Running for Cover
helps fight cancer

Kids Stuff
By William Feldman

Welcome to Kids Stuff. Today’s column includes information about the third annual Running For Cover 5K Run/1-Mile Walk to fight cancer; a vacation photo contest with the Phantoms; information about a new teen tour and a recommended book list from grades one through eight.
PICK A GOOD FIGHT
The Running For Cover 5K Run/1-Mile Walk will meet at the Wachovia Complex this Saturday at 9 a.m. to raise awareness of melanoma and raise funds to support the fight against skin cancer. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Noreen O’Neill Foundation for Melanoma Research and The Wistar Institute.
Log onto www.FoundationForMelanomaResearch.org or call 215-898-3930 to sign up.
The Noreen O’Neill Foundation for Melanoma Research (FMR) is a non-profit organization founded in 1999 by Noreen O’Neill after her diagnosis of malignant melanoma. Noreen was a woman of great energy and legendary humor, and a lifelong Philadelphian.
In 1994, Noreen was approached to design and develop a series of interactive exhibits and video walls for the new CoreStates Center (now the Wachovia Center). Embracing sports with as much gusto as fashion or events, she became director of research and development and continued to create additional displays for the entire Wachovia Complex.
The Wistar Institute has earned the National Cancer Institute’s prestigious cancer center designation since 1972, a testament to the outstanding quality of research carried forward in Wistar laboratories. Their scientists are focused especially on cancer genetics, tumor development and cancer vaccines, working to understand melanoma and other cancers, including those of the lung, brain, colon, and breast. Their mission is clear — to conquer cancer and other diseases through biomedical research.
Running for Cover was a great success last year, raising more than $60,000 with more than 700 participants crossing the finish line.
VACATION PHOTO CONTEST
All summer long, the Phantoms are asking fans to take their Phantoms gear with them on vacation. They are looking for photos of you wearing your Phantoms stuff wherever your summer adventures take you: The Jersey Shore, the Great Wall of China, or anywhere in between.
Throughout the summer, they will post the photos received on Phantomshockey.com, and come September, there will be prizes for the best submissions. Fans can go to Phantomshockey.com for details on how to submit their photos for the contest.
Phantoms 2008-09 season tickets are on sale. Call 215-465-4522 for more information.
THRILLCOASTER TOURS
This information was e-mailed to me to share with my readers.
ThrillCoaster Tours is the latest craze in teen tours. ThrillCoaster Tours, a Woodbridge, N.J.-based tour company, provides a one-of-a-kind coaster touring experience within six weeks of travel.
On the one- and two-week tours, teens and adult counselors not only visit amusement and water parks, but also go on whale watching excursions, hang out at the beach, take in baseball games, and more.
Ira Gordon, 37, is founder and director of ThrillCoaster Tours, which is now in its fourth year. Ira, an accountant, lives in East Brunswick, N.J., with his wife Laura and their sons, Ryan, 8, and Jared, 5.
ThrillCoaster Tours averages 25 teens per tour and has a counselor-to-teen ratio of 1 to 6. Ira accompanies the teens on each tour, overseeing the itineraries to every last detail.
Recently featured in articles in USA Today, online at MSNBC.com and CNN.com about the growing trend of teen travel, ThrillCoaster Tours is gearing up for another summer of excursions to amusement parks.
The 2008 summer tours include Get to the Point Tour (June 30 to July 4), highlighted by a trip to Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, referred to as the Roller Coaster Capital of the World, and to Hershey Park.
Southern Studios Tour (July 6 to 18) heads to the Sunshine State for thrills at Orlando’s Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure and then on to the brand new Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach, S.C. This two-week, action-packed trip ends at Six Flags Great Adventure, home to the world-famous coasters Kingda Ka and El Toro.
Boston Extreme Tour (July 28 to Aug. 1) lands at Six Flags New England and includes a day of touring Boston.
North of the Border Tour (Aug. 4 to 15) features trips to the two biggest amusement parks in Canada — La Ronde in Montreal and Canada’s Wonderland in Toronto, and includes amusements and activities in Chicago, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.
ThrillCoaster Tours travels by first-class motor coaches and departs from the New York/ New Jersey area.
Ira created ThrillCoaster Tours out of his own love for roller coasters. For more information on ThrillCoaster Tours, call 1-888-542-4842 or visit www.ThrillCoastertours.com
READING IS FUNDAMENTAL
Thank you to Ann Hornbach, branch manager of the Torresdale branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia at 3079 Holme Ave. (215-685-0494), for supplying me with this recommended book list from the School District of Philadelphia:
First grade:
Kittens First Full Moon, fiction, by Henke, Kevin
Chrysanthemum, fiction, by Henke, Kevin
Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, non-fiction, by Barner, Bob
Animal Action ABC, non-fiction, by Panel, Karen
Second grade:
Carlos and the Squash Plant, fiction, by Stevens, Jan Romero
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, fiction, by Viorst, Judith
Friends at School, non-fiction, by Bunnett, Rochelle
A Rainbow All Around Me, non-fiction, by Pinkney, Sandra L.
Third grade:
Across the Alley, fiction, by Michelson, Richard
Brothers, fiction, by Yin
Diego, non-fiction, by Winter, Jeanette and Jonah
Hello World, non-fiction, by Stojic, Manya
Fourth grade:
Dad, Jackie, and Me, historical fiction, by Uhlgerg, Myron
Ben and Me, historical fiction, by Lawson, Robert
Abigail Adams, non-fiction, by Wallner, Alexandra
Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims, non-fiction, by Bulla, Clyde Robert
Fifth grade:
Jake the Drake, fiction, by Clements, Andrew
The House of Dies Drear, fiction, by Hamilton, Virginia
Ghost Town, non-fiction, by Murphy, Jim
You Wouldn’t Want To Be A Pirate’s Prisoner, non-fiction, by Malam, John
Sixth grade:
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, fiction, by Blume, Judy
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, fiction, by Lord, Bette Bao
Leontyne Price: Opera Superstar , non-fiction, by Steins, Robert
Harvesting Hope, non-fiction, by Kroll, Kathleen
Seventh grade:
Tell No One Who You Are :The Hidden Childhood of Regine Miller, non-fiction, by Buchignani, Walter
Becoming A Citizen, non-fiction, by DeCapua, Sarah
The Cheat , fiction, by Koss, Amy Goldman
No More Dead Dogs, fiction, by Korman, Gordon
Eighth grade:
Jump At De Sun: The Story of Zora Neale Hurston , non-fiction, by Porter, A.P.
Nelson Mandela: No Easy Walk to Freedom , non-fiction, by Denenberg, Barry
Stargirl , fiction, by Spinelli, Jerry
Lupita Manana, fiction, by Beatty, Patricia

olumnist William Feldman can be contacted by e-mail at wmkidscolumn@aol.com