SUPERHEROES ANONYMOUS 3: SECRET CITY (UPDATE)

Superheroes Anonymous is a collaborative of costumed activists dedicated to inspiring the superhero in all people, through community outreach, education and creative altruism. Superheroes Anonymous is also the title of an independent film project spanning over three years. The film documents the evolution of the organization and the real-life superhero phenomenon overall. It is filmed, directed and produced by Ben Goldman and Chaim “Life” Lazaros, who originally conceived the concept of the annual conference of Superheroes Anonymous. For more information, please visit www.superheroesanonymous.com

The third annual conference of Superheroes Anonymous will be hosted in New Bedford, MA on Labor Day weekend, September 5-7 and will feature volunteer missions, workshops, a beach cleanup and a public food-drive event. These events are free and open to the public. All real-life superheroes and costumed activists are welcome to attend. However, due to space restriction, some events require pre-registration.

Guests should arrive by Friday night, September 4 or early Saturday morning to experience the full event. The following is a tentative description of the events, which are definitely happening. The details are subject to change.


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The weekend will begin at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 5 with a morning workout, hosted by martial artist Dark Guardian. This is an exercise event. Please dress comfortably and bring plenty of water. This will take place near the west entrance of Ft. Taber/Ft. Rodman, with a beautiful view of the cove. This entrance is located at the end of West Rodney French Blvd in the city’s south end. Signs will be posted at the entrance. Following, this workout, we will break for breakfast and prepare for a long day of missions and workshops. We will arrange a common meeting location to meet at and hopefully, be able to provide transportation to the following missions.

At 11:00 a.m., we will meet at Rebelo’s Kenpo Karate, at 88 Hatch Street in the North End of the city, for a series of workshops and seminars conducted by other real-life superheroes. Dark Guardian will conduct a workshop on self-defense and mixed martial arts. Night Owl will present a CPR and First Aid class. Following this instruction, Senior Instructor Joseph P. Rebelo II will present a lesson on self-defense, close quarters combat and disarming an opponent. Visit his website for more information about the wide variety of lessons available at www.kenpojoe.com

Throughout the day, we will be working with local chapters of the American Red Cross, Horizons for Homeless Children and a group that sends care packages to troops overseas. Exact details of these missions will be announced, soon.

At 4:00 p.m. we will break and prepare for dinner and the official meeting of Superheroes Anonymous. The meeting will take place from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Waterfront Grille at 36 Homer's Warf in Downtown New Bedford. Due to limited seating, this event requires pre-registration. Please RSVP to civitron@superheroesanonymous.com. Check out the restaurant’s website at www.waterfrontgrille.com for information about their menu.

Sunday, 8:00 a.m., 9/6 we will meet for a morning run, behind the Lawler Branch Library at Buttonwood Park Zoo at 745 Rockdale Ave. in the west end of New Bedford. This is an exercise event. Appropriate attire is required. Please wear sneakers and drink plenty of water. Following the run, we will break for breakfast and prepare for the event of the day.

From 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., Superheroes Anonymous will host a community food-drive event, featuring live music, martial arts demonstrations, information tables for other organizations, such as the Guardian Angels of New Bedford, the American Red Cross, Horizons for Homeless Children, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and the New Bedford Police Department. Superheroes Anonymous will have a table offering information about the organization, while offering capes, masks and goodie-bags for kids. This event will take place at the Bristol Building on Purchase Street (Near the Green Bean) in Downtown, New Bedford.

After this large event, we should be able to take the afternoon off to mingle with other heroes and tour this beautiful city. Additionally, there will be some international press joining us this year and this will be a good time to sit down and speak with them, personally. This is not mandatory. Please, specify if you do not wish to participate.

Monday morning, from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. we will gather at Hazelwood Park at W. Rodney French Blvd. for a guerilla style beach cleanup from Dudley Street to S. Rodney French Blvd. From there, the conference will officially end.

I hope this answers many of your questions. Feel free to contact Civitron directly at 978.304.9072 or email civitron@superheroesanonymous.com for more information. Be sure to check out www.superheroesanonymous.com for more information about Superheroes Anonymous and the film by the same name.

Accross the Bridge, a Hero

Fairhaven, MA - Lily Frank, an eight year old and third-grader at Rogers School, set up a lemonade stand to raise $250 for The Smile Train.

The Smile Train is an organization that funds surgery for children with cleft palates and lips in financially poor countries in Asia. It's a hard life for those afflicted with this condition. Due to their appearance, these kids are often not allowed to attend school or even find a job. The cost of corrective surgery for one child is $250. Check out their website at www.smiletrain.org.

Lily's mom, Meg Frank says she gave Lily information about this group and "she decided on her own to make a difference." She saw people that need help and did what she could with what she had. She made some posters and set up a lemonade stand. Simple. She raised $200 and her mom offered up the rest. Kudos, Meg for good parenting!

Read this story at SouthcoastToday.com

Spooky Southcoast

Recently, I was joined by Mr. Basilisk as a guest on WBSM's "Spooky Southcoast" to talk about real-life superheroes and the upcoming Superheroes Anonymous event. Usually, the show spotlights topics like ghosts, E.S.P, aliens and monsters but last Saturday, we discussed being an active citizen, community involvement, and "living your truth." The team of paranormal investigators were fun, supportive and inviting and I look forward to meeting them again, soon. In fact, they have offered their assistance in promoting our upcoming annual conference! Check out the podcast!

Superheroes Anonymous 3: Secret City

This Labor Day weekend, the annual meeting of Superheroes Anonymous will be hosted by Civitron in the Secret City, New Bedford, MA!

"Superheroes Anonymous is a collective of 'real-life superheroes' who aim to do good in the world and inspire others. Originally founded in 2007 by Ben Goldman and Chaim Lazaros as an annual conference for superheroes, Superheroes Anonymous has since become the legitimate face of the 'real-life superhero' movement - bringing superheroes together in the real world to affect positive change." (From www.superheroesanonymous.com)

While we are still working out the details of this event, participants are expected to get their hands dirty, make some new friends and hopefully, learn something new about themselves and how to be even better superheroes. Slated activities included are a clean-up event, an evening patrol, and some community hunger outreach. Other events in development include workshops presented by real-life superheroes, an event for kids, and a party/fundraiser. More information and a full calendar of presenters will be posted here as updates become available. This event is free and open to the public. No registration is required. If you would like to help, please contact me, civitron@superheroesanonymous.com

"The first meeting of Superheroes Anonymous was held in October 2007 in Times Square, New York where superheroes met for the first time and helped the homeless, cleaned up the streets and patrolled the area doing random acts of kindness. It was the first such meeting of its kind and attracted widespread media attention, most notably from The New York Times.

The second annual conference took place in New Orleans, LA in collaboration with The Black Ghost. For this event, the Superheroes Anonymous team drove superheroes cross country in an RV, stopping in various destinations along the way to do good. Upon arriving in New Orleans, we rebuilt homes with Habitat for Humanity, [patrolled with the Guardian Angels] cleaned up a school with All Congregations Together, helped the local homeless and marched against youth violence with Silence is Violence. We then gathered on the steps of City Hall as city officials declared it The Day of the Superheroes." (From www.superheroesanonymous.com)

Welcome to the Secret City (02740)

New Bedford, MA - From the world arena to the local scene; whaling and civil rights to industrialization and gentrification; gang violence and homelessness to spiritual revival and artistic renaissance, she is a city rich with culture and a history steeped in the blood, sweat and tears of her people.

New Bedford is my hometown but there's a lot about it I don't know. While, I will undoubtedly change course many times over, this series of writing is initially intended as an account of exploration. However, i will begin my expedition with preparation for an odd occurrence, a convergence of a real-life superheroes.