Many are wondering if spring will ever really arrive. Even if the weather is not cooperating, there will be many spring activities that will take place over the next few months.

We invite you to join Future Foundations Family Center on April 25 from 8 a.m. to noon at Grants High School for a youth festival, breakfast, lunch and a full menu of fun. Bring your kids to play in the jumping castle and tame the animals in the 4-H petting zoo. You can even get a removable kid's tattoo, learn about wolves at the live wolf display, and shoot some hoops on the basketball court. Information will be available about the new Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program.

While at Youth Fest, don't forget to register for Continental Divide Electric Cooperative's 2009 annual M\meeting and stop by to visit the many displays of health and information booths. A Grants Recreation Fun Run kicks things off at 7 a.m., followed by a pancake breakfast and a hot dog lunch for those who register for the Comcast Cares community project. It is sure to be an event that you won't want to miss.

Ahoy there, pirate mates. We are inviting all the lassies and lads who will be attending prom on April 25 to join us for an after-prom breakfast and late night fun that will last until 3 a.m. Come prepared to walk the plank, hunt for the treasure, sumo wrestle, laser tag, beach volley ball, ping pong, wii dance, wii games, and much more. This drug free event helps to promote safe alternatives to drinking and driving.

There seems to be some concerns regarding the Workforce Connections, formerly known as the Department of Labor, now being housed at the Family Center. Some do not think it is a safe to have adults congregating in the vicinity of youth programs. We wanted to make sure that the public is aware that the Family Center has always incorporated youth and adult programs since opening the doors in 1999. All of the community centers in Albuquerque and Santa Fe that I have personally visited incorporate adult programs as well. We are not unique in that respect. Part of the Workforce Connections department has been housed at the center going on five years and many of our students' parents, who pick them up daily, are the same individuals who are visiting the unemployment office. Keep in mind that we are not a daycare center, but a community center that is open to the public. However, our staff, as well as the youth, are trained to always be aware of the environment and we educate them on stranger danger. In order to keep the youth safe, we have to be aware that anyone who enters our building, not just those visiting the Workforce Connections, but possibly a staff member's husband, a parent, another student, an individual registering for adult softball, a delivery driver, etc., could all be a potential danger. When we become so narrow minded as to think it could only be one type of individual that might harm one of our precious youth, that will be where the real danger will come.