Letter to the Editor: Gambol Co-Chairs Are Listening

This Letter to the Editor was written in response to Elisa Hale Tolins's letter voicing what she saw as the concerns of many parents at Gambol.

To the Editor:

As the Gambol co-chairs, we have taken great care to listen to the concerns of all senior parents in planning the celebration of our children's graduation from high school. While we thank Ms. Elisa Hale Tolins for her suggestions on how to improve the Gambol, unfortunately her suggestions were made after the fact, and sadly could not be considered in planning Gambol 2010.

Regarding Ms. Tolins' comments on the red carpet procession and the bleachers, we would like to take this opportunity to make the following comments. First and foremost, we depend on the responsible, courteous behavior of the viewers, which is not always predictable, to ensure that the procession is enjoyed by all. Second, there were extensive security, safety and crowd control measures in place at the bleachers on Gambol evening, including professional security guards, security parent volunteers, and members of the Sands Point Police and the Port Washington Fire Department, including EMT personnel. Finally, this year, the bleachers sold out quite quickly, and many people were closed out. To accommodate handicapped persons and people needing special assistance who did not have a seat, we asked parents with extra seats to "donate" them so that we could seat those in need. Many of our parents did just that, and we were so grateful for their generosity!

Planning an event of this emotional significance and magnitude required hundreds of man hours from several hundred parents and community members, all of them volunteers. It was a night to remember for the Class of 2010 and it was our pleasure to be a part of it.

Chris Pierce and Nancy Baldwin
Gambol 2010 Co-Chairs