The winners of the Ewing Police Department’s bicycle essay contest pose with their new rides after receiving them from Det. Michael Pellegrino, left, and Mayor Bert Steinman on Jan. 13, 2014. Pictured, from left, are Giovanni Zissett, Alex Zuchowski, Noemi Garcia, and Maya Douge. (Staff photo by Bill Sanservino.)
Four Ewing Township children were the recipients of new bicycles and helmets after being named the winners of the Ewing Police Department’s “Write It to Ride It” contest.
The contest, which was open to children in grades 1 to 4, called for kids to write a one-page essay about, “What Ewing Means to You.”
The contest ran throughout December with a deadline of Jan. 2.
The winners — two boys and two girls — were unanimously chosen by Ewing Police Det. Michael Pellegrino and Ewing Observer Editor Bill Sanservino.
The contest winners were Maya Douge, Noemi Garcia, Giovanni Zissett, and Alex Zuchowski.
The bicycles were given to the winners by Det. Pellegrino and Mayor Bert Steinmann in the lobby of the Ewing Police Department on Jan. 13.
The four winning essays are printed below.
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Ewing means to me, a safe place to run and play. A place for peacefulness. A home and education. A place to learn and have fun.
Ewing means to me a place to discover and learn interesting things. A place to share and love. A place of respect and responsibility. Ewing means to me, a place to rest and enjoy. A place for kindness and resourcefulness.
Ewing means to me, to help and care. A place for any animal to live. Ewing means to me a place to include people to do many things that they wish to do and encouraging them to do it. A place to meet new people. A place to explore.
Ewing means to me a place to make balance. A school to make friends. A place you can participate in many things.
Ewing means to be courageous. To consider another’s feelings. A place to be strong. A place to respect authority. A place to eat and sleep. This is what Ewing means to me!
— Maya Douge, 8, Antheil student
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First, Ewing means friends because my school is where all of my friends go and my preschool is right across the street. Also, all of my friends live near me so I go outside a lot.
Second, Ewing means love, because I have lived here all of my life. I have great memories here. Ewing is my home, and I love it here. I hope to stay here forever.
Third, and final, Ewing is safe. Ewing always has police around. I have never seen anything big that a criminal did. I always feel safe. I don’t know where I would live if I didn’t live in Ewing.
— Noemi Garcia, age 9, Parkway student.
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I have lived in Ewing my whole life. My name is Giovanni Zisset, but I like being called Gio. I live with my mom and step dad and my brother, Nino. We have a cat and a dog.
What Ewing means to me is that Ewing is a really great place to live because I really like playing soccer and we have really good soccer fields.
I really like the Ewing 4th of July parade, and I have been on Red Star Pizza’s float since I was 1 year old. I learned how to swim at the Ewing Community Center.
The airport is a great place where someday I am going to take a free plane ride. The people at the airport let me get into the plane and look around.
I saw the farm on Bear Tavern Road with all the cows and I saw Route 95 from inside the plane.
We have the Delaware River in Ewing that we can go fishing and a walking trail to just relax.
Ewing is really special because it is historical. George Washington, who was the first president of the United States, walked through Ewing to win a war to make us America.
We have so many monuments in Ewing that tell us the history of Ewing and how our country started.
We also have a real train station here in Ewing that people use to go to work or just go into Philadelphia. I think it is the last or first stop. It is so much fun to watch the trains come and go.
Ewing has a great gold course and a lot of restaurants — I really like Red Star Pizza.
Ewing has a lot of great parks that i would like to ride the bike in, if I were to win the bike. We have a few historical parks here in Ewing, too.
Ewing has really great schools, three firehouses and is really safe and fun to live in. Ewing has a lot of churches and some that are historic. The library is a place where I go to read, borrow books, and the library people help me find books.
I really hope I win the bike, but if not, that’s OK. I really like living here in Ewing Township with my family and maybe living here forever.
— Giovanni Zissett, 8, Lore student.
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Ewing means a lot to me — it’s where I grew up. I have lots of traditions. Every April I go down to Upper Ferry Road and go fishing in the D&R Canal for opening trout day. I always watch the 4th of July parade, because it’s fun and part of my community.
I really think everyone in Ewing is nice. For example, my friend Callie and I were riding our bikes with out helmets on and a police officer stopped us and gave us FREE ice cream truck coupons for FREE ice cream.
I really do like participating in either watching or being in events, like the lighting of the Christmas tree, 4th of July fireworks, and Santa coming down my street on the fire truck.
I really do feel safe in Ewing. Police cars patrol my neighborhood to make sure nothing is going wrong and people are acting like they should.
Ewing means a lot to me. I’ve lived here since I was 4, and now I’m 10. I know I will have a lot more adventures in Ewing. That’s why I intend to stay.
— Alex Zuchowski, 10, Parkway student.
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