By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY – The Unicorn Patrol Club only has a few members, but the 9-year-old founder and president hopes to expand that to tidy up Ocean City and support the community.
Tessa DiAntonio, a fourth-grader at Ocean City Intermediate School, moved to the resort this summer with her mother, LeAnne Brigidi. While her mother was playing tennis one day at the 34th Street courts, she was riding around on her scooter, unicorn-themed helmet planted on her head, picking up stray tennis balls.
“When we were at the tennis courts, she would notice the trash and said, ‘Could we go out and pick up the trash?’” her mother said. So she and her grandfather, Bart Brigidi, picked up some trash at the courts and then went outside to pick up more trash. They did that a few times and enlisted a few young friends to help them.
Asked about the name of her group, Tessa said, “I like unicorns and I wanted to help Ocean City.”
She also brought some baked goods over to the front-line workers at Shore Medical Center and has taken part in her school’s PB&J Club to make masks. (The club normally would make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the homeless, hence the name, but isn’t doing that activity during the pandemic.) “We made masks because we’re not allowed to cook,” Tessa said.
Tessa is hoping to combine her Unicorn Patrol Club as part of the PB&J Club this spring as the school gets back to full-time in-person instruction, but she also has ideas that go beyond.
Brigidi said her daughter is working with a family friend, Johna Jennings, to come up with ideas on how to help the community. She had one of her own as well but realized it was a bit beyond her scope.
Driving through Ocean City one evening, her mom missed a turn because she couldn’t read a street sign in the dark. Tessa came up with the idea of lighting all the signs and wrote to the mayor about it. The mayor referred her to an official in charge of transportation who told her it was a thoughtful idea, but Tessa realized – after talking with her mom and grandfather – it wasn’t something she could do on her own given the scope.
That hasn’t stopped her from doing the cleanups or baking or being kind to a neighbor. “I also bring some things I make to someone across the street named Mr. Jack. He’s older. His wife died,” she explained.
Tessa named her group the Unicorn Patrol Club because unicorns are “pretty and they’re magical.” In addition to the helmet she wears while on her scooter, she said she also has unicorn pajamas, a stuffed unicorn toy and unicorn headbands. “We wear them when we’re picking up trash,” she said. Her friends include Catie Brooks and Lucas Brooks, who are in eighth and sixth grades, respectively.
Her mom and Poppy (Bart) also help out and Tessa has made up a whole presentation about her club, of which she is the proud president.
She couldn’t wait to get back to school in person full-time last week.
“I like going because I’d rather go in person than be virtual because it’s way harder,” Tessa said, noting, “I’ll get to make more friends.”
When she’s not working on her club or doing schoolwork, she likes to ride her scooter and play piano. She also likes to play tennis like her mom. So far, her favorite part since moving to Ocean City is going to the beach and playing in the ocean.
