Bookish waiting rooms

Stephen and Kathleen Archer, with Montserrat president Helena Sturnick (right), at the dedication of Archer Hall.

It's uncomfortable enough for children to have to get X-rayed for a broken bone or illness, and sitting in a waiting room for a long time can only make it worse.

Now, the young patients can pass the time reading books, thanks to students in the radiologic technology program at Northern Essex Community College.

The students collected more than 100 used children's books and distributed them to radiology waiting rooms in six local hospitals, including Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport and Merrimack Valley Hospital in Haverhill.

The need surfaced when the 21 students in professor Carol Wallace's radiologic procedures class, which includes pediatric imaging, noticed the lack of appropriate reading materials for youngsters in waiting rooms.

The hospitals were thrilled to receive the books, said Wallace.

For more on the college's radiologic technology program, call 978-556-3700 or visit www.necc.mass.edu.

WINNING IDEA: Five teens from Girls Inc. in Lynn recently won a competition sponsored by Corporate Camp for Entrepreneurs for a business plan they developed.

The plan was for a business that creates digital yearbooks for high school students incorporating pictures, music, and video.

The girls are Wiselene Dorceus, Tachand Dubuisson, Sokleang Keo, Zerimar Pena, and Lise Aurore Wagnac. They worked on the project with businesswomen mentors Doris Buckley of Natick and Lisa Mancuso, a Marblehead photographer.

The team is now in New York City, where the girls are meeting female entrepreneurs, learning about starting a business, and improving their business skills and abilities.

Corporate Camp for Entrepreneurs, designed for those aged 15 through 18, provides an opportunity to experience the business planning process. The challenge is to develop a plan for a new business that sells a product or service. Entries were sent to the National Girls Inc. headquarters, where they were evaluated by executives and staff from the Goldman Sachs Foundation, sponsors of the program.

BIKE-A-THON: Hundreds of local cyclists are scheduled to participate in the 4th annual Reid's Ride Bike-a-Thon on Sunday.

The 28-mile ride from Lynnfield to Gloucester benefits the Reid R. Sacco Memorial Foundation, which supports research for finding cures for cancers striking adolescents and adults.

Sacco died in April 2005, at age 20, after a two-year battle with cancer. A graduate of Lynnfield High School, class of 2003, he was an honor student and national-level swimmer. He was co-founder of the Reading-Lynnfield Cooperative Swim Team and a member of the North Shore YMCA Sharks. He was a Boston Globe All-Scholastic in men's swimming and named to its 2003 All Star Swim Team.

Registration for the ride is at 6:30 a.m. at Lynnfield High School. Riders begin departing at 7 a.m. Following along a scenic route, the ride ends at Stage Fort Park in Gloucester, where a barbecue lunch is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.

To register for participation in the event or make a donation, visit reidsride.org; e-mail gsacco@reidsaccofoundation; or call 781-632-2025.

WHO'S WHAT WHERE: Mary Lou Crane (inset) of Gloucester has been appointed elder care adviser at SeniorCare Inc., an area agency on aging. She previously worked for the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development in Connecticut, the Connecticut Department of Housing, and was executive director of the West Hartford Housing Authority. In 2001 she started MLKC Associates, an affordable housing consulting business. At SeniorCare, she works with senior citizens and families to improve quality of life and enable them to live independently in their communities. She also serves as community and government liaison for the agency . . . Stephen C. and Kathleen Archer were recently honored by Montserrat College of Art in Beverly at the dedication of a dormitory building in their name. Archer Hall, at 1 Knowlton St., was donated to the college by the Archer family. Stephen Archer, a member of the college's board of trustees since 2001, was also recognized for his leadership and work to improve the college's facilities. Kathleen Archer is a 2003 Montserrat graduate and coordinator of this year's auction.

Items can be sent to wdkilleen@gmail.com. Photos can be sent, as jpeg attachments, to globenorth@globe.com.