It Says in The Bridge: Jun 08

This month's Bridge has a celebratory feel all through it, leading off with Tara Dillon's winning of the All-Ireland Pitch and Putt National Matchplay competition, and also front-paging the raising of the Green Flag awarded to Scoil Bhride for its anti-litter and recycling programme.

Another environmental celebration noted on that front-page celebrates the start of an official street cleaning crew for Kilcullen. Inside we're told we're sharing the crew with a number of other towns, but the results are already evident on the street. The point is made that this doesn't get local effort off the hook, and the KCA-led Monday night town clean-up activities are still in place for the rest of the summer.

There's more than a hint of political gunpowder being ignited this month, with the Editorial looking ahead to the prospect of the local elections next summer. Depending on the results of a review of the local electoral area boundaries, Kilcullen may or may not be shifted to the Athy area. Whichever, the writer suggests that a local community candidate running in the election could 'send a message' that the town merits closer attention than it currently receives from its public representatives.

Pastoral celebrations receive very strong photographic attention this month, with large spreads of Pat Foley pictures from the Chruinniu Chriost parish gathering. It certainly was an event that brought out the community in force.

Other photographic coverage includes the CPC Awards Day, sponsored by Bank of Ireland, and the Sixth Year Graduation Night. The Scouts have extended their space in the Bridge too, and there's good coverage of recent scouting events including the South Kildare Shield and the National Beaver Centenery Picnic.

In the schools pages, Brannoxtown NS representatives are pictured getting their own Green Flag, and it will be raised sometime this month. There's a lot of news from St Joseph's NS in Halverstown, including a report on the school garden work, and the building of the school's website. The Steiner School welcomed the summer in with an outing to Altemont Gardens, an orienteering event near Athy, and a Sports Day and Festival in the school's own grounds.

Business matters include the achievement of a Hygiene Award for Andrew Cross's Centra Store at Hillcrest, and Monica Clifford's new enterprise in the former Tyrrell's Drapery, a gifts and toys shop.

There's a two-page spread on the Rugby and Athletics sections of the local Community Games, while a report from St Bridget's Pitch & Putt Club details what has been a very busy month. The Badminton Club celebrates a triple success in a 'historic' season, and there's the usual comprehensive report from a very busy GAA Club.

In news features, Pat Behan provides a comprehensive report on the Saga of the Playground, detailing the tos and fros at the recent public meeting in the Town Hall. Billy Redmond amongst the regular columnnists muses on how he was accused of giving scandal while working in the church grounds in his shorts, the need for a little more TLC to be given to the grounds of the Garda Station, the possibility of finding a real Public Representative in our midst, and how a man came to his door with a bottle of Black Grouse just because he enjoy's Billy's 'Off the Cuff' remarks every month, living as he does in London for more than half a century.

In his Pastor's Piece, Robert Dunlop gives us some Scriptural and other views on our duty to care for our planet, while Sean Landers provides more detail of his daily life and times in Taiwan. That same writer's regular local history series is about the Long Stone at Kilgowan. The Spout outlet for Kilcullen writers has a birthday account from Siodhna Kavanagh, and poems from Robert Dunlop and Siobhan Dunlea.

From which last we'll end this review, with a line that is perhaps more important now than ever it was in the history of our time on this planet: 'Every one of us needs nature'.

Brian Byrne.