Tidbits, May 3

The Hooked on Kids fishing derby is back next month in Bridgeport. Set for June 23, children are welcome to register for $3 at 6 a.m. and start fishing at 8 a.m. The event will wrap up at about 4 p.m.

Derby organizer Neil Jacobson is searching for a button-making machine once held by the now-defunct Bridgeport Chamber of Commerce, along with the tools and supplies that go with it. Jacobson can be reached at 686-8131.

The Brewster School District had some good news to share at its last board meeting. Superintendent Eric Driessen reported on last month's success with Rachel's Challenge, a national anti-bullying, pro-kindness program based on the journals left behind by one of the victims of the Columbine school shooting in 1999.

Driessen said all three of Brewster's schools are "carrying on the challenge by developing clubs that will encourage everyone to treat one another respectfully."

The Brewster, Pateros and Bridgeport school districts partnered to bring the program to all three schools, with activities planned for students, parents and the community as a whole.

Brewster has received 30 new trek bicycles, helmets and a bike trailer through a safe schools grant, Driessen said. They'll be used to train students how to ride safely.

The school board also gave kudos to its office employees, as April 23 fell on Administrative Professionals Week.

"They do an outstanding job and really do run the place," Driessen said.

This day in history - May 3

1775: William Legge, secretary of state for the colonies for British King George III, instructed colonial Gov. Josiah Martin of North Carolina to organize an association of Loyalists and raise militias. Exactly one year later, British Commodore Hyde Parker and Gen. Charles Cornwallis arrived in North Carolina with 20 transport ships.

1802: Washington, D.C., was incorporated as a city.

1921: West Virginia imposed the first state sales tax.

1948: The Shelley v. Kraemer Supreme Court decision stated that it is unconstitutional for a court to enforce a restrictive covenant which prevents people of a certain race from owning or occupying property.

1952: A plane piloted by Lt. Col. Joseph O. Fletcher and Lt. Col. William P. Benedict becomes the first aircraft to land on the North Pole. Fletcher walked to the exact geographic North Pole, probably the first person in history to do so.

1980: Cari Lightner, 13, of Fair Oaks, Calif., was struck and killed by a drunk driver while walking alongside the road to a church carnival. Her mother, Candy Lightner, founded Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), which would grow into one of the country's most influential non-profit organizations.

2001: The United States, a member of the United Nations Human Rights Commission since its inception, lost its seat. It would be restored the following year.