half hollow hills newspaper - april 5, 2012

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JERICHO TURNPIKECommack Lucille Roberts 6534 Jericho Tpk, CommackNew York Sports Club 6136 Jericho Tpk, CommackCutting Edge Hair Design 6065 Jericho Tpk, CommackBagel Boss 1941 Jericho Tpk, CommackMozzarello’s Pizza 1957 E Jericho Tpk, E. NorthportDix Hills Diner 1800 E Jericho Tpk, Dix HillsCactus Salon & Spa 1262 E Jericho Tpk, Dix HillsStop & Shop Supermarket 1100 Jericho Tpk, Dix HillsThe Critic’s Choice Deli 1153A E Jericho Tpk, Huntington StationDesi Bazar 905 E Jericho Tpk, Huntington StationBrooklyn Pizza 881 E Jericho Tpk, Huntington StationRuby Salon 822 E Jericho Tpk, Huntington StationDunkin’ Donuts 795 E Jericho Tpk, Huntington StationRoy’s Deli 669 E Jericho Tpk, Huntington StationBagel USA 573 W. Jericho Tpk, Huntington StationGolden Coach Diner 350 W Jericho Tpk, Huntington Station

OLD COUNTRY ROAD/SWEET HOLLOW ROADDix Hills Hot Bagels 703 Old Country Rd, Dix HillsHalf Hollow Hills Comm. Library 510 Sweet Hollow Rd, Melville

DEER PARK AVENUEBethpage Fed Credit Union 1350-35 Deer Park Ave, North BabylonNelly’s Deli Grocery 1737 Deer Park Ave, Deer ParkGigi’s VIP 1747 Deer Park Ave, Deer ParkDeer Park Nails 1749 Deer Park Ave, Deer ParkTony’s Pizza 1829 Deer Park Ave, Deer Park

Deer Hills Delicatessen 2122 Deer Park Ave, Deer ParkPark Avenue Barbers 2150 Deer Park Ave, Deer Park

ROUTE 110/BROADHOLLOW ROADF&M Deli Beer Cigar 217 Walt Whitman Rd, Huntington StationDunkin Donuts 281 Walt Whitman Rd, Huntington StationMarios Pizza 1 Schwab Rd #17, MelvilleInternational Haircutters 439 Walt Whitman Rd, Melville Bethpage Federal Credit Union 722 Walt Whitman Rd, MelvilleRoast 827 Walt Whitman Rd, Melville

COMMACK ROADAmerican Community Bank 100 Commack Rd, CommackVia I talia 118 Commack Rd, CommackANC Food 134 Commack Rd, CommackThe Everything Bagel 217 Commack Rd, CommackDeli Beer Smoke 223 Commack Rd, Commack

HAUPPAUGE RDCommack Public Library 18 Hauppauge Rd, Commack

VANDERBILT PKYCactus Salon & Spa 26 Vanderbilt Pky, CommackHalf Hollow Hills Library 55 Vanderbilt Pky, Dix Hills

PIDGEON HILL RDSouth Huntington Public Library 145 Pidgeon Hill Rd, South Huntington

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Fake Pot SalesGet Nipped In The Bud A7

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TOWN OF HUNTINGTON

Breaking GroundOnHome Fit For HeroCeremony and parade kick off renovations for house of local Marine injured overseas

A few drops of water from Mother Na-ture didn’t rain on U.S. Marine FirstLieutenant James Byler’s parade.Building Homes for Heroes – a non-profit that provides individuals, corpora-tions and others with an opportunity tohelp severely wounded and disabled vet-erans – marched down Broadview Drivewith about 100 residents holding Amer-ican flags during a groundbreaking cer-emony and parade on March 31 to kickoff the renovations for the Marine’sHuntington home.Byler, 26, went into the Marines aftergraduating from Purdue College. Twomonths into his service, he stepped on animprovised explosive device (IED) whilenavigating his troops through NorthernHelman Province in Afghanistan. TheHuntington High School graduate lostboth of his legs and both pinky fingers.In good spirits at the ceremony, Bylersat in a wooden chair wearing plaidshorts, a black, red and white sweatshirtand black leather jacket, alongside his fa-ther, Phil Byler; mother, Janet Byler, ascience teacher at Northport HighSchool; Andy Pujol, president andfounder of Building Homes for Heroes;and Councilman Mark Mayoka, whoplayed an active role in helping tofundraise for the Marine.Janet Byler opened the ceremony witha prayer.“There’s a message in the Bible that isprinted on the dog tags of many of theMarines and it helpedme as well throughthe challenges of the last few years,” shesaid. “Be strong and courageous. Do notbe afraid. Do not be discouraged. For theLord, our God, will be with you whereveryou go.”Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts,veterans and representatives of differentorganizations stood in the rain with theirumbrellas to support the Marine.“It was on a cold day like this over ayear ago when I met James… and thethrongs of people who came out to wel-

come him is just a testament of the peo-ple of Long Island and the people ofHuntington,” Mayoka said. “James ap-preciated that and it gave me an idea thatwe needed to do something more.”There are many renovations in storefor the Byler home. The home’s single-car

garage will be widened so James can pullout of his car with either his wheelchairor on his prosthetic legs. A ramp will al-so be built in the garage that leads intohis bedroom.James’ the bedroom will be trans-formed into a suite, with a seating area

and a handicap accessible bathroom. Hewill also have an additional entrancebuilt on the side of his house.“Every time I come home, it’s a hassleto get in and out of the front door and it’sa huge pain,” James, a Huntington High

U.S. Marine First Lieutenant James Byler is in good sprits during the groundbreaking ceremony on March 31, along with his mother Janet, ascience teacher at Northport High School; his father, Phil; and Huntington Councilman Mark Mayoka.

About 100 Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, veterans and representatives of different organizations stood in the rain with their umbrellas to support James Byler and his family.

(Continued on page A3)

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By Stephanie [email protected]

www.LongIslanderNews.com THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 5, 2012 •A3Please mention The Long Islander Newspapers when doing business with our advertisers.

SOUTH HUNTINGTON

SaintAnthony’sSupportingThe TroopsHigh school to host5K run to benefitU.SMarineJames Byler

When John Feinberg, a senior atSt. Anthony’s High School, heardabout U.S. Marine First LieutenantJames Byler’s story, he knew he want-ed to help raisemoney to renovate hishome.As the president of the highschool’s Support Our Troops club,Feinberg decided to host a 5K chari-ty run to raise funds for BuildingHomes for Heroes – a nonprofit thatprovides individuals, corporationsand others with an opportunity tohelp severely wounded and disabledveterans – on May 20 at the highschool, located at 275 Wolf Hill Roadin South Huntington.“One of my friends who was on theSupport Our Troops board, he heardfrom someone else about James Bylerand we wanted to see what we coulddo for him,” Feinberg said. “I spokewith [Huntington Councilman]Mark Mayoka who was supportive ofhim… After that, I’ve been doingmost of the planning.”The race will begin at St. Antho-ny’s, continue down New York Av-enue and Old Country Road, and endback at the school. Awards will begiven out to winners in different agecategories.Raffles and prizes will be given outthe day of the event, including NewYork Islander tickets, a New York Jetslaser-etched football with every 2011player’s signature, and gift cards tolocal restaurants.A wine tasting at a vineyard inEastern Long Island will also be raf-fled off as well as the ultimate grandprize – a four-pack of Disney Park-Hopper tickets that can be used atthe Magic Kingdom, Epcot, DisneyHollywood Studios and Disney Ani-mal Kingdom.The event will also have a bar-beque. The Como Brothers Band,made up of St. Anthony’s alumni, willperform the Star-Spangled Bannerand a couple of their own songs.“I’m hoping people come out andshow support to a great veteran,”Feinberg said.Participants can register online atwww.sot5k.org. Online registrationprior to the event is $30. Runnerscan also register the day of the eventfor $40. Registration opens at 2:30p.m. and closes at 3:10 p.m. Dis-counts of $15 for military personneland $5 for students will be offered.


Renovations begin onMarine’s home

School graduate, said. “It’s very frustrat-ing sometimes when something so smallreally defeats you.”James was all smiles during the ceremo-ny along with his parents. His mother andfather helped him up to the podium so hecould tell the community howmuch he ap-preciates their support since hewas injured.“Pretty much from day one, the supporthas been completely overwhelming. Ididn’t expect any of it,” James said. “Tocome home to this, to people not onlysaying, ‘Welcome home’ but, ‘I want tobuild you a house, I want to make sure

your life is OK and take care of you,’ howcould you not recover and get back onyour feet?”There will be a special section on theBuilding Home for Heroes website,buildinghomesforheroes.org, thankingeveryone involved with the project. Theyare hoping to complete the project theweekend before July 4, and there will bea banner with supporters’ names hung onByler home.Volunteers from Building Homes forHeroes also gave James a $500 gift cardto Disney since he left for vacation thatnight with his girlfriend.

(Continued from page A2)

James Byler shows his appreciation for what Andy Pujol, president and founder of Building Homes for Heroes, and his volunteers have donefor him and his family.

The Boy Scouts marched down BroadviewDrive for James Byler’s parade prior to thegroundbreaking ceremony.

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TOWN OF HUNTINGTON

Marine’s Life ANewKindOfNormalEvery year, on Oct. 17, the day hestepped on the IED that took out his legsand pinkies, Marine James Byler cele-brates the fact that he is still alive. Hegathers with his friends and has a beer ortwo.“It’s another form of birthday for me,”the Huntington native said.It’s been about a year and a half since thefirst lieutenant was severely injured over-seas, but Byler is taking it one day at a timeto get his life back to normal.The Marine, 26, is staying at the WalterReed National Military Center in Bethes-da, Md., where he finished his physicaltherapy.Byler even learned how to drive and gota car retrofittedwith hand controls about ayear ago. He said it took him about 30 sec-onds to figure out how to work the gears.“Surprisingly, it was easy to learn. It’s ba-sically another gear shifter I got inmy con-sol. So you push forward for break andback for gas,” he said, noting it remindedhim of driving a boat.Byler has an internship with the Na-tional Security Agency to keep himself

occupied until he is discharged in thenext two months. He said he should behome around the time Building Homesfor Heroes completes renovations on hisfamily’s Huntington home to make itmore accessible for him.“It’s a weird feeling [to come backhome]. I’ve been a Marine for such a longtime now,” he said. “It’s awesome to knowthat when I come home from now on it’snot going to be a frustrating battle to comethrough the front door.”Byler said since his home is not current-ly handicap accessible, it’s difficult to dothe easiest tasks, like walking up the stairs,and he sometimes feels defeated.However,he is an upbeat and positive person tryingto move forward rather than dwelling onthe past.Byler said he is excited to start the nextchapter of his life. He hopes to startschool in September to earn a MBA forsales and trading. If he doesn’t get in thisyear, he plans to go back the followingfall.“I like the atmosphere ofWall Street. It’svery high stress,” he said. “I went to a trad-ing school and everyone’s yelling and it’sstressful. I said, ‘I miss this. It’s just like be-ing in the military.’”

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James Byler, flanked by his mother andCouncilman Mark Mayoka, is adapting tolife after losing both of his legs.


www.LongIslanderNews.com Please mention The Long Islander Newspapers when doing business with our advertisers.A4 • THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • MARCH 1, 2012

QUOTE OF THE WEEKROBERTGOLDMAN

“Unity in the community shouldbe a way of life, not just a confer-ence day.”

Students ‘Got The Power’, PAGE A10

Is That Really Mischief?

A Huntington Station resident called Suffolk Countypolice on March 30 to report criminal mischief. Thecomplainant said someone punctured the tires, dam-aged the windshield and dented a quarter panel ontheir 2007 Nissan. The vehicle was parked in the drive-way at the time.

No Such Thing As Free Money

Suffolk police received a complaint about grand lar-ceny in connection with a Huntington Station bank onMarch 29. A credit/debit card was stolen and used forillicit purchases.

Poof, Your Rims Are Gone

A Dix Hills resident called Suffolk County police onMarch 28 about a grand larceny. The complainant saidsomeone took the rims and tires off their Nissan Maxi-ma while it was parked in the street the day before.

Another Reason To Lock Your Doors

A Dix Hills resident called Suffolk County police onMarch 28 about a grand larceny. The complainant saidsomeone took their pocketbook out of an unlocked Acu-ra that was parked in the driveway. Gift cards and mon-ey were inside.

That’s An Unpleasant Surprise

A Huntington-based cabinetry company called Suf-folk County police to complain about graffiti on March26. A company representative said it occurred the dayprior.

So Was It An Attempted Burglary?

Suffolk police were dispatched to a SouthHuntingtonapartment about a reported burglary on March 26. Theresponding officer found the door damaged.

Let The Fresh Air In

Suffolk police were dispatched to a SouthHuntingtonschool on March 26. District employees said someonebroke a glass window in a door at the middle school.

Cops Searching For‘Unregistered Motorcyclist’

Northport Village police were dispatched to Burt Av-enue onMarch 24 about a disturbance. The anonymouscomplainant said an “unregistered motorcyclist” wasriding and creating a disturbance. The responding offi-cer searched the area, with no results. No further policeaction was necessary.

Not So Sweet Revenge

A resident called Northport Village police on March24 about damage to her vehicle. She told police thatsomeone threw eggs at her house and poured chocolatesyrup on two vehicles parked in her driveway some timebetween March 2 and March 24. She accused herneighbor, saying her daughter and a younger neighborhad a verbal confrontation. The responding officerspoke with the neighbors, who denied any involvement.The complainant refused to file charges until she spokewith her husband.

U-turns now legal? I think it’s fair to say thatpeople do not always follow the rules of the road,and my friend Mary most definitely agrees. Shewrote me a letter about a fewrule breakers she encounteredrecently, who made U-turns inthe middle of the street! Marywrites: “My husband and I were having lunch atBistro Cassis, sitting outside – Five cars make U-turns in front of us, one car even going over thecurb, missing my husband by barely one foot! Oneour way home to Cold Spring Harbor, we countedfour more U-turns (mid-block). Are U-turns legalnow? They used to be illegal!” Mary, I’m not awareof any rule now making U-turns legal, but I suspectit’s just drivers being too lazy to turn around prop-erly, or too much in a rush to care. It really doesn’ttake that long to obey the rules of the road, does it?And if not for the sheer legality of it, perhaps driv-ers can be convinced if nothing more than so peoplecan eat on the sidewalk in peace, without fear ofgetting hit by a car.

Make way for ducks… Just like the book, fowlseem to have found friends in Huntington. Sure,there are plenty of traffic foul-ups because a gaggleof Canadian geese decide to cross the road, butwhat about that traffic sign on Orchard Place? Bythe intersection with Prime Avenue, it looks likesomeone installed a homemade duck crossing sign.The sign itself looks legit, except for all of the yellowtouchup paint, although it seems remarkably short.If a homeowner did post this sign, are they allowedto? Can you put a traffic sign on the edge of yourproperty without getting a visit from the boys inblue?

Keeping me up at night… I don’t normally dis-agree with science – I have tremendous respect forthose who study the physics of this world – but a re-cent study and I just do not line up. A study pub-lished in the journal “Sleep” (doesn’t it seem likethey have a journal for everything?) got a lot of me-dia attention last month for reporting that sleepmay actually improve with age. The study of150,000 Americans found that people in their 80s

have fewer complaints about sleep troubles anddaytime fatigue than any other age group. This ap-parently offsets previous reports that one’s total

amount of sleep decreaseswith age, and that olderadults experience less high-quality sleep. I don’t knowabout you, but as the yearsgo on, I feel like I sleep less

and less even though I need it more and more. I dotake more naps now than ever before, so maybe thatis my problem. But I have such trouble fallingasleep, and I wake up hours before I want to! I’mgoing to volunteer for the next study. However, re-searches say the study’s findings suggest the often-reported increase in sleep problems as we age is re-ally a “non-linear phenomenon,” mediated by fac-tors other than aging – like depression, the femalesex, etc. So, maybe the problem is me.

No open flames, please… I stopped by the of-fice recently to pick up a few papers and say hello tosome of the staff when I noticed the unmistakableodor of gasoline. Not wanting to be impolite, I re-frained from commenting, but the smell continuedto permeate into my nostrils. Finally I just blurtedit out, and was met with a surprisingly simple an-swer. One of our reporters had stopped to gas uphis car in the morning, and stopped to help an eld-erly woman – makes me feel young and spry – fillher car with gas. Unfortunately she kept her grip onthe handle as she removed the nozzle, sprayinggasoline like a summertime hose fight. Our reportersaid he helped her stop the gas, pay and safely driveoff. Apparently his leather shoes soaked in some ofthe gas, because everybody in the office noticed ithours later. Now I have an answer to many house-hold dilemmas, but I was at a loss when he askedhow to get rid of the odor. Any suggestions?

(Aunt Rosie wants to hear from you! If you have com-ments, ideas, or tips about what’s happening in yourneck of the woods, write to me today and let me knowthe latest. To contact me, drop a line to Aunt Rosie, c/oThe Long-Islander, 149 Main Street, Huntington NY11743. Or try the e-mail at [email protected])

IN THEKNOWWITHAUNTROSIE

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HUNTINGTON STATION

NordstromComing To 110Discount store will replace vacant Toys ‘R’ Us

A new tenant has been found to re-place one of two corporate presences onRoute 110.Nordstrom Rack will occupy the for-

mer home of Toys ‘R’ Us in the Hunting-ton Shopping Center.“We think it’s a terrific center,” Nord-

strom spokeswoman Kendall Ault said.Nordstrom Rack is the “off-price” store

in the Nordstrom family. The new36,000 square-foot store will carry mer-chandise from the company’s other storesand website at discounted prices.Ault confirmed the new store is expect-

ed to open this fall.

“We think Nordstrom Rack is a best-in-class retailer and will provide the fashionand brand savvy shoppers [want] with afantastic retail experience in their new lo-cation at Huntington Shopping Center,”said Wendy Seher, vice president withlandlord Federal Realty Investment Trust.The previous tenant, Toys ‘R’ Us, left in

January. Barnes & Noble was also in theshopping center until that locationclosed on Dec. 31, 2011.Allegations of rent hikes and unrea-

sonable demands by the landlord havecirculated, which supposedly forced theother tenants out. Phone messages leftwith Federal Realty were not returnedand Ault declined to comment on theirnew landlord’s prior tenants.

By Mike [email protected]

MELVILLE

FDsWin Equipment GrantFEMA gives $791K for breathing apparatus

The federal government has comethrough in a big way for five Long Islandfire departments – three of them in theTown of Huntington.U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and

Kirsten Gillibrand announced March 31they had secured $791,600 through FE-MA’s Assistance to Firefighters GrantProgram for the Smithtown, Halesite,Kings Park, Melville and Centerport FireDistricts. The money will be used to buyabout 125 self-contained breathing appa-ratus (SCBA), additional air tanks andindividual masks. All of the equipment isrequired by federal guidelines.Melville FireDepartment ChiefMichael

Carrieri said this grant would allow themto replace their SCBAs with state-of-theart units.“All of our firefighters will be able to

use the most up-to-date SCBAs,” Carrierisaid.The new units include technological

improvements, he added, which preventcross-contamination, help locate downedfirefighters, and update the wearer oncurrent air supplies through an LED“heads-up” display in the face piece. Theunits also allow firefighters to quickly aidbreathing in a crisis through a “buddybreathing” system.“The technology is so much greater –

far more advanced than the packs wecurrently have,” Centerport Chief An-drew Stevenson added. “It’s still the sameconcepts and models, and ours work finethe way they are, but they [the newpieces] have so many more advances inthe new technology that will help us evenmore in the future.”The new equipment also has benefits

that will be realized before a volunteerresponds to a fire, Halesite Chief AndrewMagerle noted.“We won’t have to teach somebody one

way on one thing and a different way onanother,” he said.

Melville Fire Department volunteers usebreathing apparatuses as they respond to afire. The department is one of five on LongIsland that will be able to update theirequipment thanks to a federal grant.

By Danny [email protected]


TOWN OF HUNTINGTON

CookCalls For TownHall AuditSupervisor Petrone fires back at ‘far-fetched, disgraceful’ claim

Following the announcement thatComptroller Tracy Yogman would beleaving her post April 20, amember of thetown board has asked state and county of-ficials to audit Huntington’s finances.Town spokesman A.J. Carter con-

firmed Yogman’s departure onMarch 27;Supervisor Frank Petrone made a formalannouncement the next day. A search forYogman’s successor will begin immedi-ately. In the meantime, deputy comptrol-ler Andrew Persich will head the office.Following the announcement of Yog-

man’s departure, Cook said he filed a peti-tion with State Comptroller Tom Di-Napoli’s and Attorney General EricSchneiderman’s offices, as well as SuffolkCountyDistrict Attorney TomSpota, seek-ing a full audit of the town’s books. Cooksaid such a probe hasn’t happened in 15years and is long overdue.“When I heard about her resigning

[last Monday], I felt it was proper for thestate to come in and audit all the books,”Cook said. “There were a bunch of thingsgoing on that I was concerned with, and Iwas sort of surprised Tracy would leave aposition so early.”Chief amongst those concerns was the

flow of information from the comptrol-ler’s office, Cook said. He added that hewould introduce a resolution at the nexttown board meeting that would hire anoutside accounting firm to conduct a full

audit of the town’s finances.Petrone fired back Monday, angrily

calling the allegations of “criminality andwhatever else” far-fetched, disgracefuland “gamesmanship without a play card.”“People are grappling just to create

some kind of havoc for whatever reason.They’re never happy that the town’s fi-nances are in good shape, the taxes are ingood shape and the debt service is in goodshape,” Petrone said. “They’re not going tobe happy until they are personally re-sponsible for a downgrade in a bond rat-ing… that’s one of the things that theagencies don’t like – when there’s incon-sistency in leadership.”Petrone challenged Cook to quantify

his allegations at the next town boardworkshop, and the supervisor vowed tochallenge the councilman in executivesession. As to why Yogman left, Petronesaid her former employer was courtingher for a higher-paying, more prestigiousposition.“I’m upset over this. I really believe that

it’s so unfounded. You just have to look atour financial history and anyone with orwithout a financial background could at-test to the fact that the town is in good fi-nancial shape,” Petrone said. “Bring it up– bring these allegations up. Never havewe heard any of these allegations.”Councilman Mark Mayoka said he had

similar concerns, particularly the amountof notice Yogman gave and the timing ofher departure.Mayoka said the town’s an-nual audit has not been completed. State

law, he said, requires the town’s audit re-port to be filed within 120 days of the endof a fiscal year. He has also criticized Yog-man for filing the town’s triennial high-way, capital and general fund reports lateduring his term.DespiteMayoka and Yogman’s frequent

clashes over the operation of the comp-troller’s office, the councilman said itwould have been useful for her to stay onto lead the town’s financial office in themidst of tough times.“To abandon the ship at this point in

time when you’re most needed is veryconcerning,” he said.Petrone replied that the town has con-

sistently complied with state due dates forthe triennial and annual reports, and a se-ries of audits have produced consistentlystrong results. As to Yogman’s presenceduring audit, the supervisor said the auditis conducted by accounting firm Israeloff,Trattner & Co., and her departure will notdisrupt that.“A comptroller can come and go and

you’ll still have your outside auditing firmthroughout the year,” he said.Along with Petrone, Councilman Mark

Cuthbertson and Councilwoman SusanBerland were decidedly more optimisticabout Yogman’s performance as comp-troller. In wishing her well in her new po-sition, Petrone lauded her “sound counseland fiscal management,” which helpedthe town win awards for financial prac-tices, and keep a AAA bond rating.“AllHuntington taxpayers have benefited

from Tracy’s efforts to help me controlspending so that taxes remain low, even asservices remain high,” Petrone said.Cuthbertson credited Yogman for help-

ing the town grapple with tough financialtimes.

“She has helped steer the ship in a verychallenging financial climate, and helpedus to maintain our bond rating and ourlevel of fiscal stability. In part, credit isdue to her for that,” he said.“She got an incredible offer from a not-

for-profit she was at before, and I thinkshe’s done a fine job for the town. I wishher the best in her future endeavors,”Councilwoman Susan Berland added.

Councilman Gene Cook’s call for state andcounty officials to audit the Town of Hunt-ington’s finances following the departure ofComptroller Tracy Yogman evoked a heatedresponse from Supervisor Frank Petrone



TOWN OF HUNTINGTON

Dangerous ‘Fake Pot’Banned By StateProhibits sale of synthetic cannabinoids

The label on the package says “not forhuman consumption.” Sold under nameslike Spike, Spice and K2, many cus-tomers take this supposed incense andburn it like marijuana.That’s because it’s supposed to be mar-

ijuana.Synthetic cannabinoids – drugs that

mimic the effect of THC in marijuana –were widely available in the Town ofHuntington until recently. New YorkState Health Commissioner Dr. Nirav R.Shah banned the drugs on March 28.Not surprisingly, that was welcome

news to some like Anthony Ferrandino, adrug and alcohol counselor in the North-port-East Northport School District andco-chair of the Northport CommunityDrug and Alcohol Task Force.”Any drug that’s mood-altering and a

teenager can get their hands on is dan-gerous,” Ferrandino said. “Their brainsare still developing. It’s the last pushphysiologically. Whenever you enter achemical into the body, it affects braindevelopment.”But the decision also received support

from one unlikely source. A manager atHuntington Station-based GothamSmoke & Novelty Shop, who only identi-fied himself as Mike, said he was thrilledto stop selling synthetic marijuana.“I don’t want to sell this stuff anyway. I

had no choice. If I had 10 stores aroundme and nine were selling, I had nochoice,” he said.Synthetic marijuana is made with dif-

ferent drugs and chemicals, none ap-proved by the FDA. The DEA actuallybanned some cannabinoids for sixmonths last March, but different recipeshit the streets.According to the state health depart-

ment, synthetic cannabinoids have beenlinked to severe adverse reactions, includ-ing death and acute renal failure, as wellas side effects like: tachycardia (increasedheart rate), paranoid behavior, agitationand irritability, nausea and vomiting, con-fusion, drowsiness, headache, hyperten-sion, electrolyte abnormalities, seizuresand loss of consciousness.When used as an alternative to mari-

juana, the synthetic drugs were con-sumed in much the same way, throughpipes, wrapping papers and bongs.Ferrandino said he’s heard about syn-

thetic marijuana from students for aboutfive years. And during that time, he’sheard some stories that sounded “dan-gerous.” Reactions to the drug, the coun-selor added, ranged from becoming hy-per to becoming mellow to hallucinating.“I heard a lot of students saying they

got bad reactions from it,” Ferrandinosaid, noting he heard there were varyingstrengths available.The problem, according to the head

shop manager, was that cheap, low-qual-ity synthetic marijuana was hitting thestreets.“You’ve got real companies and fake

companies. Why it got crazy is that youhave real guys selling it for $10 and fakeguys selling it for $1,” Mike said. “At leastthe real ones, they tell you and they giveyou a lab report of the ingredients ofwhat you use.”According to published reports,

teenagers consuming the synthetic drugshave suffered seizures, blackouts, severeanxiety, paranoia and heart attacks. Thedrugs have also been linked to a numberof deaths.The DEA temporarily classified syn-

thetic cannabinoids as a Schedule I con-trolled substance last March becausethey have no accepted medical use anddo have a high potential for abuse. Natu-ral marijuana is also a Schedule I sub-stance, as are drugs like peyote, MDMA(Ecstasy) and heroin.The statewide ban went into effect im-

mediately, although the public has 15days to dispute the decision.In the meantime, Mike wasn’t worried

so much about losing customers, as oth-er businesses continuing to sell the drugsunder the counter.“They will do some raids, hopefully

soon,” he said.Ferrandino advised parents to keep an

eye out for erratic behavior, a possiblesign that children are using syntheticcannabinoids. It’s still too early to deter-mine what the next popular drug will be,he added, although staples like naturalmarijuana, alcohol and prescriptiondrugs are still a major problem.


Assistants Not HelpingDEAR EDITOR:In regard to your article in

the March 29, edition, “HillsCuts Another $2.4 Million fromBudget,” while I applaud theBoard of Education and Super-intendent Fallon for coming upwith additional cost cuttingmeasures totaling $2.4 million,I still feel they can do evenmore to cut additional spendingin our top-heavy administrationpositions.Numerous people have spo-

ken about this subject, but noconvincing answer has beengiven to the taxpayers as to whywe have so many assistant prin-cipals and assistant superin-tendents on our payroll.Due to the decreasing enroll-

ments in our schools, why is itnecessary to keep the samenumber of assistant principalsand assistant superintendents,while justifying eliminatingteaching positions?For 40 years (prior to Super-

intendent Sheldon Karnilow’stenure), this district did nothave the number of top earnersthat it has today and our chil-dren (including myself) re-ceived a quality education with-

out theses additional positionsand additional costs. Accordingto my rough calculations, weshould be able to cut at least anadditional $1.5 million or more,if we par down these positionsthat are no longer needed. If wecan cut the amount of teachers,secretarial/clerical positions,teacher substitutes, travel andconference expenses for facultyand staff and books, why arethese “assistant” positions notbeing looked at and eliminated?The taxpayers of this district

can no longer bear the brunt ofhuge salaries and pension plans(along with the perks that re-sults in sick pay accumulations,etc.) to warrant these positionsany longer. There are many,many families in this districtwho have been hit hard by thecurrent recession (or should Isay depression) and have had tomake great personal sacrificesduring these tough economictimes. Our property values haveplummeted and our taxes havebeen increased, of which themajority of these taxes arepayable to the Half HollowHills School District. If wechose to sell our homes, the costof our taxes hinder those sales.If the above concerns are not

addressed by the board and oursuperintendent, I feel that I willhave no other option but to voteno on the upcoming budgetvote and to encourage others todo the same.I implore the board and Su-

perintendent Fallon to considerthe above and explain whythese cuts should not be ad-dressed and implemented.

SUSAN BURGAZZOLIDixHills

The Country Doctor

DEAR EDITOR:It warmed my heart to read

that the Huntington TownBoard voted to jointly purchaseand protect along with SuffolkCounty the 12-acre parcel ofland on Oldfield Road inGreenlawn known as the Car-penter Farm.My elation was based on my

personal and nostalgic memo-ries of Dr. Carpenter himself.Dr. Carpenter had an office in atiny cottage on Sunrise High-way in Bay Shore and some ofmy earliest memories are of pe-riodic visits to his office. It wasa rickety place with unevenplanked floors, dated wall pa-

pers and fading paint, but itwas sparkling clean and, in aunique way, quite charming. Iwas a sickly child and these vis-its were relatively frequent andusually involved finger pricks,butt injections and other unsa-vory (in my opinion) pediatrictreatments by the doc.In spite of the fearsome nee-

dles, I actually looked forwardto these visits. Dr. Carpenterwas every child’s vision of thecountry family doctor as if cre-ated by Norman Rockwell. Healways seemed to be wearing abroad and reassuring smile. Hishair was meticulously combedand he often wore a natty seer-sucker suit and colorful tie. Histouch was gentle and his laugh-ing eyes glistened through hiswire rimmed glasses as he as-sured me that everything wouldbe just fine… and it always was.I particularly remember hisvoice which was quite unique,with a sort of high pitched,gravelly quality that alwaysmade me relaxed and comfort-able. I remember him being alarge, very tall man but I guessall men seem so to a 4-year-old.Occasionally, when he had no

office hours in Bay Shore, hewould have us visit him at hishome office on Old Field Roadin Greenlawn. I remember itbeing surrounded by farmlandand was always eager to ex-plore his barns, water towersand silos after treatments. Healways had horses, goats andother assorted farm animalsmilling around and sometimes,when he wasn’t busy with otherpatients, acted as our tourguide. It was a rural amuse-

ment park and I was always ex-cited when my mom an-nounced a pending visit there.I applaud the efforts of Kate

Levine and the Friends of Car-penter Farm, Walter’s widow,Bunny Hoest and the Hunting-ton Town Board and SuffolkCounty for preserving this love-ly parcel of rolling farmland. Ihope the site will also showsome pictures of the charmingfarm’s buildings and animals.Most of all, I hope there will bephotos and bios of Dr. WalterCarpenter, who was a kind,gentle, charming and con-cerned country physician whoescorted this grateful little boyinto manhood.

STEPHEN R. PORPORAHuntingtonBay

Thank You, Newsroom

DEAR EDITOR:Thank you for the beautiful

article about the renovations be-ing done to our home for James.The picture of James accompa-nying the article taken onMe-morial Day is one of the best I’veseen – good job Mike DiRenzo!The groundbreaking ceremo-

ny with all attending was greatand the food donated was in-credible!Thanks for everything. The

editorial “Home Fit For a Hero”expressed my feelings perfectly –what a great town we have herein Huntington.May God bless you all for your

good work!

JANET BYLERHuntington

www.LongIslanderNews.com Please mention The Long Islander Newspapers when doing business with our advertisers.A8 • THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 5, 2012

Opinion‘Not the types set up by the printer return their impression, the meaning, the main concern.’

Letters to the editor are welcomed by Long Islander Newspapers. We reserve the rightto edit in the interest of space and clarity. All letters must be handsigned and theymustinclude an address and daytime telephone number for verification. Personal attacksand letters considered in poor taste will not be printed. We cannot publish every letterwe receive due to space limitations.

Readers of The Long Islander’s Half Hol-low Hills Newspaper, this really is your lastchance.For more than 15 years, it has been our

pleasure to bring news of the Dix Hills andMelville communities to your mailboxes.We have learned much about the commu-nities and the people who make it special,and we take seriously the responsibilitiesthat comewith serving as a conduit of news.We have strived to be responsible, open-minded and balanced. We havetried hard to do right by our readers.We have stood by your sides whensituations threatened the quality of life;championed for causes important to you;celebrated the accomplishments of yourchildren in school; and cheered them on atLittle League games, on high school teamsand beyond.Not that we don’t plan to continue, but

for you to continue enjoying your weeklynewspaper will take some action on yourpart. We can no longer provide delivery by

mail for free.Not to worry, though. You still have sev-

eral options.You may subscribe; for just $21 a year the

newspaper will be delivered to your mail-box, same as always.Youmay pick up free copies; the paper will

be available for free at a growing list of loca-tions throughout town. Find out where onpage one of this week’s paper so that nextThursday you won’t be left in the dark. (And

when you stop by an area busi-ness to pick up your free paper,tell them the Long Islander’s

Half Hollow Hills Newspaper sent you).Finally, you may go digital. Register to re-

ceive the newspaper in an appropriate elec-tronic format to read on your PC, Mac,smartphone or iPhone at www.HalfHol-lowNews.com.Whatever option you choose, don’t delay.

Thousands have already made their choic-es. If you are not yet one of them, do it nowso you don’t miss a minute of news.

Last Chance

EDITORIAL

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Send letters to:The Editor, Half Hollow Hills Newspaper,149Main Street,Huntington, New York 11743or e-mail us [email protected]

149 Main Street, Huntington, New York 11743631.427.7000

Serving the communities of: Dix Hills, Melvilleand the Half Hollow Hills Central School District.

Founded in 1996 by James Koutsis

Copyright © 2012 by Long Islander Newspapers, publishers of The Long-Islander, The Record, NorthportJournal and Half Hollow Hills Newspaper. Each issue of the The Half Hollow Hills Newspaper and all con-tents thereof are copyrighted by Long Islander, LLC. None of the contents or articles may be reproducedin any forum or medium without the advance express written permission of the publisher. Infringementhereof is a violation of the Copyright laws.

N E W S P A P E RHALF HOLLOW HILLS

Michael SchenklerPublisher

Peter SloggattAssociate Publisher/Managing Editor

Luann DallojaconoEditor

Mike KoehlerDanny Schrafel

Stephanie DeLucaReporters

Ian BlancoProduction/

Art Department

Linda GilbertOffice / Legals

Susan MandelAdvertising Director

Michele CaroLarry Stahl

Account Executives


Life&StyleTHEATER

Dark Laughs In ‘TrueWest’ ComedyBare Bones rehearsing play about dissimilar brothers for April 12 opening day

Adults looking for some local theatrical fun have tolook no further than the Bare Bones Repertory Com-pany.The Northport-based theater company is slated to

bring drama to Northport as they perform Sam Shep-ard’s “True West.”The show, which made its debut on Broadway in

1980 with John Malkovich in the starring role, is adark comedy about two brothers who lead very differ-ent lives. This eventually leads to conflict, as the twomen return to their mother’s home.The local rendition, which will star R.J. Meyer, Tim

Thieke and Robert Lee Oliver, is a classic dark comedyabout a sibling rivalry. Annette Kirk, who plays themother, said that the show is very unique and special.“Sam Shepard has a wonderful way with his very taut

language. There are no dull moments, it’s very en-grossing, and it’s really about human nature,” Kirksaid. “The play is really about the dual nature of artists,who balance creativity and figuring out how to make aliving.”The play delves into human nature as it examines

the relationship between the brothers, and how theyeventually grow jealous of the lives that each other led.At the beginning, the two brothers could not be moredifferent; one is a successful screenwriter in Holly-wood and the other is a drifter and thief.“One brother has a passion for life, and the other has

a socially acceptable life,” Kirk said. “They are extremeopposites, but then they begin to envy each other.”As the show continues, the two brothers’ relation-

ship undergoes major changes. The show encapsulatesmany different genres; there is some dark comedy,dark humor and violence, making this a show to leavechildren at home for.Performances will take place on 57 Main St. in

Northport April 12-14, as well as April 19-21. Eachshowing of the play will begin at 8 p.m. Tickets areavailable for purchase at brownpapertickets.com. From left, R.J. Meyer, Tim Thieke and Annette Kirk in Sam Shepards’s dark comedy “True West.”

Photo

byJerem

yGarver

By Noah [email protected]

TOWN OF HUNTINGTON

50Years OfHelpingHuntington CharitiesTownwide Fund planning red-tie affair at Oheka Castle for April 19

A group of Huntington citizens organ-ized and created the Townwide Fund ofHuntington in 1961 to raise money forvarious local charities. Their initial goalof keeping funds within Huntington suc-ceeded, and in the decades since, they’veraised more than $10 million for over 20charities dedicated to helping the pa-trons of Huntington.Townwide Fund is a nonprofit organ-

ization and relies on their donations tofunction and continue to donate to thecommunity. Some of their recipients in-clude Girl Scouts of America, the Hunt-ington Chapter of the Red Cross andthe Community Youth Agencies ofHuntingtonTo celebrate their accomplishments,

the nonprofit is celebrating their 50thanniversary with a gala at Oheka Castleon Thursday, April 19. The red-tie dress-code is essentially similar to black tie,but the red color represents the flame ofthe fund’s logo.In addition to the gala, Townwide

holds FOCUS direct mail campaigns, aThanksgiving Day Run, an annual GolfOuting and the St. Patrick’s Run to raisefunds.The gala will honor those who con-

tributed greatly to the fund over theyears through their generous donationsand philanthropy. Some of these peopleinclude former honorees and presidentsof the fund. The honorees will receivecrystal frames, featuring the TownwideFund’s logo.The gala promises to be exciting; Pres-

ident James Powers said people can ex-

pect “cocktails, dinner, and dancing.”Many people will be staying overnight atthe castle.“We have a harpist, we have a pianist,

we have a red carpet and a photogra-pher, and we have a major video presen-tation of all the honorees,” Powersadded.Northport-based Peter Mazzeo & the

Hit Squad will be providing entertain-ment. The highly energetic band of overone dozen members is one of Long Is-land’s most famous. They have traveledaround the globe to perform, and will bereturning to Long Island for the gala.The party begins at 6 p.m., when they

will open up the dance floor and theband will start playing, and will last un-til 11 p.m. The event is open to the pub-lic. Individual tickets are available for$200 or a table of ten is $2000. There

are multiple sponsorship packages andavailable ads in the CommemorativeJournal. All this can be purchased atwww.townwidefundgala.org.

By Jasmine [email protected]

Peter Mazzeo & the Hit Squad will be pro-viding entertainment for the TownwideFund of Huntington’s 50th anniversary cel-ebration April 19.


TOWN OF HUNTINGTON

Building Jerusalem, A Block At A Time

The road to Jerusalem is paved in Legos. At least itwas at a special pre-Passover gathering hosted at theCommack Jewish Center Sunday.Using 60,000 pieces of the iconic building blocks,

children ages 8-10 and their siblings and parentssprawled out on a 16-by-16-foot blueprint of the OldCity of Jerusalem in an effort to build the world’slargest Lego-block replica of the historic city. TheCentral Suffolk Jewish Alliance, a group of 12 con-

gregations, hosted the event.More than 80 landmarks were marked by numbers

on the map, which correspond with a guide in the cor-ner of the blueprint. After hearing pointers from ar-chitect Stephen W. Schwartz, of Building BlocksWorkshops, the children and their families were left tolet their imagination do the work as they built houses,walls, towers, gates and more.“Families from all over Suffolk County are joining

together to literally and figuratively build community,”Beth Berman, president of the Central Suffolk JewishAlliance, said. “We’re building, we’re sharing and it’s a

wonderful feeling to have Jewish people from all overthe county come together for one significant eventwhich the children will remember their entire lives.”In addition to building family bonds, Schwartz, who

came from New Jersey for the event, said the purposeof such a program is to build interest in the landmarks,and ultimately, in visiting the city they spent an after-noon constructing with Legos.UJA-Federation New York provided the grant for

the event. The first part of the grant funded the con-struction of the world’s largest Lego menorah in De-cember.


Architect Stephen Schwartz gives pointers to some youngparticipants as they put the finishing touches on a building.

A young architect fine-tunes his Lego rendition of the Li-on’s Gate.

Families teamed up to build different parts of the Old City,including gates, walls and historic landmarks.

HalfHollow

Hills

photos/DannySchrafel

TOWN OF HUNTINGTON

Student Leaders ‘Got The Power’Teens from local high schools learn about diversity, intolerance and compassion at Unity Conference

“We got the power” was the mantra forthe Unity Leadership Conference at theSuffolk Y Jewish Community Center onMarch 30.A team of Uniteen leaders, adult leaders

and professional facilitators brought inabout 250 students from Commack, HalfHollow Hills East and West, Brentwood,Bay Shore, Northport and Walt Whitmanhigh schools to educate them on what itmeans to be a leader in their communitywith speeches and workshops.To kick off the event, Chris Kazi Rolle,

an educator, entertainer and entrepre-neur who was in foster care from a youngage, inspired students to be united as one.Rolle grew up in Nassau, Bahamas andmoved to Brooklyn at 14 years old. Sincehelping people and creating music are hispassions, he combined the two to becomewho he is today. Rolle’s life was also theinspiration behind the movie “The HipHop Project,” which was produced byBruce Willis and Queen Latifah.As an advocate, Rolle spoke with the

students about how they can use theirpower for the common good.Rolle said, according to the Oxford dic-

tionary, power is “the capacity or ability todirect or influence the behavior of othersand the course of events.” He told the stu-dents that their power is choice, and theycan use that power through their voice.“I feel honored to be asked to come

back for a third time and come share amessage with young people and make adifference in a community that I’m noteven from,” Rolle said.The students were enthralled listening

to his message and participated in theconversation through song and Rolle’svideo presentation.Segregation and bullying were hot top-

ics between the students and Rolle. Manystudents agreed that both happen often intheir schools.“I was bullied as a kid. I’m still bullied

andmy little brother is being bullied,” onegirl said. “Cliques should be done rightnow. Everyone here should go to theirschool after this and meet someone theydon’t know and shake their hand.”Students then broke into groups to at-

tend workshops, which included learningabout the Holocaust and standing up tointolerance; issues of diversity; learningto help children in Africa; and combatingprejudice with compassion.“I just feel that [the workshop] is very

inspirational,” said Carli Rumstein, a sen-ior at Hills West. “Just to talk about howeverybody’s different and that if we cometogether… it will make such a difference.”Students also learned skills to help

them understand different experiencesand perspectives of others and how to usetheir creativity to connect with others.“[The workshop] brought a lot of

things to my attention that I didn’t knowbefore,” said Joe Connolly, a sophomore atWhitman.Victoria Ruvolo, a Commack native

who currently lives in Lake Ronkonkoma,spoke about her near-death experience in2004 after a 20-pound turkey wasthrown through her car windshield. Shedocumented her struggles through herbook entitled, “No Room forVengeance…in Justice and Healing,”along with her co-author Robert Gold-man. In the workshop they led, Ruvolo

and Goldman talked about the power offorgiveness.“I think the way that we’re dealing with

bullying today and prejudice today is allwrong,” Goldman said. “I think that thereaction of punishing without dialogue,without focusing on repairing the harm,perpetuates the cycle of violence, and weneed to [see] the humanity in our enemy.That’s what Vicky did.”At the end of the workshops, there was

a panel discussion during which onemember of each group shared what theydiscussed.

“I feel like the conference was reallysuccessful listening to the students at theend, so full of emotion and able to articu-late what they’ve learned and how theywant to bring it back to their communi-ties,” said Kelly Vest, director of commu-nity and international relations at theSuffolk Y JCC.Goldman added he would like schools

across Long Island to participate in thisconference as well.“I think we needmore conferences, and

my only disappointment is that there’s not

Students learned how to use their creativity to connect with others at the Unity LeadershipConference.



HalfHollow

Hills

photo/Stephan

ieDeLuca


TOWN OF HUNTINGTON

Colors Of East ReconnectingWith IndiaStores are filled with imported goods

Viresh Renjen spent decades workingon Wall Street before personnel changesstemming from mergers and acquisi-tions left the Northport resident withsuch a bad taste that he decided to retire.After spending six months accom-

plishing little, Renjen heeded his wifeChander’s suggestion and entered theretail business. Imports From Indiaopened nine years in Port Jefferson, andColors of East opened in downtownNorthport last month.“It kept me busy and out of trouble,”

Renjen said with a laugh.The new business is located in Legis-

lator William “Doc” Spencer’s formercampaign headquarters on Main Street.While not large by any stretch, Renjensaid, he’s filled the store with more than1,000 pieces of clothing, jewelry, tapes-tries, decorations and handicrafts thathave all been imported from India.“It’s presenting a comprehensive re-

flection of the ethnicity of India. Wehave products that cover many different

Indian states,” he said. ”Each state is likea country in and of itself.”Renjen was born in India, but moved

to America 45 years ago. Having not vis-ited his native country for some time,the shop owner said his businesses af-ford the couple a chance to travel to In-dia, along with other locations along theway.“It gave me an opportunity to go and

explore the country,” he said, noting hisknowledge of the culture and ability tospeak the native language opens doorswith business partners. “India has somuch to offer.”Many of the products Colors of East

stocks are handmade. Apparel includesembroidery, beads and other uniquework, Renjen said, while figurines, stat-ues and other artifacts are created bydifferent Indian artists.It may be too early to tell as the North-

port store has been open but a few weeks,but the owner said the hottest items areapparel. His selection includes casualwear, party wear and formal wear withsizes and designs for nearly everyone.Much of the clothing is made out of cotton– a favorite fabric of Indians – althoughsilk and other fabrics are available.Other products, like tapestries and

shawls, are also available in wool, pash-mina and rayon.“India is known for fabrics. We get it

all done in India. It’s very unique instyle,” Renjen said.Customers will typically find either

the husband or the wife at the store. Thecompany, Renjen added, was never de-signed to turn a profit, but rather to bean outlet for the couple.“We are here to keep ourselves busy

and be productive,” he said.The economic downturn in recent

years did hit home for the pair; Renjennoted tourist traffic in Port Jeffersonhas been down. With Northport, theyaimed for a different demographic andhoped the overall market would im-prove. It didn’t hurt that the store was-n’t far from home either, the owner ad-mitted.But as many Northport merchants

know, the village is very seasonal. While

the summer can bring large crowds tothe waterfront, Main Street is often aghost town during the winter. Betweenthe months on the calendar and statusas newcomers, the couple is waiting forcustomer traffic to pick up.“Everything considered, we have had

a good response,” Renjen said, addingthat they have no plans to move in thefuture. “This is where we will be. It’s agood town and very convenient for us.”

Spotlight On

HuntingtonBusinesses

Spotlight On


Colorful tapestries and apparel on sale at Colors of East are made of fabrics like silk, pash-mina, rayon and handwoven cotton.

Colors of East164 Main St., Northport

631-651-5222

Foodiephotos/D

annySchrafel


TheFoodieS E C T I O N

SpeedDating For FoodiesAs dozens of restaurants converged on

the Larkfield Manor March 29, they hur-riedly prepared for the culinary and char-itable bonanza that was about to takeplace.They were prepping for the hundreds

of people whowould soon be tasting theirdishes during A Taste of Long Island,presented by the East Northport Cham-ber of Commerce and the Visiting NurseService and Hospice of Suffolk. Theunique wine, food, spirit and beer tastingevent celebrated the Brueggemann fami-ly for their 50-plus years of communityservice.Staring in Larkfield’s lounge room,

Boening Brothers, Vindagra ItalianWines, National Refrescos Imports,Brindge Brands Sales and Ferrarelle Wa-ter of Italy handled the drinks. On thefood front, Atria showed off their culi-nary skills and Costco displayed its bakedgoods and pastries; Elijah Churchill’sdished out its baked clams generously.Panera Bread, which will soon be settingup shop in Huntington village, had cook-ies, bread, and its cheddar broccoli soup– rich and flavorful, but not overwhelm-ingly thick, we might add. And Starbucksprovided plenty of coffee to help fight offthe looming food coma.Round two brought us to the Garden

Room, where Barefoot, Coppola, J. Lohr,Kunde Wine, Laurel Lake, Spicebox, Yel-low Tail and Queens-headquartered ZYRVodka handled the libations. As an aside– don’t believe vodka can be sweet? TryZYR on the rocks and you’ll change yourmind. And at about $30 for 750 mL, it’spretty nice to your wallet, too.Back to the food – Barney’s, Crew

Chocolate With a Twist, Jake’s WaybackBurgers, La Villini, Madison’s Grille, Wa-terside Caterers and Whole Foods dishedup their favorites. Combining brie and asweet fig spread gives people who aren’tbrie cheerleaders a way to enjoy the pop-ular French cheese. Fireside Caterers

showcased its mac ‘n’ cheese, pulled porkand wildly popular Buffalo wings, prov-ing once again the economic power ofsports – they sold 23,000 wings this Su-per Bowl Sunday thanks to a certaingroup of gridiron Giants in blue. CrewKitchen and Bar showed off their crispyduck dumplings, served on a bed of Asianslaw.The third stop was the Manor Room –

By The [email protected]

George McCallion dishes out mac andcheese and other goodies from the OriginalFireside Grill.


Cupcakes, anyone? Jess Kennaugh and Sharon Serrantino from Blondies in Centerportbrought scores of miniatures to A Taste of Long Island.


WE FOUND VITO:Wewere sad when Viajo’son East Jericho Turnpike, across fromthe Pathmark in Dix Hills, closed itsdoors a few months ago. The Italianeatery, owned by Vito DeFeo of EastNorthport, was home to one of our Food-ies’ favorite dish, Rigatoni Alla Viajo’s, setin a pomodoro wine sauce with pignolinuts, raisins, spinach, and onions. So youcan imagine how delighted we werewhen Vito emerged from the kitchen atFratelli Trattoria (455 Commack Road,Suite 996, Deer Park, 631-274-4911,www.fratellitrattoriany.com) located atthe Tanger Outlets at the Arches. Fratel-li’s has been open for almost three years,and apparently Vito has been there sincethe beginning. Fratelli’s menu is similarto Viajo’s in many ways – you have yourtypical pizza, pasta and Italian dishes –but now also includes perfectly grilledpanini on ciabatta bread and a selectionof wraps. The place is beautiful andtrendy, and the food is as good as we re-member. The best part? Our pasta dish isback, just under a different name: Riga-toni Alla Fratelli’s.

EASTER ON THE HARBOR: Our favorite wa-terfront restaurant Prime – An AmericanKitchen and Bar (117 New York Ave.,

Huntington) will be hosting brunch anddinner on Easter Sunday, April 8.Brunch, served from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., willfeature a live jazz trio and Prime’s stellarbrunchmenu. Dinner will be served from3-9 p.m., featuring Prime’s regular din-ner menu. Reservations are recommend-ed and can be made by calling 631-385-1515, or can be made online atwww.primerestaurant.com orwww.opentable.com.

EASTER PRIX-FIXE AT RUVO: Ruvo (63Broadway, Greenlawn, 631-261-7700, ru-vorestaurant.com) is taking reservationsfor a three-course prix-fixe on EasterSunday, April 8, served from noon to 7p.m. Price will be determined by entréeselection. Appetizer choices include:sliced pear, gorgonzola and candiedpecan salad, tomato-crab bisque, chilledseafood salad, house-made mozzarella,gorgonzola-stuffed artichokes, lobsterravioli and braised short rib crostini withcaramelized onion and horseradishcream. Entrée choices that caught oureye include: veal chop saltimbocca ($50),rosemary-crusted rack of lamb ($50),shrimp fra diavolo with spaghetti ($45);polenta-crusted swordfish ($55) withlobster mashed potatoes, and New YorkShell Steak ($55). Dessert options in-clude: warm chocolate hazelnut brownie,among other Italian staples.

Side DishBy [email protected]

DINE HUNTINGTON.COM


DIX HILLS

21 Cobblers Ln Bedrooms 5 Baths 5Price $849,999 Taxes $15,363Open House 4/5 11am-1pmPrudential Douglas Elliman RE 516-624-9000

HUNTINGTON OPEN HOUSESTown Address Beds Baths Price Taxes Date Time Broker Phone

Huntington 14 North Ln 3 2 $349,000 $9,407 4/5 12pm-2pm Realty Connect USA LLC 888-758-9872S. Huntington 2 Fanwood Pl 4 3 $399,990 $10,083 4/5 1pm-3pm Coldwell Banker Residential 631-673-4444Melville 6 Wendell Ct 3 2 $469,000 $8,247 4/5 12pm-1:30pm RE/MAX Beyond 631-862-1100Dix Hills 21 Cobblers Ln 5 5 $849,999 $15,363 4/5 11am-1pm Prudential Douglas Elliman RE 516-624-9000Huntington 7 North Ln 3 2 $369,000 $8,439 4/7 11am-1pm Coach Real Estate Assoc Inc 631-673-2222Huntington 4 Sixpence Ct 3 2 $419,000 $11,109 4/7 2pm-4pm Daniel Gale Agency Inc 631-427-6600Greenlawn 8 Tanglewood Ct 3 2 $459,000 $9,800 4/7 2pm-4pm Coach Real Estate Assoc Inc 631-673-2222S. Huntington 6 Kingston Pl 3 1 $319,000 $7,635 4/14 10am-12pm Coldwell Banker Residential 631-673-4444Huntington Sta 75 E Rogues Path 5 4 $419,900 $12,919 4/14 1pm-3pm Coldwell Banker Residential 516-864-8100Dix Hills 50 Landview Dr 6 6 $1,729,000 N/A 4/14 1pm-3pm Coldwell Banker Residential 516-864-8100Huntington Sta 51 Windmill Ct 3 3 $324,000 $10,000 4/15 12:30pm-3:30pm Charles Rutenberg Realty Inc 516-575-7500Centerport 24 Iroquois Ave 3 2 $399,000 $9,328 4/15 12pm-2pm Prudential Douglas Elliman RE 631-549-4400Huntington 944 Park Ave 3 2 $419,000 $9,388 4/15 12pm-2pm Signature Premier Properties 631-673-3700Huntington Sta 6 James St 4 4 $425,000 $10,390 4/15 2pm-4pm Coach Real Estate Assoc Inc 631-427-1200Melville 835 Madeira Blvd 2 2 $429,000 $4,174 4/15 12pm-2pm Coldwell Banker Residential 516-864-8100Northport 168 Waterside Rd 4 2 $484,999 $7,292 4/15 2pm-4pm Century 21 Northern Shores 631-547-5300S. Huntington 211 Pidgeon Hill Rd 5 4 $599,900 $15,688 4/15 1pm-3pm Prudential Douglas Elliman RE 631-499-9191Dix Hills 19 Crawford Dr 4 2 $599,999 $12,208 4/15 1pm-3pm Realty Connect USA LLC 888-758-9872Cold Spring Hill 5 Sheep Pasture Ln 3 2 $729,000 $13,986 4/15 1pm-4pm Daniel Gale Agency Inc 631-427-6600Fort Salonga 12 Woodhollow Ln 5 4 $1,150,000 $22,518 4/15 1pm-3pm Coach Real Estate Assoc Inc 631-757-7272

A spirited community meeting this weekgot me thinking about what I could recallabout an era in our Town’s history that nei-ther time or events can seemingly erase fromthe minds of those who lived to see it: 1960sUrban Renewal in Huntington Station, andits unforgiving aftermath.As a Huntington High School student dur-

ing the latter part of the seventies, I do recalldropping a lot of babysittingmoney at the “BigH” shopping center, just steps fromHuntington Station’s former downtown busi-ness district. The high school’s then open cam-pus policy allowed us to venture to the nearbyBig H during lunch period or study halls. Ashort walk led us to a slice of “real pizza” and toour favorite clothing boutique called Select, orto Martins, Woolworth and Sears. On week-ends we headed to the York Theater nestled inthe corner of the shopping center. I stillremember the excitement of seeing the 1977blockbuster movie, Star Wars, there.When I returned home from college in the

mid eighties I was saddened to see how theonce thriving and popular shopping centerhad fallen into decline. By the late 1980s theBig H had hit an all-time low. The stores wehad once loved were reduced to vacant andvandalized spaces. The departure of long-time anchor tenant Sears was the mostsobering indicator that the Big H was trulyin trouble. While a Pathmark eventuallyoccupied the space that was once Sears, itstruggled too, and eventually closed.Fortunately, the nineties brought about the

successful private redevelopment of the Big Hproperty under the leadership of HuntingtonTown Supervisor Frank Petrone. What wasonce an eyesore had now been transformedinto a thriving commercial center anchoredby national retailers, along with a Town-man-aged community center that was negotiatedas part of the Big H redevelopment plan. The$30million private sector revival of the Big Hmarked the Town’s first step in the revitaliza-tion of Huntington Station.By the time I joined Supervisor Petrone’s

staff in early 2002, Huntington Station’s con-tinuing revitalization remained at the forefrontof his agenda, and the Supervisor assigned meto assist him in advancing those goals, amongothers. In doing so, I found myself workingalongside an administration that was the firstto step up and begin the process of addressingthe unfulfilled promises ofUrbanRenewal thatpreceded them by nearly a half century.Since then the Town, in response to commu-

nity input solicited via the Town ofHuntington

Economic Development Corporation (EDC),for which I serve as Executive Director, hasinvestedmillions in local, state, county and fed-eral grant funds enhancing the New YorkAvenue streetscape with new curbs, brick side-walks, decorative streetlights and street trees.We’ve acquired and developed parcels to createHuntington Station Gateway Park, featuring acommunity garden. Next in the cue is thetransformation of a blighted parking area intowhat will be known as the Huntington Stationpedestrian plaza. It took some years to secureand cobble together grants from varioussources to fund these community enhance-ments, but at last, most of our projects havecome out of the ground.We also responded to residents who asked

for a new grocery store and recreationalopportunities by cultivating and fast-track-ing private sector redevelopments, mostrecently, the Huntington Station Food Plazaand Station Sports Family Fun Center. Inaddition to serving the community, thesecompleted projects, among many others, area clear signal of a municipality’s commitmentto Huntington Station using all of theresources local government can bring to bear.But we know there is much more work to

do. The Town and EDC reached a crossroadsabout one year ago in planning for its nextstep to approach the restoration ofHuntington Station’s downtown business dis-trict. Despite our best efforts, individualdevelopers have been reluctant to invest inpiecemeal developments at specific sites with-out the knowledge and confidence of a com-prehensive New York Avenue commercialcorridor overhaul in the works. No question,times are tough, the economy is still strug-gling and potential investors are faced withmultiple business challenges, not the least ofwhich is a difficult lending environment.I was born a bit too late to have a clear

memory of the Huntington Station down-town along New York Avenue, the heart ofwhich was razed under federal UrbanRenewal. But many families, especially long-timeHuntington Station residents David andBarbara Campbell, who bought their homeon Northridge Street in the fifties, rememberit well. Barbara once told me that the realtorhighlighted the fact that Huntington Stationwas under “Urban Renewal” as a major sell-ing feature.When Barbara asked what UrbanRenewal was, the realtor could only surmisethat whatever it was, it had to be good. Afterall, isn’t the word “renewal” one that con-notes something positive and new? A fewyears later, the Campbells watched theirnearby downtown get bulldozed to theground and replaced with a parking lot.Like many, David and Barbara Campbell

are still waiting for a reprise of their down-town, as are the hundreds who turned outthis week for a community meeting focusedon Huntington Station’s future downtownredevelopment. From the podium, I scannedthe faces of those in the audience and noteda wide range of emotions: anxiousness, frus-tration, fear, anger, hope, excitement and

curiosity. Memories of what once was, andwhat was lost to failed federal policies in thesixties, filled the room.In addressing the audience, I was energized

by the fact that despite the differences of opin-ion that have fueled heated debates aboutHuntington Station in other venues, the Townand community have always shared the com-mon goal of seeing its revitalization to com-pletion. I was also thrilled to see unprece-dented numbers of people coming out in sup-port of an economic revival of this hamlet.When I first started working with the

Supervisor on his Huntington Station agen-da, we were lucky to get 20-30 people in aroom to offer input. With the Town’s forma-tion of the Huntington Station B.I.D. in2003, the circle of special interest expandedinto the business sector, but it was still notenough to achieve the widespread communi-ty-based traction needed to move moun-tains. This is no longer our problem.In recent weeks, there was a misunder-

standing relating to the contents of a reportthat is the result of a year-long market con-ditions study conducted by consultantsunder a $100,000 state-funded planninggrant. The draft report was a requirementunder the Step 1 nomination process of theNew York State Brownfields OpportunityArea (BOA) grant program. It enabled theTown to advance to Step 2 to secure an addi-tional $240,000 from the state for continu-ing planning, community outreach and tostudy and draw updated market conclusionson a 640-acre area of Huntington Station.The idea behind the BOA program is to

take an area-wide look at regions within thestate wherein underutilized parcels haveeither real or perceived obstacles to redevel-opment. In such cases where real environ-mental issues are discovered, the state andmunicipality can work together to addressthem in order to unlock their potential andpave the way for private redevelopment thatwill both serve the community and boost thetax rolls. In such cases where the develop-ment obstacles are found to be perceived,constituting what we suspect will be themajority of instances, the real estate market,economic, demographic and planning datacollected can be used to attract and facilitateinvestment by private developers.Our community meeting was intended to

kick off the Step 2 BOA process, but amidknown concerns surrounding the reportfunded under Step 1, we curtailed what wasto be a longer presentation on the technicalaspects of the grant program to allow for anextended question and answer period.As expected, most of the questions focused

on the report, and throughout the evening weassured the community that it was, in fact, adraft report of data collected in 2009 alongwith suggestions in response to that data, andnot a plan of action. In the weeks and monthsahead, residents will have continuing oppor-tunities through BOA project team smallgroup meetings, EDC meetings, as well as atanother larger community forum, to provide

input and better understand the structureand aim of the ongoing BOA grant program.Many residents spoke during the Q&A

period, and we appreciated and logged theirinput. Some shared their hopes and dreamsfor Huntington Station. Others told us whatthey did not want to see, expressed frustra-tions or made general statements. ThreeHuntington Town board members werepresent, among other elected officials, andremained at the meeting for the full twohours to listen to the public commentary.In addition to individual residents, repre-

sentatives from the Huntington SchoolDistrict as well as organizations that arecivic, ethnic, business, town and faith-based,such as the Huntington Station ActionNOW Coalition, the Porter-Trejo ActionNetwork, Huntington Station Latin Quarter,Greater Huntington Civic Association,Huntington NAACP, Huntington HispanicTask Force, St. Hughes Church, HuntingtonStation B.I.D. and the Huntington Chamberof Commerce, among others, were present.The Step 2 kick-off meeting also provided

an opportunity to introduce the newest part-ner at the table, Don Monti and hisRenaissance Downtowns, LLC team, as theTown’s selected Master Developer forHuntington Station. Renaissance will soonlease office space at 1266 New York Avenuethat is located in the heart of HuntingtonStation’s commercial corridor. In this way,Renaissance can be closely situated for theease and convenience of residents seekinginformation or otherwise looking to getinvolved. They will also conduct residentinput sessions, and other community events,at their Huntington Station satellite office.Further, for those who are Internet

junkies, Renaissance will be rolling out itsproprietary “Crowd Source Placemaking”software as another tool to solicit ideas andbuild community consensus. This initiativeinvolves Renaissance’s launch of a websitewhere virtual community meetings can beheld, thoughtful discussions can take place,and resident ideas can be shared and votedupon to warrant further study and action.Renaissance’s innovative and thoughtful

approach to a comprehensive community-driven redevelopment of HuntingtonStation’s downtown corridor, marked by“process before plan” has ushered in a newera in our Town’s history. In partnership, theTown and community, now with a masterdeveloper at their side prepared to investmillions into Huntington Station, can moveforward to achieve the mutual goal of com-pleting the revitalization in a way that wecan all be proud of.We need only look to the overwhelming

turnaround of the Big H shopping center tosee what is indeed possible when govern-ment, community and the private sectorwork in tandem.Huntington Station is rising. And, just

maybe, when all is said and done, we canfinally leave 1960s Urban Renewal atthe curb.

Huntington Station Is RisingHuntington

PeopleByJoan Cergol

Taste of LILarkfield’s largest room. That also meantthe largest selection – Absolut Vodka,Devils Cut Bourbon, Hornitos PlataTequila, Jameson Black Reserve, MalibuRed Rum, Patron Silver Tequila, PuckerVodka, Ultimate Vodka, XODark Choco-late Liqueur, Baiting Hollow, Blue PointBrewing, Peconic Bay, Roanoke and EastCoast Specialty provided the cocktails.Dining delights came from a group of lo-cal heavy hitters, like Batata Café, BigBear Pizzelli, Copenhagen Bakery, Jelly-fish, Macadoo’s, Mascali, Nocello Ris-torante, Northport Fish & Lobster,Pumpernickel’s, Quetzacoatl, Smok-A-Burger and Whale’s Tale. Want somesweet-and-savory chicken mango tacos?We swung by TheWhale’s Tale table. Ital-ian classics? Nocello’s and Big Bear hitthe spot every time. And for a trip to clas-sic German– a bit of a rarity in this town,even as restaurant capital of Long Island– Pumpernickel’s delivered like it has fordecades, with red cabbage, tender potroast and melt-in-your-mouth potatodumplings.Our final stop brought us to the Ter-race Room, a relaxing spot to unwind anddigest everything – literally and figura-tively. But it wouldn’t be A Taste of LongIsland without more goodies to feast on.Brooklyn Brewery, Edna Valley, GhostPines and Martha Clara Vineyards didthe bar, and Andrea’s 25, Blondies, Clip-per Ship Tea Company, Crossroads Café,Filetto’s Restarant, Nonnina Restaurant,The Lark Pub & Grub and Tutto Pazzodid the honors with our plates. It wasparticularly good to see the ladies fromBlondies, surrounded by scores of minia-ture cupcakes and baked confections –

their red velvet cupcakes are particularlydecadent – and with the built-in portioncontrol, how can you go wrong?After hours of noshing and socializing,the hundreds of diners who attended ATaste of Long Island were all winners.But they were even bigger winners foranother reason – the three charities theevent handsomely benefited. VisitingNurse Service & Hospice of Suffolk, theEast Northport Chamber of Commerceand the Rotary Club of East Northporteach received a portion of the proceeds ofthe event, ensuring the work they do forthe community day in and day out cancontinue. And while there might be de-bates over your favorite restaurant, lend-ing a helping hand is something we canall agree on.



Crew Kitchen & Bar's crispy duckdumplings were a hit.

Flag Box TourThe Greenlawn American Legion, Post #1244will be bringing its mobile “Old Glory” flag col-lection box to the following locations: WoodPark School, 15 New Highway, April 2-15;Sawmill Intermediate, 103 New Highway, April16-20; Commack Middle School, VanderbiltParkway, April 23-27; Rolling Hills School, 25McCulloch Drive, April 30-May 4; HubbsAdministration Bldg., May 7-11.

Women Inspiring WomenFor four Thursdays – April 12, 19, 26; May 3 –join the Women’s Center of Huntington andexplore values, relationships, dreams andhopes, 7-9 p.m. $10 members/$15 non-mem-bers, per session. 631-549-0485

Torah LivingJoin The Chai Center for a weekly dose ofthought-provoking practical applications fortoday’s living based on the weekly Torah por-tion on Thursdays, 7-8 p.m. 501 VanderbiltPkwy, Dix Hills. $7 suggested fee. RSVPrequired. [email protected].

Where They Can’t See You CryIn her candid and uplifting memoir, “In theWater They Can’t See You Cry,” internationalswimming star Amanda Beard reveals the truthabout coming of age in the Olympic spotlight,the demons she battled along the way—alco-hol abuse, drug abuse, bulimia, cutting anddepression—and the newfound happiness thathas proved to be her greatest victory. She willappear at Book Revue on April 5, 7 p.m., 313New York Ave., Huntington. Tammy Walsh,founder of the Northport Community Book Club(Northport Drug & Alcohol Task Force), willmoderate a conversation.

More On The Lincoln AssassinationThe North Shore Civil War Roundtable will hosta lecture by one of its own members, ValerieProtopapas, who will discuss “The Gray Ghostand the Lincoln Assassination: Colonel JohnMosby’s Involvement in the Death of AbrahamLincoln.” The presentation will begin at 7 p.m.on April 5 at the South Huntington PublicLibrary, 145 Pidgeon Hill Road, HuntingtonStation. 631-757-8117.

Townwide Fund GalaThe Townwide Fund of Huntington will cele-brate 50 years of supporting Huntington not-for-profits at an anniversary gala fundraiser atOheka Castle on April 19, honoring those whohave made significant contributions to thefund’s success. The party begins at 6 p.m. withpiano music and cocktails, followed by a fullnight of celebration. The night will culminatewith a live auction by Clark Gilles, formerTownwide Fund Honoree and former Captainof the New York Islanders, of a “Weekend atOheka” which will include golf, spa, and a hotelsuite for two at the landmark castle. $200 perperson/table of 10 for $2,000. www.townwide-fundgala.org.

Opera NightLong Island’s best singers take the stage of St.Paul’s United Methodist Church on April 6, 7:30p.m. 270 Main St., Northport. $10 suggesteddonation. http://isabellajohnson.blogspot.com.631-261-8808.

Music At The LabBaritone Mischa Bouvier, winner of the 2010Concert Artists Guild International Competition,will perform April 13, 6 p.m. in the GraceAuditorium at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory,One Bungtown Road. $20. Call 516-367-8455to reserve a seat.

Egg HuntJoin St. Peter's Lutheran Church for its free,annual Community Easter Egg Hunt on April 7,11 a.m. Bring a basket. 11 Ogden Court,Huntington Station. 631-423 -1013.stpetersli.com

Blessing EmpowermentEmbark on a guided meditation and receive aBuddha’s inspiring blessings at “The BlessingEmpowerment of White Tara” April 7, 10:30a.m.-3:30 p.m. with resident teacher HollyMcGregor at Dipamkara Meditation Center, 282New York Ave., Huntington. $25 for the medita-tion from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; $40 for medi-

tation and commentary afterwards from 2-3:30p.m.; $45 for meditation, commentary, and April8 retreat. 631-549-1000. www.meditationon-longisland.org.

Live MusicLive local bands take over Finley's of GreeneStreet, 43 Greene St., Huntington, everySaturday night at 11 p.m. Join in the fun andfood!

Sock HopGo back to the ’50s with the Sons of Italy PerryComo Lodge’s Sock Hop on April 14, 7 p.m. atthe St. Philip Neri Parish Center, 15 ProspectAve., Northport. Contact Janet Serrao at 631-262-9848.

Memorial SetA memorial honoring the life of Peggy Teufelwill be held April 15, 2 p.m. at the HarborfieldsPublic Library, 31 Broadway, Greenlawn. Teufelwas instrumental in founding the library and itsFriends organization, and many other charita-ble organizations, including the Guide DogFoundation for the Blind, Townwide Fund ofHuntington, Western Suffolk Girl Scout Counciland Greenlawn-Centerport HistoricalAssociation. She died Dec. 13, 2011 at the ageof 91.

Party For Military KidsMonster Mini-Golf will host a free party for chil-dren of military personnel at their Deer Parklocation, 410C Commack Road, on April 15, 10a.m.-noon. RSVP to Beth Delli-Pizzi, Fighting69th Family Readiness Group, by e-mail [email protected].

Bats: Fact And FictionJoin the Huntington-Oyster Bay AudubonSociety and learn why bats are an importantcomponent in the natural world on April 9, 7p.m. Bill Schutt, PhD, will discuss the naturalhistory of bats, dispel some myths and discussthe threats facing bats around the world. ColdSpring Harbor Library, 95 Harbor Road (Route25A), Cold Spring Harbor. Visitwww.hobaudubon.org for more information.

Aging And SagingDeal with changes in your life with a splash ofempathy and humor at the Aging and Sagingsupport group. Meets Mondays except holidaysfrom 10 a.m.-noon at the Women’s Center, 125Main St., Huntington. 631-549-0485. $10 mem-bers, $15 non-members, per session.

Writers’ WorkshopWriters of all levels and genres are welcome toparticipate in a free, informal, two-hour writing

workshop geared towards refining and explor-ing talent April 9, 7-9 p.m. at Book Revue, 313New York Ave., Huntington. Facilitated bymembers of the Long Island Writer's Guild,each workshop will include a writing exercise,volunteered presentations of individual work,and personalized college-level critiques of pre-sented works. No RSVP required. 631-271-1442.

Red Is For PassionLove the color red and enjoy living it up? TheRed Hat women are looking for new memberswho enjoy going places and making newfriends. Their motto: Fun, Frolic andFriendship. 631-271-6470 [email protected].

Free Help For VetsLong Island Cares dedicates every Tuesdayafternoon from 12-4 p.m. to “MilitaryAppreciation Tuesdays,” specifically assistingveterans, military personnel and their familiesat the Hauppauge and Freeport emergencypantries. Appointments can be made by con-tacting [email protected].

Caregiver Support GroupConducted by Jewish Association Serving theAging, a caregiver support group meets April 3,6-7 p.m. at The Bristal, 760 Larkfield Road,East Northport. RSVP recommended; contactPatricia Damm at 631-858-0100 [email protected]. This group is intendedfor but not limited to family members andfriends of those who suffer from Alzheimer’sDisease and other memory impairments.

Tips For Business OwnersSerious about growing your business? LeTipmembers are respected professionals whounderstand how to give and get tips toincrease everyone's bottom line. Join themevery Wednesday, 7-8:30 a.m. at their weeklymorning networking meeting. For more infor-mation, contact Dave Muller, 631-831-1921.RSVP a must.

Power BreakfastJoin business professionals at BNI ExecutiveReferral Exchange’s breakfast networkingmeeting every Wednesday, 7-8:30 a.m. at theDix Hills Diner, 1800 Jericho Turnpike, DixHills. 631-462-7446.

Zumba For A CauseJoin instructor Annette Weiss for a greatZumba workout, and help children with autismand special needs at the same time. Classesare held Wednesdays at 10 a.m. at the ChaiCenter, 501 Vanderbilt Pkwy, Dix Hills. $5 a

class/$25 for six. RSVP to 631-351-8672.Proceeds goes to the Chai Center FriendshipCircle program.

Cold Spring Harbor Library95 Harbor Road, Cold Spring Harbor. 631-692-6820. cshlibrary.org.• On display in April, “Bike Works.” Before itwas considered important to act on changingthe environment, Robert Mielenhausen wascreating images utilizing the bicycle. Hereturns to this subject with a mixed-mediatour.

Commack Public Library18 Hauppauge Road, Commack. 631-499-0888. commack.suffolk.lib.ny.us.• Enjoy a lively program of music, toys, andgames for toddlers. A parent or adult caregiv-er must remain with the child during this pro-gram. Meets Mondays through April 23. 11:45a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Deer Park Public Library44 Lake Ave., Deer Park. 631-586-3000.www.deerparklibrary.com.• With the assistance of career counselorConstance Hallinan Lagan, the free seminar“Thanks For the Pink Slip: The Upside toBeing Downsized, Fired, Let Go, Laid Off,Eliminated, Terminated, Etc.” may enable youto transition into the life you have alwaysdreamt about. Monday, April 9, 7-8:30 p.m.Call 631-586-3000 to register.

Elwood Public Library3027 Jericho Turnpike, Elwood. 631-499-3722. www.elwoodlibrary.org.• Having trouble with email? Want to learn howto use the Internet? Need personalizedhelp? Call and make an appointment with anexpert. Appointments available Mondays andWednesdays at 7 p.m. and Tuesdays at 3p.m.

Half Hollow Hills Community LibraryDix Hills: 55 Vanderbilt Parkway. 631-421-4530; Melville: 510 Sweet Hollow Road. 631-421-4535. hhhlibrary.org.• Learn about the world’s greatest artists whopainted in Venice during the 16th Century,beginning with Titian to centuries later withthe art of Turner, Sargent, Whistler, and theImpressionists, on Wednesday, April 11, 2p.m. in Dix Hills.

• Sondheim’s Company broke new ground asa “concept musical” and won him a TonyAward for best score. Meet five married cou-ples and their “pet” bachelor, Bobby, as theyexplore the good, but mostly bad and uglyaspects of human relationships on Thursday,April 12, 2:30 p.m. in Dix Hills.

Harborfields Public Library31 Broadway, Greenlawn. 631-757-4200. har-borfieldslibrary.org.• The Harborfields High School Fine ArtsExhibition, on display through April 29, show-cases talented student artists and photogra-phers from Harborfields High School.Parents, teachers, students and members ofthe community are invited to the reception onMonday, April 23, 7 p.m.

Huntington Public LibraryMain Branch: 338 Main St., Huntington. 631-427-5165. Station Branch: 1335 New YorkAve., Huntington Station. 631-421-5053.www.thehuntingtonlibrary.org.• Artist Lisa Ahronee Golub’s “A Visit to theBronx Zoo” is on display at the Stationbranch through April 27. Raised in Rome,Italy and Geneva, Switzerland, Golub cameto the United States to attend WellesleyCollege, and later settled in Huntington.

Northport-East Northport Public LibraryNorthport: 151 Laurel Ave. 631-261-6930. EastNorthport: 185 Larkfield Road. 631-261-2313.www.nenpl.org.• The Northport Arts Coalition presents “SheSaid That” on Wednesday, April 11, 7 p.m. inNorthport, a celebration of women poets andsinger-songwriters hosted by NAC’s Poets-in-Port coordinator Mary Jane Tenerelli.

South Huntington Public Library145 Pidgeon Hill Road, Huntington Station.631-549-4411. www.shpl.info.• On the 100th anniversary of the sinking ofthe Titanic, Eco-Photo Explorers will take youon a multi-media journey of her maiden andfinal voyage. The show on April 16. 7-8:30

AT THE LIBRARIES

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THURSDAY CalendarO M M U N I T Y

Opera NightLong Island’s best singers take the stage of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church on

April 6, 7:30 p.m. 270 Main St., Northport. $10 suggested donation. http://isabella-johnson.blogspot.com. 631-261-8808.



p.m. will also chronicle the exciting search forthe wreck, discuss the technology used tofind it and address the controversy regardingthe recovery or artifacts from the site.

Bare Bones Theaterat the Posey School, 57 Main St., Northport.www.barebonestheater.com. 1-800-838-3006.• In Sam Shepard’s dark comedy “True West,”two brothers’ sibling rivalry is both terrifyingand hilarious. Runs for six performances onThursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, April 12-14 and 19-21 at 8 p.m. $20.

Cinema Arts Centre423 Park Ave., Huntington. www.cinemaarts-centre.org. 631-423-7611.• Join Scientists Anne Churchland and RobMartienssen of Cold Spring HarborLaboratory for an entertaining exploration ofthe science of addiction, followed by DannyBoyle’s classic movie, “Trainspotting,” star-ring Ewan McGregor on Wednesday, April 11at 7:30 p.m., part of the Science On Screenseries. $9 members/$13 public.

Dix Hills Performing Arts CenterFive Towns College, 305 N. Service Road, DixHills. Box Office: 631-656-2148.www.dhpac.org.• Enjoy tunes from the Great AmericanSongbook featuring Arnie Gruber and hisband on Sunday, April 15, 2 p.m. $10.

John W. Engeman Theater At Northport350 Main St., Northport. www.johnwenge-mantheater.com. 631-261-2900.• Spring musical theater classes begin April16.

Tilles Center For The Performing ArtsLIU Post Campus, 720 Northern Blvd.,Brookville. www.tillescenter.org. 516-299-3100.• Pop culture icon Florence Henderson willshowcase her musical and dramatic talent onFriday, April 13, 7:30 ($52) and 9:30 p.m.($42). This debut performance in the Cabaretat “Club T” series will feature “America’sFavorite TV Mom”, sharing anecdotes andsongs from her starring roles on Broadway.

Art League of Long Island107 East Deer Park Road, Dix Hills. Galleryhours: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays; 11 a.m.-4 p.m.weekends. 631-462-5400.www.ArtLeagueLI.net.• Featuring the work of three renowned, inno-vative printmakers from the metropolitan area,“Bebout, Johnson, Welden: Mixed MediaPrints” will be on view through April 29.

b.j. spoke gallery299 Main St., Huntington. Gallery hours:Monday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., until 9 p.m. onFriday and Saturday. 631-549-5106.www.bjspokegallery.com.• For the April 1-29 show, Elizabeth Ehrlichmanshows watercolors and prints in “Fruitful”;Barbara Grey shows watercolors and collagework in “Ancient Visions”; and gallery artistsshow a variety of styles and themes in “MyChoice I.” Reception Sunday, April 15, 3-6 p.m.

Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery1660 Route 25A, Cold Spring Harbor. Openseven days a week, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturdayand Sundays until 6 p.m.: $6 adults; $4 chil-dren 3-12 and seniors over 65; members andchildren under 3 are free. 516-692-6768.www.cshfha.org• Features New York State's largest collectionof freshwater fish, reptiles and amphibianshoused in two aquarium buildings and eightoutdoor ponds.

Cold Spring Harbor Whaling MuseumMain Street, Cold Spring Harbor. Museumhours: Tuesday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. $4adults, $3 seniors, $3 students 5 -18, family$12; military and children under 5 are free.631-367-3418. www.cshwhalingmuseum.org.• “Right Whales: Yesterday, Today, andTomorrow,” is on display until Labor Day2012. Thought to be on the brink of extinc-tion, right whales are among the rarest ani-mals on earth.

fotofoto Gallery14 W. Carver St., Huntington. Gallery hours:Friday 5-8 p.m., Saturday 12-8 p.m., Sunday

12-4 p.m. 631-549-0448.www.fotofotogallery.com.• Dis-Integration by Lois Youmans and Femmeby Lauren Weissler now on display.

Heckscher Museum Of Art2 Prime Ave., Huntington. Museum hours:Wednesday - Friday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., firstFridays from 4-8:30 p.m., Saturday and Sundayfrom 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission $6-8/adults, $4-6/seniors, and $4-5/children; members and chil-dren under 10 free. 631-351-3250.• “A Way with Words: Text in Art” presents artthat includes words, lettering, or numbers assubject, design element, or to convey infor-mation. On display through April 15.

• The 16th annual “Long Island’s Best: YoungArtists at the Heckscher Museum” exhibition,on view March 31-April 22, features a diverseselection of works by art students in grades 9-12 from more than 52 public and privateschools throughout Nassau and SuffolkCounties.

Holocaust Memorial And Tolerance CenterWelwyn Preserve. 100 Crescent Beach Road,Glen Cove. Hours: Mon.-Fri.: 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.Sat.-Sun.: noon-4 p.m. 516-571-8040 ext. 100.www.holocaust-nassau.org.• “Using the Lessons of the Holocaust to TeachTolerance,” the center’s permanent exhibit, isnow open. Suggested donation: $10adults/$5 students/$5 seniors.

Huntington Arts CouncilMain Street Petite Gallery: 213 Main St.,Huntington. Gallery hours: Monday - Friday 9a.m.-5 p.m.; Art in the Art-trium: 25 MelvillePark Road, Melville. Gallery Hours: Monday -Friday 7 a.m.-7 p.m. 631-271-8423. www.hunt-ingtonarts.org.• “Nature’s Bounty” at the Art-trium Galleryruns through April 30.

Huntington Historical SocietyMain office/library: 209 Main St., Huntington.Museums: Conklin Barn, 2 High St.; KissamHouse/Museum Shop, 434 Park Ave.; Soldiers& Sailors Memorial Building, 228 Main St. 631-427-7045, ext. 401. www.huntingtonhistorical-society.org.• Learn about the Town of Huntington’s role inthe Civil War in an exhibit at the Soldiers &Sailors Memorial Building.

• The society is sponsoring a trip to the Italianlakes and Greek islands, featuring a seven-night eastern Mediterranean cruise Oct. 3-14.

LaMantia Gallery127 Main St., Northport Village. 631-754-8414.www.lamantiagallery.com.• The gallery welcomes back Edward Gordonand introduces Daniel Del Orfano.

9 East Contemporary Art9 East Carver St., Huntington. Gallery hours:Wed.-Sat., 3-8 p.m. or by appointment. 631-662-9459.• “Earth, Fire and Light,” the works of HughMcElroy and Richard Vaux, is on display untilApril 28. This show of recent works repre-sents the pit-fired clay sculptures by McElroyand the nature inspired archetypallightscapes created using powdered carbonby Vaux.

Northport Historical Society Museum215 Main St., Northport. Museum hours:Tuesday - Sunday, 1-4:30 p.m. 631-757-9859.www.northporthistorical.org.• “50 years of Preserving and CelebratingNorthport's History” honors the society'sfounders and their concerns and activities.

• “History Takes a Vacation,” an educationalseries, runs Tuesday, April 10-Thursday, April12, 9:30 a.m.-noon, for students in grades 2-6.$20 per day for members/$25 per day for non-

members/$50 for all three days for mem-bers/$65 for non-members. Register by April 3.

Suffolk Y JCC74 Hauppauge Road, Commack. 631-462-9800, ext. 140. Tuesday 1-4 p.m. Admission:$5 per person, $18 per family. Special groupprograms available. www.suffolkyjcc.org.• The Alan & Helene Rosenberg JewishDiscovery Museum provides hands-onexhibits and programs for children 3-13 yearsold and their families, classes and camps.Now on exhibit: The Alef Bet of Being aMensch. “Zye a mensch” is a Yiddish sayingthat means "be a decent, responsible, caringperson,” infusing both the best blessing andthe best that an educator can wish for hisstudents.

Vanderbilt Museum and Planetarium180 Little Neck Road, Centerport. Museumhours: Tuesday-Friday, 12-4 p.m., Saturdays,Sundays and holidays, 12-5 p.m.; closedMondays except for holiday weeks. Groundsadmission: $7 adults, $6 seniors, students, and$3 children under 12. Museum tour, add $5 perperson. 631-854-5555. www.vanderbiltmuse-um.org.• The Arena Players Children Theatre presentsthe children's classic “Pinocchio” at theVanderbilt Museum Carriage House Theater,running through April 7. Performances areSaturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. Tickets are$10 for adults, $8 for children, and childrenunder 3 are free. Reservations are highlysuggested. Call the Arena Players at 516-293-0674 or visit ArenaPlayers.org.

Walt Whitman Birthplace246 Old Walt Whitman Road, HuntingtonStation. Hours: Wednesday-Friday, 1-4 p.m.;Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m.- 4 p.m.Admission: $5 adults, $4 seniors/students, andchildren under 5 are free. 631-427-5240.www.waltwhitman.org.• “The Spirituality of Poetry: From WaltWhitman to Mary Oliver – The Reading &Writing of Poetry,” facilitated by AnnabelleMoseley (WWBA Writer in Residence 2009),takes place the last Sunday in March, April,May and June, 1-3 p.m. $10 (due at first ses-sion).

• Children ages 3-11 can enjoy a storytellingperformance by Sima Freierman, a mother,teacher and performer, on Saturday, April 21,1-3 p.m. $8/child, two chaperones free.

The Paramount370 New York Ave., Huntington. 631-673-7300.www.paramountny.com. All shows begin at 8p.m. unless otherwise noted.• “Fountains of Wayne” takes the stage Friday,May 11.

Ridotto, Concerts with a Touch of TheatreAt Old First Church, Route 25A in Huntington.631-385-0373. www.Ridotto.org.• “The Boundaries of Eros” explores the manyfaces of love in Paris around 1900. Featuringsongs by Poulenc, Satie, and Hahn, andcello music by Debussy, Faure and Poulenc;with Tammy Hensrud, soprano, DmitryVolkov, cello, and Svetlana Gorokhovich,piano, on Sunday April 15, 4 p.m. Tickets are$20, $18 (seniors), $15 (members), and $10(students).

Helping Furry FriendsLittle Shelter Animal Rescue and AdoptionCenter is looking for volunteers who want tomake a difference in the lives of animals. Free

training provided. Visit www.littleshelter.com orcall 631-368-8770 ext. 204.

Walt Whitman BirthplaceIf you are interested in literature or history, theWalt Whitman Birthplace has fascinating andrewarding part-time volunteer positions avail-able. Free training provided. 631-427-5420ext.114.

Friends At HomeLooking to earn some community service hourswhile changing a life? As part of theFriends@Home program, a project of TheAriella's Friendship Circle at the Chai Center inDix Hills, visit a child with special needs in anenvironment they are most comfortable: theirown homes. Together, bake cookies, playgames, create arts and crafts, read books andmore. Contact Nati or Sara at 631-351-8672 [email protected]

Helping Runaway KidsShare your ideas and opinions on howHuntington Sanctuary, a program of theHuntington Youth Bureau, can help youth ages12-21 who run away or who are at risk of run-ning away. The group’s advisory board meetsone Thursday a month at 6 p.m. Call 631-271-2183.

Eyes For The BlindSuffolk County’s Helen Keller Services is look-ing for volunteers to visit blind who are home-bound to socialize and aid in reading mail, pos-sibly provide transportation. 631-424-0022.

Help American Red CrossThe American Red Cross is a humanitarianorganization that provides relief to victims ofdisaster and helps people prevent, prepare for,and respond to emergencies. The SuffolkCounty Chapter is looking for volunteers toassist in emergency shelters, at fires and natu-ral disasters, with veterans, at communityevents or at the office. Free trainings provided.631-924-6700 ext 212.

Seeking Volunteer AdvocatesThe Family Service League’s OmbudserviceProgram of Suffolk County is seeking volunteersto train as advocates for nursing home, adulthome and assisted living facility residents tohelp insure they receive quality care and theirrights are protected. 631-427-3700 ext. 240.

Time For Meals On WheelsMeals On Wheels of Huntington is in need ofmen and women to be volunteers, who work inteams, delivering midday meals to shut-ins.Two hours required, one day a week.Substitutes also needed to fill in when regulardrivers are unavailable. There is also a press-ing need for nurses who can volunteer toscreen potential clients. Times are flexible.631-271-5150.

Nursing/Rehab Center Needs HelpOur Lady of Consolation, a 450-bed nursingand rehabilitative care center located at 111Beach Drive in West Islip, is seeking compas-sionate individuals willing to volunteer theirtime as transporters, Eucharistic Ministers,office assistants, recreational therapy assis-tants and spiritual care companions. Volunteersneeded seven days a week, days andevenings. Age 14 and older only. 631-587-1600, ext. 8223 or 8228.

Be A Day Care ProviderLittle Flower Day Care Network is recruiting forthose interested in becoming registered NewYork State Child Day Car providers. Must be 18years or older. Call 631-929-600 ext. 1239 toarrange for an appointment in your home witha day care social worker.

Voice For The ChildrenParents for Megan’s Law and the CrimeVictims Center are seeking volunteers to assistwith general office duties during daytime hours.Candidates should be positive, energetic andprofessional with good communication skills.Resume and three references required. 631-689-2672 or fax resume to 631-751-1695.

VOLUNTEERING

MUSIC & DANCE

MUSEUMS & EXHIBITS

THEATER and FILM

Send us your listingsSubmissions must be in by 5 p.m.10 days prior to publication date.Send to Community Calendar

at 149 Main Street,Huntington, NY 11743,

or e-mail [email protected]


Blessing EmpowermentEmbark on a guided meditation and

receive a Buddha’s inspiring blessings at“The Blessing Empowerment of WhiteTara” April 7, 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. withresident teacher Holly McGregor atDipamkara Meditation Center, 282 NewYork Ave., Huntington. $25 for the medi-tation from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; $40for meditation and commentary after-wards from 2-3:30 p.m.; $45 for medita-tion, commentary, and April 8 retreat.631-549-1000. www.meditationonlongis-land.org.


A local artist strokes his paintbrushacross the faded mural depicting morethan 100 people sitting at the bar insideFinnegan’s restaurant and tap room inHuntington village. Passersby are trans-fixed as he transforms the mural fromdull to vibrant in a matter of seconds.One woman stops in her tracks and

walks up to the work of art.“I know someone on this wall,” she

says, pointing. “The man right there ismy uncle.”That was the scene last week at

Finnegan’s on Wall Street, home to thegiant mural of faces that has becomesomewhat famous in town. The tap roomestablished its mark in the village in1912, and will be celebrating its 100thanniversary this year. As a part of the cel-ebration, the owners asked artist PhilipJordan, who painted the mural in 1978,to recolor it.“The present owners contacted me

because I’m the original artist whopainted the mural,” Jordan, 57, said. “It’sa memorial for the town and it’s time tofix it up.”After Jordan, a Huntington native,

graduated the Kansas City Art Institute,he wanted to establish himself as anartist and get his name out to the public.At that time, his brother C.J. worked atFinnegan’s. C.J. asked owner Rusty Pet-tit if his brother could paint a mural forfree.Jordan’s payment came in the form of

free food and drink from the pub. Theowner paid for the high-end signpainter’s enamel, which is very expen-sive, but because of its high pigmentationit lasts many years.Pettit and Jordan took Polaroid pic-

tures of Finnegan’s regulars. The conceptfor the mural was to capture the regularsas they would always be seen at the bar.For instance, one man sat at the samespot at the bar every day, oneman was al-ways holding his favorite drink and an-other man was constantly filling outcrossword puzzles.There are about 140 people on the mu-

ral and about 50 of them have died, Jor-dan said, including his brother C.J.“The original concept was to have all

the regulars at the bar and painted in thiscaricature fashion. It was just a goodidea. I didn’t know how I came up withthe idea but I did,” Jordan said. “And nowit’s turned into amemorial because it’s 34years old and a lot of the people are gone.It’s something that’s a fabric of the town.”Jordan completed the mural in De-

cember 1978. His artwork took about sixmonths to complete. This time around,since the artist is not starting fromscratch, he said it will take about threemonths to retouch the mural with thehelp of other local artists, including astudent from Huntington Fine ArtsSchool.“I’m very glad that it’s never been real-

ly vandalized in all the 30 years. Therehave been a couple of graffiti marks on itbut the kids of the town and the people ofthe town have respected it all these years

for whatever reason,” he said.Currently, Jordan works as a decora-

tive artist in Manhattan, where he paintsmurals in people’s homes, restaurantsand catering halls.Tommy Forte, manager/bartender of

Finnegan’s for 22 years, said the unveil-ing of the mural may be at the beginningof June. Forte wants to document all thefaces on themural and would like anyonewho knows of anyone on the wall to cometo Finnegan’s, call 631-423-9696 or con-tact Jordan through their Facebook page,www.facebook.com/FinnegansMural.The anniversary celebration continues

on Saturday, July 28, when Finnegan’swill close Wall Street from Gerard Streetto Main Street from 6 to 10 p.m. Fortesaid he is going to bring back about 25bartenders, who have worked at the pubdating back to the 1960s, to serve drinks.There will also be music, bagpipers andIrish dancers. Forte noted they will havea show focusing on the Prohibition era,during which the United States bannedthe sale, manufacture and transportationof alcohol from 1919 to 1933.“Finnegan’s was a speakeasy back in

the Prohibition days,” Forte said. “Theymade their own liquor and served it intea cups.”Andrew Finnegan was the original

owner of the pub. There have been a fewowners since then including Finnegan’sson Bill and Pettit. Lessing’s, which owns

The Library Café in Farmingdale andMaxwell’s in Islip, is the current owner.“Finnegan’s has been around 100

years. It has been the ‘Cheers’ of Hunt-ington,” Forte said, referring to theBoston bar made popular by the televi-sion show. “Good food, good cheer, goodpeople; that’s always been our tradition.”

HUNTINGTON

Finnegan’s Celebrates 100 YearsBy Stephanie [email protected]


Giving teens powerenough representation from all schoolson Long Island everywhere,” Goldmansaid. “Unity in the community should be away of life, not just a conference day.”The Unity Leadership Conference also

took place in Brooklyn and Boston, Mass.National Grid funded all conferences

throughout the northeast.“We’re just thrilledNational Grid Foun-

dation could be sponsoring this and playa little bit of a role to keep this going,” saidBob Keller, president of the National GridFoundation. “It’s important that weevolve as a society and we no longer havea need for a conference like this.”


Local leads St. Pats runipini came in third, fourth and fifth intheir age group.More than 40 volunteers, board mem-

bers and community members made therun a success with their help, and havingan ambulance and crew from the Hunt-ington Community First Aid Squad onsite was reassuring to all.

The Townwide Fund of Huntingtonwas founded in 1961 by community lead-ers who wanted to raise funds for localhealth and human service agencies. Itcurrently has 20 member agencies serv-ing the needs of those who live and/orwork in Huntington.Results and photos can be found at

www.townwidefund.org.


Artist Philip Jordan retouches the mural atFinnegan’s he painted in 1978 to help thepub celebrate its centennial.

HalfHollow

Hills

photo/StephanieDeLuca

MELVILLE

Contest To CelebrateArmed Forces DayIn recognition of Armed Forces Day

in May, Genser Dubow Genser & Cona(GDGC), estate planning and elderlaw firm based in Melville, is raisingawareness of the contributions by vet-erans with a student essay contest onLong Island.The contest is open to elementary,

middle and high school students.Three winners will be chosen fromeach level and awarded a savingsbond.“Because of the work I do with sen-

iors, many of whom are veterans, Ihope to give young people an opportu-nity to think about their love for thiscountry and the immense respect duethe Veterans and active military per-sonnel who secure our freedom everyday,” said Melissa Negrin-Wiener,partner at GDGC.

Students may choose to write on ei-ther of the following topics: WhatAmerica Means to Me or My ArmedForces Hero.Essays should be between 500 and

1,000 words and are due by April 20.They should include: name of school,grade level, telephone number, streetaddress, email address.Submit the essay via email to Melis-

[email protected] or mail it to:Genser Dubow Genser & Cona, 225Broad Hollow Road, Suite 200,Melville, New York 11747.For more information, call 631-390-

5000.All of the winners will be honored by

May 19 at an Armed Forces Day Cele-bration held at the Huntington HillsCenter for Health and Rehabilitationin Melville.

The famous mural at Finnegan’s Tap Room in Huntington village is getting a makeover. The original artist, who painted the masterpiece 30 years ago, has returned for touchups to help thepub prepare for its 100th anniversary celebration this summer. Know anyone in the mural?


‘Play Ball,’ Say CA And Early Years Institute

What does a $4.4-billion softwarecompany have in common with a not-for-profit dedicated to early childhood?They’re both concerned about the time

children are spending watching TV. Andthey’re doing something about it.CA Technologies, the Islandia-based

software giant, and the Early Years Insti-tute in Plainview are joining thousandsof businesses, schools, cultural and com-munity organizations nationwide insponsoring the second annual Screen-Free Week, running April 30 to May 6.What’s wrong with kids watching TV,

playing video games, and surfing the in-

ternet? Plenty.First, kids spend way too much time

glued to their screens. Children ages 2-6average four hours a day; older kids morethan seven. More screen time leads to de-cline in school performance, especiallyreading and comprehension skills. Todaykids are six times more likely on a typicalday to play a video game than to ride a bike.Those displaced activities are critical in

building kids’ physical, mental and socialskills. Research shows that children whospendmore time outdoors have longer at-tention spans than those who consumemore TV and video games. And thatsedentary viewing—along with all thejunk food commercials—greatly increaseskids’ risk of obesity.Most grave are the risks to young chil-

dren, whose brain growth in the firstyears of life depends on the quality oftheir early experiences. Kids need lots ofpersonal interaction. Passive entertain-ment doesn’t cut it.That is why the American Academy of

Pediatrics says that children under theage of 2 should not be watching TV at all.

Yet by three months, four out of 10 in-fants are viewing regularly.Electronics have become the path of

least resistance, for kids and their par-ents. We need to recognize the toll it istaking and start reclaiming some of thatscreen time for other activities.Shutting off the screens for a week is a

great way to push ourselves into breakingout. Let kids rediscover the pleasure ofriding a bike, playing catch and jumpingrope. For many kids, it won’t be rediscov-ery at all. You’d be amazed how manykids today don’t even know how to playhopscotch, much less how to fly a kite.For indoors at night, experts are big on

drawing and coloring. (A recent studycompared 4-year-olds who watchedSpongeBob for nine minutes with kidswho spent the time drawing with crayons.Following the activities the kids were giv-en a series of tests of executive function;the SpongeBob watchers did significantlyworse.) Card games, board games, andparty games provide the personal interac-tion that is just what the pediatrician or-dered for social development.

When the week is up, families can keepfrom getting back in their rut by settingup new guidelines, such as limitingscreen use to certain days or times, turn-ing sets off during meals and designatinga family time devoted to play.Changing settled habits isn’t easy. But

a Screen-Free Week could be just thepush we need to get kids making health-ier use of their time.

Nancy Rauch Douzinas is president ofthe Rauch Foundation, a family founda-tion that supports innovative programscentered on children, the environment,and regional leadership. For more infor-mation visit www.rauchfoundation.org.Rauch Foundation is a supporter of theEarly Years Institute.

A

LongIslandBriefing

By Nancy Rauch [email protected]

PHOTOGRAPHY

Spring Has Sprung, Both Indoors And Outdoors

Winter is over. If you are someone whoenjoys photographing in the snow or theaction photos of winter sports, this was notthe best winter. You had to make your wayto the Canadian border to find and realwinter conditions this year. But not towor-ry; I’m sure there will be a future winter inwhich Mother Nature provides you amplecold weather photo opportunities.Spring has sprung. This is a time when

many people start to respond to the longer,warmer days. The days become more col-orful as vegetation starts to come alive. Formany, it triggers the desire to rescue theircamera form its winter hibernation.The first thing you notice about spring is

the rapidly changing weather. For a pho-tographer, this creates all sorts of great op-portunities – sun, rain, clouds and fog can

all be used effectively to create pleasingphotos. Bright cloudy days create the per-fect lighting situation for flower photogra-phy. Evenly spread light creates a studio-lighting effect that allows even the mostsubtle colors to show, whereas a bright,sunny day produces washed-out colors.Spring’s biggest attraction is flowers,

which is convenient since flowers and pho-tography are made for each other. Photo-graphing flowers is hardwork regardless ofwhether you are an avid botanist looking tospot and catalogue different species, or thetype who likes to stroll into your backyardand snap a few photos. I consider myselfpart of the latter group, since I can’t tell arose from a tulip. I just try to get a decentphotograph when I see a flower that looksinteresting.Serious flower photography requires a

good amount of patience and equipment.The best flower photos require you to getdown to the flowers’ level. Photos takenfroma topdownangle above the bloomarerarely interesting. Keep your flower photossimple and uncluttered; focus on oneflower or a small group, and be sure to getin close. Keep your backgrounds clean andfree of bright distractions, and maintain asteady hand, whichmeans keeping a smalltripod handy.A bright, cloudy day is a perfect time to

bring your camera into your garden. These

cloudy days can also bring a littlemoisture,especially in themorning as dew. If you liketo take close-up photos, earlymorning dewcan make spider webs, leaves or flowersmuch more interesting.If you like flowers, make sure to attend

the 12th Annual Huntington Tulip Festivalon Sunday, May 6 at Hecksher Park. Theevent runs all day and there is plenty of ac-tion and scenery to keep both you and yourcamera busy. If you get a good photo, besure to enter the festival’s photographycontest. You can download an entry formon theTownofHuntington’s website.Win-ning photos will be featured in the 2013festivals promotional materials.Spring also offers an abundant amount

of outdoor sports, such as baseball, soccerand lacrosse, offering excellent opportuni-ties for good, high-action photography. Ifyou’re using a digital SLR camera, remem-ber to bring your long lens and use a wideopen aperture to freeze the action. If youare using a compact camera, you will wantto set the camera to the sports mode andlet the camera handle all the settings – youjust worry about getting your favorite ath-lete in the frame.A few tips for good sports photography:

Keep your background clean of any dis-tracting objects and try panning the cam-era with your moving subject to create thesense of motion in your photo. If you hap-

pen to get some nice action photos, re-member to ask the school or organizationif they would like some copies, as they arealways looking for good photos of theirevents and players.Not all spring photo opportunities are

outdoor events. Many take place indoorsand are just as photo-worthy. Popularspring indoor events include school theaterproductions, which are very challenging tophotograph correctly. Stage productionsare often performed in low, ambient light,making it difficult to freeze the action andminimize motion blur. You also have tomove quickly and quietly during perform-ances so as not to be a distraction. This al-so applies toweddings, another popular in-door spring event.If you don’t have the proper equipment

for low-light stage photos you can alwaysask permission to head backstage prior toor after the performance to get photos ofeveryone getting ready. Schools will alwaysbe interested in some of your photos fortheir yearbooks and other activities, sodon’t be afraid to ask permission for access.So now that spring is here with ample

photo opportunities abound (both indoorand outdoor), it should be able to keep youbusy until summer arrives. Perhaps thisyear, Mother Nature may have her sightson an early summer if the recent spell ofhot weather is any indication.

ThroughThe LensBy Kevin [email protected]

Taking photographs of indoor events, like stage productions, can be tricky due to the lighting. With the proper equipment, you can take low-light stage photos, like the one of the finale of“Willy Wonka” by Trinity Regional School in East Northport, left. Or you can head backstage to get photos of everyone getting ready, like in the photo of Grace Ambrose (playing Willy Won-ka) with the Oompa Loompas, at right.


P U Z Z L EP U Z Z L E P A G EP A G EJOKETIMEJUMBLESPREMIER CROSSWORD / By Frank A. Longo

CRYPTOQUIP

Today’s Cryptoquip clue: Q equals T

Q Y D P D U I S E Q K J V S -

N D S U V I M W ’ F D

B E F D R Q Y T Q B I K T

X T Q - W V J R , Z I Q

X S V Z T Z M K C E B I S -

D W E Q J T P R ’ Q

J V S Q Y Q Y D C S E P N .

Answer to“Isle Say!”

ANSWER TO LASTWEEK’S CRYPTOQUIP

Published March 29, 2012

NEW CRYPTOQUIP BOOKS 3 & 4! Send $3.50for one book or $6.00 for both (check/m.o.) toCryptoquip Classics Books 3 and 4, P.O. Box536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475

©2012 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

Publ ished March 29, 2012

©2012 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

I FINALLY HEARD ABOUT THE

RESULTS OF YESTERDAY’S EGG-

COOKING CONTEST. LOOKS

LIKE IT WAS WON BY A

WHISKER.


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RUNNING

DixHills Runner First In St. Patrick’s Run

The annual Townwide Fund of Hunt-ington St. Patrick’s Run fell on St.Patrick’s Day this year, and the event wasblessed with the same beautiful weatherthat prevailed for the Huntington An-cient Order of Hibernians’ parade theprevious Sunday.This year, the start/finish area wasswitched to the opposite end of the scenic

course along Huntington Harbor be-cause of roadwork on Route 110 in theHalesite area. As a result, contestants inthe 4-mile race had the challenge of thedouble hill just before entering CoindreHall Park for the final dash to the finish.As it turned out, a beautiful burgundymodel C-70 convertible provided byHuntington Voloville not only paced the

runners, but was a great means to getpictures of the race in progress.There were 416 runners, led by Ter-rence McElhatton of Dix Hills in 21:20and young phenom Ryan Udvadia andJonah Blumstein, all the way fromBrooklyn. A frequent participant in thefund’s runs, 71-year-old Barry Aronowskiof Greenlawn was the anchor in 1:05:08.On the distaff side, Christine Kennycame out from the city to sweep in firstwith a time of 23.50, followed byHeatherWilliams of Centerport 11 seconds laterand then Veronica Alvarado of Baldwinexactly three minutes later.The Fun Run had a wonderful range ofages and costumes among the entrantswith about 75 taking part in the joy ofrunning. The former McKesson BrownMansion stood sentinel over the finisharea that is part of a circular drivewaygraced with stately old growth trees.Once the 4-mile event was complete,the front porch was an ideal site for

presentation of awards to the six over-all winners and the top three in eachage group and gender. The merchan-dise awards were provided by SuperRunner Shop. In addition, the top per-son in each age group was given a keychain with a cloisinée charm attached,from sponsor Village Jewelers.The Hartigan High School Challengeonly had one school declare an entry.Therein lies a tale, as they say. When Bri-anMcConnell of Huntington learned thatthere were no other teams entered, heasked around school and managed tocome up with four more lads to compriseone. Three members of Huntington’strack team had already entered as indi-viduals. Brian latched onto fellowfencer/crew member Brent Filipini andthey joined Tom Boisclair and ScottGulizio, who are both familiar with thecourse, and fellow track member MarcHenry Sanon. Gulizio, Boisclair and Fil-

Athletes are off an running for the Townwide Fund of Huntington’s 4-mile St. Patrick’s Run.

LACROSSE

Catch The Friars On TVFans of the St. Anthony’s Friars cantune in Saturday for a preview of theSt. Anthony’s varsity boys lacrosseteam’s season.MSG Varsity, Cablevision’s televi-sion network dedicated to all thingshigh school, will preview on April 7the Delbarton (N.J.) v. St. Anthony’smatchup, starting at 3 p.m. The cov-erage will also be available to non-Optimum customers.“Cablevision’s iO TV and OptimumOnline customers have exclusive ac-cess to MSG Varsity, which deliversunparalleled coverage of local highschool students participating in theactivities they love most, from foot-ball and lacrosse to band and aca-demics,” said Theresa Chillianis,general manager of MSG Varsity.“The response to our coverage of lo-

cal students has been tremendousand we’re thrilled to partner withWLNY TV 10/55 to give non-Opti-mum customers a sample of whatthey are missing from the tri-stateleader on all things high school.”MSG Varsity’s “Game of the Week”broadcasts will be available on TV55/10 in the NY Metro Area on thefollowing systems: Verizon FiOSChannel 10; DirecTV Channel55/893; and DISH Channel 55/8107.Previews will continue each Satur-day in April from 3-5 p.m., when theWLNY TV 10/55 audience can watch“MSG Varsity’s Game of the Week,”featuring high school boys lacrossegame coverage. The preview will in-clude tri-state matchups as well ascolor commentary and in-game in-sights from MSG Varsity experts.

A boys travel basketball team from St. Matthew’s in Dix Hills has much to celebrate. Thesquad won the Seventh Grade Long Island Super League championship on March 28 atthe Island Garden in West Hempstead against Long Island Lightning Maline by a finalscore of 54-51. Pictured with their trophies are: (bottom row, left to right) Daniel Serpe,Jeremy Shuster, Hunter Kaplan; (back row, left to right) Coach Hunt Bresky, BransonLeifer, Jared Hall, Reed Bresky, Brian Golub, Coach Richard Serpe and Andrew Connell.

YOUTH BASKETBALL

Travel TeamWins Big(Continued on page A18)



HillSPORTS

“I think we havethe potential to bea fantastic team.We have all the as-sets we just need tocommunicate bet-ter, work togetherand be a wholerather than indi-viduals.”

“We need towork 110 percentevery single gameand we can nevertake a day off.”

“We need to be-come closer as ateam and reallywork on commu-nication skillsand the parts thatwe can over-achieve in to helpus win games.”

“We need topractice, play thegame and wehave to reallyminimize the er-rors.”

In Their OwnWords18 Allie Hecht

Junior Catcher13 Taylor Russo

Sophmore Third base5 Danielle Bruno

Sophmore Center field17 Julia Bertolino

Senior Left field

GIRLS SOFTBALL

Young TeamSteppingUp To The PlateNew Varsity coach for Hills East leads young team after 7-12 2011 season

Half Hollow Hills East’s varsity soft-ball team is young, but head coachMegan Pfaeffle and assistant coachJacqueline Lucido believe the improve-ments the girls have made will get themthrough the season.The girls ended last season 7-12 in

their league. Lucido said they lost twostarters last year to graduation andsome others did not return from theprevious season. This year’s softballteam is comprised of three seniors, onefreshman and many sophomores.“Pretty much everyone starting this

year is fairly new,” Lucido said. “I guessit’s a good and bad thing that we havesuch a young team – in the sense that inthe years to come they’ll get better – butthey are young girls so they’ve beenplaying against some big kids that havebeen playing on varsity for four years. A

lot of our girls that are starters havebeen on varsity for a year, not even.”This is the first year Pfaeffle is coach-

ing at the varsity level. He coached twoyears at the junior varsity level.“They’re coming through. There’s

been improvement since the beginningof the season so far,” Pfaeffle said. “Wehad a couple of games that were kind ofrough but we’re seeing the improve-ments.”Hills East was on the bottom of the

totem pole in League III as of Monday.The girls fell short in their last game toSmithtown West (9-8) on March 30. Al-though the girls lost 5-3 during theirMarch 28 game against Centereach, Lu-cido said they played well and it was abig improvement from the prior games.“We gave up a few runs that we

shouldn’t have [against Centereach],and in Smithtown West we came backand almost beat them. We had a 7-run,bottom-of-the- seventh-inning come-

back. So we’re definitely moving in theright direction that way,” Lucido said.The girls fell to East Islip, 14-2, in

their first league game on March 27 andlost their first non-league game of theseason to Bayport-Blue Point, 10-4, onMarch 23.The Thunderbirds will also have more

competition this season against WaltWhitman, Smithtown East, Riverhead,Copiague, New Field and Deer Park.The head coach said they’re looking

for good things to come from theirfreshman pitcher Jessica Leeb as wellas third baseman Taylor Russo andcenter fielder Danielle Bruno. Lucidosaid catcher Allie Hecht is a key hitteron the team.

“She’s really stepping up behind theplate,” the assistant coach said.

Samantha D’Acunti just transferredfrom St. Anthony’s and she has steppedup as the team’s pitcher.Pfaeffle said she would like the girls to

have a winning season, but added thatseeing the improvements and watchingthe team grow is a plus.Lucido said having a young team has

its benefits and faults.“They can start working now and

playing together, and hopefully withinthe next couple of years they’ll startcoming into their own,” she said.The Thunderbirds will head to Whit-

man on April 10 for their next leaguegame.


How will you overcome the competition this season?

Senior Julia Bertolino said the girls have great potential to go far this season.

Girls softball team practicing their drills on Monday.

Half

Hollow

Hills

photos/Stephan

ieDeLuca

half hollow hills newspaper - april 5, 2012

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