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Suncoast Pasco News

Smith Middle School To Hold Second Freedom March

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By KLINT LOWRY | The Suncoast News

Published: February 14, 2009

HOLIDAY - There's nothing like a brisk walk to get invigorate the system, and once again an entire community is invited out for a group stroll to pump up support for the troops overseas and resistance to local street gangs.

The second annual Freedom March will begin at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, at Paul R. Smith Middle School, 1410 Sweetbriar Drive.

"Support Our Neighborhood; Support our Troops," is the theme of the march and the festival that follows at the school, said Principal Christopher Dunning.

The double-themed event struck a chord with residents last year, drawing about 1,200 people. School staff and students are looking forward to a similar response to this free neighborhood rally of pride and positive action, Dunning said.

The march is meant to symbolize a united front among the school, the surrounding neighborhood, the Pasco Sheriff's Office and local churches and businesses against gang activity. It was started in response to a neighborhood gang-related shooting that took place just before the start of the 2007-2008 school year, Dunning explained.

While mixing street gangs and support for the troops may seem incongruous, the concepts of national and community pride melded together well.

Last school year, the Freedom March took place near Veterans Day, Dunning explained. With the school named for Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Davis, an Army combat engineer who died in battle during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, it didn't take much of a leap for organizers to add an element of recognition for the troops.

This year's event promises to pick up on that same spirit. It will open with guest speakers, including Pasco Sheriff Bob White.

The march will follow a roughly 2-mile loop through the community that ends back at the school.

Once there, guests can stick around for free refreshments. They can also visit several stations that will be set up to provide students and the community with information on subjects ranging from drug and alcohol abuse prevention, self-defense and bicycle safety.

Always a crowd-pleaser, members of the Sheriff's Office's K-9 unit will be on hand. Keeping the occasion more festive, there will also be rock-climbing, face-painting and various games for the family.

While everyone is having a good time, children can send some of that goodwill overseas at a station where they can write letters to the troops.

Guests are also invited to take part in a project the students have been working on throughout the month of February. They are collecting small items to send to a donation center at MacDill Air Force Base, in Tampa, where family members of military personnel can put together customized CARE packages to send to their loved ones overseas.

Students will have a location set up for public contributions to the collection. Preferred items include: baby wipes; shampoo; toothpaste and toothbrushes; granola bars and other snack items not containing pork; dried soup mix; hard candy; lip balm; powdered drink mixes, toaster pastries, nuts or sunflower seeds; magazines; CDs; batteries; and gum.

Klint Lowry can be reached at 727-815-1067 or klowry@suncoastnews.com.

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