Saga of the Dancing Cop

Lepore has been entertaining drivers and directing traffic at intersections around rovidence for 20 years. He came upon the idea after seeing a ‘Candid Camera’ clip of New York City police officers who flamboyantly directed traffic in the 1950's.

Standing in traffic, he adjusts his cap, shakes his hip, raises and twists one leg and spins. In one of the more unusual moves, he bends his knees, leans far back and quickly alternates support for his body by keeping one hand on the ground while motioning to the traffic with the free hand.

In one move, he goes down on his knees in homage to John Travolta's character in Saturday Night Fever.

This is what retired police officer Tony Lepore, called back work, does in down-town Providence, Rhode Island while directing traffic.

Officer Tony Lepore is as much a holiday tradition as anything else in the state that issued the first jail sentence for speeding 108 years ago. Since 1984, he has entertained drivers, pedestrians and gawkers with his dance moves.

“He is a Rhode Island landmark, more or less. He’s an icon,he’s like little mini celebrity,”says Michelle Peterson, of Warwick, who is an emergency medical technician and the mother of three boys. She was introduced to the “dancing cop” years ago by her partner in their ambulance.

“It feels good to see him out here; it definitely brings the holiday spirit. I think people come out here just to see him and I think it brings some people to shop so they can see him.”

The routine, Lepore says, was born in the month of May of the boredom and aggravation that officers typically experience while directing rushing drivers and jaywalking pedestrians. He was inspired by classic “Candid Camera” television footage he saw a day earlier that showed police officers elsewhere directing traffic with flair.

“I didn't know if my bosses were going to like it, so a lot of times if I saw a boss come down, I'd be doing my fancy stuff, then I'd go back and do it the old-fashioned way so I don't get caught,” Lepore says.

His secret didn't last long. City residents began calling the police station and raving about Lepore's moves. A few days later, The Providence Journal, the state's largest newspaper, came out with a story on the sensation.

The positive publicity encouraged officials to endorse the dancing cop, who continued to perform until he left the job in 1988, when he went into business with his brother with a food and vending service.

In 1992, Lepore says, he got a call from city officials asking him to rejoin the force to dance and direct traffic around Christmastime as they pushed to redefine the city's image and bring visitors down-town.

He signed a $1,200, 10-day contract as a reserve police officer and says he has frozen the value of the contract at the 1992 rate to encourage city officials to recall his services every year.

He says his body takes a pounding and that he has had knee surgery, pulled some muscles and even suffered stress fractures.

Lepore says his dance moves are planned to send specific directions to drivers to avoid causing confusion at the intersection.

“I do it in such a way that even the people in the cars know what I mean, ‘cause every dance move means something to the driver, and I make sure that he knows or she knows what I want them to do,” Lepore says.

The dancing is not a distraction and has never caused incredulous drivers to crash, he says.

“I think it would be more of a distraction if I was in a different town and they didn't know I was out there, but most of Providence, they even know me by the sound of my whistle,” he said. “It's more of a spectacle where people love to just come down here and see me do it around Christmastime, and they enjoy it ... and I enjoy it.”

“I can dance and sing and I always wanted to be an entertainer when I was younger. And I just did a couple of spins and some hand movements and the people loved it,” Lepore says.

Christmas tree grows through the roof

When he saw the lovely Christmas tree, he liked it and didn’t bother to see whether it would be suitable for his house. But as Patrick Kruger fell in love with the lovely tree he was determined to fit it into his house - even if he had to break the roof to squeeze it in.

“I found a tree I really liked, however, as you can see from the pictures, it was hardly the right size for our home,” the Seattle architect said.

So he came up with a creative solution: he cut off the top six feet and turned it into a prop he then attached to the roof, creating an optical illusion that the Christmas tree had literally burst through the building.Kruger, whose house has since become something of a local attraction, admitted he always intended to create a playful holiday decoration, hoping to entertain the neighbourhood.

“The truth, of course, is I set out to do this,” he said. “I wanted to do something simple yet impactful. Something that people of all ages could enjoy.” To create the illusion, Kruger cut a tree nearly in half and attached it to a plywood base, surrounding it with roofing material to achieve the effect of the broken tiles.

So far, the response has been exactly what he hoped for. “We have had tons of people come by the house take pictures, smile and laugh,” he said.

“It took about nine hours to put this together and I would do it again in a heart beat. The expression on the kids’ faces is priceless.”

Battle to bring in the prize-catch of 291 lb fish

It was the biggest catch he had ever captured since he started fishing as an "away from it all' hobby.

Thirty-eight-year-old Dan Richards, a support worker for people with learning difficulties, was fishing off the coast of Folkstone, Kent in a 12ft canoe when he caught the fish. He managed to haul the cod on to the bow of his kayak before paddling back to shore with the fish between his legs.

It was so large that it provided 32 separate fillets, which would be worth around £150 pounds if bought from a local fish and chip shop. Dan, turned down an offer of £50 from a local fishmonger and has been eating the fish with his wife Emma, 33, and daughters Jade, 14, and five-year-old Amber.

He said: "It was my first cod of the day and I couldn't believe the size of it. "It was a struggle to get it up through the depths let alone on to the kayak which just about took the weight of it. "I was at it for about ten minutes and it was pretty tough work.

"But it managed to tire itself out and that's when I took my chance.

In the end it was like pulling a dead weight. "When I saw the size of it I was so excited I started to shout and scream a little.

The 29 lb 10 oz catch is thought to be a new record for the largest cod caught in British waters from a kayak. Dan Richards, from Deal, Kent, added: "I had seen pictures of cod this big but never seen one for real.

"When I took it home my family couldn't believe it."Cod is always great but it's even tastier when you know where it has come from and just how fresh it is.

"It's by far the best fish I have ever caught. It is the catch of a lifetime."