Columnist Susan Snyder: Foundation helps keep teens safe

Tuesday, March 16, 2004 | 8:31 a.m.

A foundation created to honor the memory of three Las Vegas teens killed in a car crash last year is raising money to pay for teen safety programs.

Tickets have gone on sale for a dinner dance conducted by the Just Keep Thinking Safety: Josh Parry, Kyle Poff, Travis Dunning Memorial Foundation.

An Old-Fashioned Community Dinner and Dance is to be from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 29, at Silvestri Junior High School. Tickets are $10 each and went on sale over the weekend. The event includes a silent auction and table raffle. Area traffic safety and prevention programs also will have information tables.

Student groups from Silvestri, Coronado High School and St. Thomas More Catholic Community Church are selling tickets. Call 799-2240, ext. 4004, for tickets or more information.

Students working outside a Las Vegas grocery store over the weekend sold $200 worth of tickets and collected $530 in donations, said Mary Vaughn, a Silvestri guidance counselor.

One of her students is a sibling of one of the boys killed in the November 2003 crash. Students who had assembled a grief counseling group at the school came up with the idea for a foundation, Vaughn said.

The November crash also left two other teens injured. The driver also was a teen, who had been licensed 64 days. Statistics show car crashes are the leading causes of death among teenagers.

While you're celebrating all that is Irish and green on Wednesday, try being nice to people too.

Be nice even if you're not celebrating St. Patrick's Day because March 17 also is National Common Courtesy Day.

Cyndi Maxey and Jill Bremer, who have co-authored a book (that they hope will be shamelessly promoted here) say it's easy and less stressful to choose to be polite.

They suggest opening doors for others, without regard to gender, and offering your seat to someone who looks uncomfortable standing. Tip your waiters and bartenders. Avoid private conversations in public places, respect others' heritage and, of course, remember to say "please" and "thank you."

It turns out the Easter Bunny is actually a nice Jewish girl.

Barbara Kenig, owner of In the Public Eye public relations firm, has been assuming the identity of E. Bunny since 1990, collecting goods for Easter baskets and delivering them to needy families throughout the Las Vegas Valley.

Collections are well under way for the 2004 holiday. Kenig, a board member of Temple Beth Shalom, is asking for help. Anyone who would like to make a donation or obtain more information about E. Bunny may call 498-9808.

And finally, spring has sprung. The birdies are singing, but do you know what they are by their voices?

Take the National Wildlife Federation's online bird-call challenge. Go to www.enature.com/challenge/BirdCallChallenge.asp. Plug in your ZIP code and you're good to go.

If you can't tell a twitter from a tweet, you'll know soon enough. And your coworkers will wonder what you are up to.