is open to students at all high schools in North Carolina.  We received many impressive designs from a number of schools in our area.  The final decision proved to be quite difficult for the selection committee.

The winner of the 2012 Safe Sober Prom Night T-shirt design contest is Kyla Stimpson, a senior at the Career Center and Reagan High School. Kyla’s design will be featured on close to  15,000 T-shirts distributed to high school students in the Triad area, and available to all high schools throughout North Carolina as part of the Safe Sober Prom Night program.

One of our favorite times of the year for our Daggett Shuler Team is doing a surprise presentation to the winner.  During a presentation in her classroom the Career Center, we presented Kyla with the very first 2012 t-shirt produced and a scholarship check for $500.

Our team had a great time with the surprise coordinated by Kyla’s art teacher, Ms. Stephanie Messer, and administrators at the Career Center.  Also in on the surprise were  Kyla’s parents, school officials, WXII 12, Channel 2, and the Safe Sober staff.  Kyla was really caught off guard!

Ms. Messer, as well as other art teachers across the triad, did an excellent job motivating students to submit entries to the t-shirt design contest, and supporting the artists in their efforts.  She has also used this as an opportunity for further learning and case study in her class.

In just a few short weeks, T-shirt distribution will begin at area high schools for student who sign the “Do it Right!” pledge to stay safe and sober on prom night.  Keep an eye out as Kyla’s design starts popping up across the Triad.  Please help us support our promising young people.

       On Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/SafeSoberPromNight