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Beat the Street Community Center News
Web Site:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Beat-The-Street-Community-Center/117015911651711
121 South Colony Street,
Meriden, CT 06450
Tel: (203) 686-1639
Fax: (203) 686-1639
Help us keep kids off the street! We offer amateur boxing, hip hop dancing, music fitness, career explorer, and community service programs.
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Congratulations to Beat the Street Community Cente ...
December 23, 2003
Congratulations to Beat the Street Community Center who recently celebrated a decade of service to the community with a combined Christmas and anniversary party. Silver City Boxing Club director Larry Pelletier and his friend, Dave Besec, developed the concept for the club 10 years ago. Boxing, part of the fabric of Meriden, had been knocked out of the community for about nine years, but in late 1993, Pelletier helped lift the Silver City Boxing Club off the canvas. "It was a time in my life when I wanted to give back," Pelletier said. The club opened at 9 Colony St. before moving to its present location on Railroad Avenue. The community center offers boxing, a computer club, salsa dancing lessons, weight training, fishing, hiking, camping and other outings. About 500 children and teenagers registered for programs in 2003. "These walls have seen a lot of people put in a lot of sweat and tears," said Pelletier, who praised sponsors, politicians, volunteers and the city of Meriden for their support. About 50 boxers and club supporters joined in Monday's festivities, which included refreshments and a visit from Santa Claus. Each boxer received a winter hat and hooded sweatshirt emblazoned with the club's logo. Club bookkeeper Carrie Cameron helped secure donations for the sweatshirts. The coaches received gifts, too. Pelletier presented coaches Bennett, Julian Aquino, Cliff Comerford and Dennis Rivera with plaques engraved with, "The Boxer's Prayer.": "I ask you not for victory, Lord, for somehow that seems wrong," the prayer reads. "But only for protection and the courage to be strong. Strength not to conquer, but just that I'll fight well and prove myself a sportsman at the final bell. Please help me to go the distance through rounds with danger rife, not only in the boxing ring but in the larger ring of life. Give me strength of mind and body, so I'll fight each battle well and the referee will raise my hand at the judgment's final bell." Boxers Marco Lopez and Melissa Roberts said the community center has had a profound impact on their lives. Lopez, 20, said he first joined the club when he was 12 years old. "It's kept me off the street, just like the sign says, �Beat the Street,'" Lopez said. "My grades improved. I wasn't an honor-roll student, but I improved. Larry taught me responsibility, too. This place helps out everybody in different ways. Everybody has different problems." Roberts, 17, joined the club 10 months ago after moving to Meriden from Brooklyn, N.Y. "When you come into this place, you feel welcome," she said. "When you start to train you feel better about yourself. You know you're not getting in trouble. Larry does great things. We do things outside the gym as well as inside the gym. If you're not interested in boxing ,there are computers. We do activities outside. We do a little bit of everything for everybody."
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