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Marianna "Hollywood"
Ronca Foundation News, Information and Events |
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Click here for photos from the 1st Annual Foundation Roast Beef Dinner
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| August 29,
2005 - Times Herald Record August 30, 2005 - Times Herald Record
MARIANNA
A. "HOLLYWOOD" RONCA - Cuddebackville,
N.Y. October 6, 2005
- Times Herald Record Port
Jervis, NY - A tricky tray will be held Saturday, October 8, 2005 at the Port
Jervis High School gym. Doors open at noon, and calling starts at 2 p.m. The event
will be co-hosted by the Port Jervis Rotary and the high school's girls' volleyball
team. In addition to the many prizes that will be offered, there will be a 50-50
raffle. Proceeds will benefit the school's Marianna "Hollywood" Ronca Scholarship
Fund. For information, call Patricia Niosi, project chairwoman, at 856-3330. | |
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October 17, 2005 - Times Herald Record Port
talks tough to young drivers Community hopes to prevent more car crashes Port Jervis – Marianna Ronca was 18 when she died. Danny Soules and Michael Madden, both 17, are comatose. They were all Port Jervis High School students. In a little more than a year, they were all brought low by car crashes. Now a community struggles to shake off the frustration and anger that comes from knowing three of their own have suffered. "I know it can happen anywhere," said Rachel Cenchini, a 17-year-old senior. "But when it happens in your own school, it really makes you think." Marianna, who graduated in June, was supposed to start college the day after her crash in August. Michael was injured a year ago on his way home from football practice, when the car he was riding in crashed in Deerpark. Then there was Danny's crash. He was on his way to school in his 14-year-old Honda Accord last month on Route 42 when he drove off the pavement and into a utility pole. Police said a witness saw him lean to the right just before the crash. His eyes might have left the road for only a few seconds. It was too long. School Principal Tony DiMarco thought that one death and two injuries might be enough to wake students up. Then he spotted kids driving recklessly on school grounds just days after Danny was hurt. "You have one of your classmates in critical condition, and it didn't seem to matter much," DiMarco said. So he took his frustration to the senior class. For 20 minutes in the cafeteria he yelled at them, cried with them and asked for more accountability. "It was a heavy-duty message I was sending," DiMarco said. "These kids will remember the message for a couple of weeks, but in a month, they'll forget." And so the fight begins to educate more, to caution more, to restrict more. Anything that will keep the student body alive. The high school's Students Against Destructive Decisions group is coming up with ideas to shed light on the problem. First up: a contract students and their parents will have to sign in order to park on school grounds. Another SADD suggestion is to hold a student responsible if he or she is caught in the vehicle of another student who is driving irresponsibly on school grounds. Marianna and Danny weren't speeding or driving drunk. They were just being teens. That means slower reaction times, fewer defensive driving skills and shorter attention spans. Experts say teens are more likely to speed, run red lights and make illegal turns. "They think they're indestructible," DiMarco said. "That's why insurance companies charge them a higher rate." Deerpark cops have a new tough-love approach in the form of a zero-tolerance policy for aggressive drivers between the ages of 16 and 21. Gone are the days of asking the court to drop a speeding ticket down to a seat belt infraction. These days, teens driving a car in an unsafe manner will face the full weight of the charge in Deerpark Town Court. "Nothing is getting the attention of these kids," said Deerpark police Sgt. Liz Sullivan. "Maybe we can wake them up." | |
2nd Annual Golf Tournament