Half Hollow Hills Newspaper - April 25, 2013

HALF HOLLOW HILLS Copyright © 2013 Long Islander Newspapers, LLC

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N E W S P A P E R

VOLUME FIFTEEN, ISSUE 33

24 PAGES

THURSDAY, APRIL 25 , 2013

DIX HILLS

Chai Center Expansion 95-Percent Done Synagogue still trying to find $120,000 to fund final projects in 2.4-million plan mkoehler@longislandernews.com

Construction is nearly complete on an expansion at the Chai Center that will double the size of the Dix Hills synagogue, but funding may be an issue.

Chai Center officials sent an email last week saying that $120,000 in bonds earning 3-percent interest were being sold.

MELVILLE

Biohazard Emergency Drill Planned

By Luann Dallojacono ldallojacono@longislandernews.com

(Continued on page A17)

(Continued on page A17)

Rabbi Yackov Saacks stands in the Chai Center’s new mikvah, a bath used for ritual immersions, which will become one of the few on Long Island.

MELVILLE

Demolition Of Empire Szechuan Nears Worker’s comp paperwork last stumbling block

By Danny Schrafel

Half Hollow Hills photo/archives

Wailing of sirens and emergency vehicles racing to Melville this Saturday may not necessarily be cause for alarm.

The U.S. Postal Service announced on Monday plans to conduct an emergency preparedness exercise in Melville on April 27.

The exercise, to be held at the Mid Island Mail Processing & Distribution Center at 160 Duryea Road, is intended to test response plans to a biohazard event.

“It’ll be as though there was anthrax,” USPS spokeswoman Connie Chirichello said.

As a full-scale drill, the exercise will include evacuating employees and receiving emergency responders.

“If people drive by, they may see a lot of police cars and fire engines on the main street. We will be having our biohazard detection equipment coming in on trucks, so they may hear sirens,” Chirichello said.

The exercise, which is expected to disrupt traffic in the vicinity, is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. and last about three hours, postal officials said.

The Melville Fire Department will participate, as will other community mutual aid responders, Suffolk County Public Health Department,

That would cover the last of their twoyear, $2.4-million project.

But on Friday, Rabbi Yackov Saacks learned both civil and Jewish law prevent that transaction.

“We cannot call it a bond,” Saacks said.

“You cannot lend money with interest.”

The price tag to add another 12,000 square feet onto the original 12,000 square-foot building was originally $2.2 million. Those expenses increased by $200,000 since work began in April 2011.

Officials said most of the funding has already been secured. According to Saacks, “generous people helping the cause” donated about $1.7 million, and the center borrowed $350,000 from the bank. With bonding off the table, the rabbi said they need to find another source for the remaining $120,000.

“We go back to the drawing board,” he said. “We’re looking for angels.”

Construction began with a groundbreaking in March 2011. Plans originally called for three phases, with the first two going simultaneously.

According to those plans, a 4,500 square-foot addition was to be built onto each floor to allow for six additional classrooms, a 3,000 square-foot social hall to

Half Hollow Hills photo/Mike Koehler

By Mike Koehler

dschrafel@longislandernews.com

Town officials said a demolition permit is just around the corner for the owners of the deteriorating Empire Szechuan building on Route 110 in Melville.

All that Great Neck-based Melville Pacific LLC needs to do before they receive a demolition permit, according to town spokesman A.J. Carter, is submit documentation of worker’s compensation insurance.

The owners, Carter said, plan to demolish the entire building except for one wall and part of the foundation, and build the new structure around the surviving pieces.

“Before they issue the permit, they have to provide certain documentation, and one is a worker’s comp certificate for the people involved in it,” Carter said Friday. “We’re just waiting, and [assistant Town Attorney]

A demolition permit for the former home Empire Szechuan is waiting on worker’s compensation insurance paperwork, town officials said last week.

Patricia Flynn is trying to double-back with them so everything can proceed.”

Empire Szechuan closed in 2008, and since then, the building has twice been on the town’s blighted property registry. The

owners of Melville Pacific said they plan to build a new restaurant, called Fujiyama Mama, which will focus on sushi with American food incorporated.

IN THIS WEEK’S EDITION

Hills School Board Finalizes Budget A3

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A2 • THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 25, 2013

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THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 25, 2013 • A3

HALF HOLLOW HILLS

Hills School Board Finalizes Budget Half Hollow Hills photo/Jacqueline Birzon

By Jacqueline Birzon jbirzon@longislandernews.com

Following a tumultuous six-month planning period that called for $8.4 million in cuts, the Half Hollow Hills Board of Education adopted the proposed 2013-2014 budget on Monday.

The divisive planning process resulted in reductions to staff, programs and facilities, and a property tax levy cap of 2.97 percent.

According to Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Facilities Anne Marie Marrone-Caliendo, there was an overall 2.86-percent increase from budget to budget, or, an increase of $6.3 million; last year’s property tax levy was capped at 2.33 percent.

Marrone-Calideno said the district received $1.2 million more in state legislative aid than Governor Andrew Cuomo had initially projected, reflecting smaller cuts than originally projected.

The district’s total revenue for next year is estimated at $228,254,916, 82.24 percent of which comes from the property tax levy, 11.5 percent from state aid, 4.16 percent from savings and 2.06 from PILOTS/Miscellaneous. The PILOT (payments in lieu of taxes)/Miscellaneous category saw a disproportional recalibration of funds, as PILOT revenues increase by 10.77 percent, while the miscellaneous category saw a 26.37 percent decrease.

Marrone-Caliendo attributed to loss of miscellaneous revenues to decreased Fed-

Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Facilities Anne Marie Marrone-Caliendo explains the budget adoption process Monday at Chestnut Hill. eral Medicare Part D reimbursement.

During Monday’s presentation at Chestnut Hill Elementary School however, the assistant superintendent shed light on the gradual decline of restricted use reserves.

In June 2010, the district’s restricted use reserves totaled over $26 million. In 2014, however, the balance is estimated to be at

$14,848,169, a decrease of more than $12 million over four years.

“Because we’re using from reserves, as we should, to balance the budget, and we’re not replenishing…there’s less to raise in taxes, but a downward trend to balance,” Marrone-Caliendo said.

The district will utilize $4.25 million to

balance the budget from reserves, the same figure used to maintain the 20122013 budget.

The district’s savings totaling more than $8 million found the greatest relief, of $3,693,410, in reducing middle school from 9 periods to 8 periods. During Monday’s meeting, Dr. Patrick Harrigan, assistant superintendent for district-wide administration, said roughly 20 middle school teachers across the district’s two elementary schools will be excessed. Other modifications to the middle school student day includes: an adjustment in instruction time, or modifying time spent in each period; eliminating computer instruction; and cutting middle school seminar classes.

World Languages will be offered to sixthgraders as an exploratory course, with a focus on language instruction as well as a cultural emphasis.

Monday’s budget presentation outlined two more areas of savings, including $150,876 in reduction to planned fund balance, and $312,958 in bond refinancing.

Should the budget not pass, a contingency budget would call for an additional $5.4 million in reductions.

Two board of education members are up for re-election, including David Kaston and Eric Geringswald. As of April 22, Kaston and Geringswald are the only two petitions the board received for those seats.

Looking ahead, the district will hold a budget hearing on May 13, and residents can vote on the budget, and in the trustee election, on May 21.

DIX HILLS/SOUTH HUNTINGTON

New Alert System For South Huntington Water

By Danny Schrafel dschrafel@longislandernews.com

The South Huntington Water District will be using the same emergency-alert system that has earned high marks in the nearby, town-operated Dix Hills Water District.

Huntington’s town board voted April 9 to execute an inter-municipal agreement with the South Huntington Water District, in which the water district will pay $2,500

annually to use the town’s CodeRED-powered emergency alert system.

Kevin Carroll, the superintendent of the South Huntington Water District, said the system’s performance during Superstorm Sandy is what convinced South Huntington officials to sign up.

“We liked the way it worked. It’s dependable. It’s a proven system… We thought it would be a natural fit,” he said.

The CodeRED database allows alert

messages to be sent to cell phones and through text messages and emails. Anyone who downloads the CodeRED app to their smartphone will receive notifications of active alerts in that area.

All emergency alert notifications are covered under the annual flat fee, town spokesman A.J. Carter said. Additional, non-emergency notifications to residents would also be available and billed to the district at the town’s per-minute fee. Car-

TOWN OF HUNTINGTON

More Incentives To Build Green

By Mike Koehler mkoehler@longislandernews.com

Not only can going green save the environment, but it can save money.

The Town of Huntington is taking cue from the state and may begin offering tax exemptions for new construction that meets LEED qualifications.

An acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, LEED is an internationally accepted set of criteria for environmentally-friendly building and construction. Points are awarded for using natural light, non-permeable surfaces, automatic shut-off switches and other energy conserving designs and techniques. The final score determines what certification the construction receives – from certified to platinum.

NewYork State authorized municipalities to offer tax exemptions for LEED-

rated new construction last year, Huntington Councilman Mark Cuthbertson said, and this proposal stems from that.

“We lose a little bit of tax revenue, but the hope is we’re building sustainable and more environmentally friendly buildings,” Cuthbertson said. “For the long-term sustainability of our town, county and country,” to build a better building.

According to the proposal, construction must begin no earlier than Jan. 1, 2013, cost at least $10,000, and be documented by a building permit and certificate of occupancy.

All LEED-certified construction would be fully tax-exempt for the first three years. The bottom two levels would lose 20 percent of that exemption every year, while gold-rated projects would have an extra year of 100 percent tax-exemption and platinum-certified

jobs would have another two years beyond gold.

Canon’s new North American 750,000 square-foot headquarters would have qualified had construction begun this year. They received $16 million in sales tax exemptions and $19 million in real estate tax exemption from the county and state. Target’s future 150,000 square-foot store on Jericho Turnpike in Huntington Station also would have qualified, but construction began before 2013. The proposed Huntington Hotel for the village could qualify.

The legislation would include private homes, although Cuthbertson said most of the LEED criteria cater more towards commercial properties than their residential counterparts.

A public hearing has been scheduled for May 7 at 2 p.m. at Huntington Town Hall.

roll said the district does not plan to use the system for anything but water emergencies such as droughts, service disruptions or water quality alerts.

The multimedia approach, Carter said, proved valuable during Sandy, which crippled many avenues of communication. “[Supervisor Petrone was] very happy with the response he got from residents from the calls he made during Hurricane Sandy,” Carter said.

The town first began using CodeRED in September 2012 to operate the town’s Huntington Alert emergency alert system.

The town announced it would be changing emergency alert service providers after issues arose when a boil-water order was issued for the Dix Hills Water District in the last days of 2011. Efforts to send a robocall to customers were unsuccessful and tech support efforts were insufficient, leading many Dix Hills Water customers to complain that the town’s efforts to communicate news of the boil-water order were woefully inadequate.

That hasn’t been the case with CodeRED, Carter stressed.

“The system has been good. They’ve been very responsive to us and proactive in helping us,” he said, noting that ahead of extreme weather, CodeRED representatives call the town to plan for the storm.

To sign up for Huntington Alert, visit http://huntingtonny.gov, click on the Huntington Alert icon on the home page and complete the sign-up form. If you don’t have Internet access, call 631-351-3044.

Required information includes first and last name; a physical, non-P.O. box street address, city, state, zip code; and primary phone number. Additional phone numbers and an email may also be entered.

A4 • THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 25, 2013

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POLICE REPORT Compiled by Mike Koehler

Safety This Spring

Pow, Right In The Kisser

That doesn’t mean, though, that I’m going to keep a few long-sleeved items in the closet – just in case Mother Nature has another curveball coming, of course.

Signs of spring… It’s curious to see how spring unfolds from where I sit in Huntington. My office neighbors two major town attractions, including the prized Heckscher Park, and IN THE KNOW Keep ‘em on the road… right up the block, Town Hall.

WITH AUNT ROSIE When it comes to cars, my Signs of spring can be seen at smarts are a bit limited. I both landmarks, including, for instance, the up-andknow to bring my Buick in coming annual Tulip Festival at Heckscher Park, for an oil change at least twice a year, if one of my when hundreds of beautifully colorful flowers come nephews doesn’t do it for me, using the more expeninto bloom to greet the season. Over at Town Hall, sive gas doesn’t actually give me any better performofficials are debating legislation that too, is telling of ance and gradual speed changes are better for my gas the spring. There is apparent discussion over walking mileage. I was well out of my element when a car redogs in town parks, and Safe Boating Week is set to cently rolled up with weird-looking tires. Part of it sail in the next month. It’s encouraging to know we was the humongous flashy rims, but the rubber tires have nature, and our friends over at Town Hall, movwere actually cockeyed. Again, I’m no expert, but I ing ahead to prepare for the hopefully warm (but not have to imagine having four wheels flat on the road too warm), season. is important for such a heavy object moving so quickly. Is this some new trend?

Safety first… Speaking of Safe Boating Week, I must do my part in encouraging everyone who capLifetime of a sign… What is the lifetime of a tains a boat, owns a boat, or may ever find themsign nailed to a tree or utility pole? I imagine they all selves on a boat, to participate. To be held May 18differ, depending on what the sign is made of (card23, the first annual Huntington Safe Boating Week board? paper?) and where it’s posted (high on a tree? will be filled with safe boating seminars, free vessel bottom of a utility pole?). Is it wrapped in plastic? Is safety checks and even a nautical flea market at Mill it nailed or stapled? So much to consider, really. I’ve Dam Park. A nautical flea market! I can’t wait to see seen signs get ripped off as quickly as they are put up what that’s about. Most importantly, the week will on utility poles in Huntington village. But there is feature a class that, upon completion, will mean you one sign that seems to be standing the test of time on meet the new state boating safety requirement. Let us Park Avenue. Near Woodhull is a sign that appears to not forget the reason for this new requirement, the be made of cardboard. It says only three (sort of) terrible tragedy that occurred last Independence Day, words: Fire LIPA Mgmt. I’m sure it went up during when three children were taken from us after an acciSandy by an angry resident without power for an abdent on the water. Visit www.huntingtonsafeboatingsurd number of days. And yet, so many months have week.com for more information. gone by, and it remains still. Either the message or the cardboard are very strong indeed.

To pack, or not to pack… that is the question right now. I struggle with this every year – is it time to put my winter clothes away, or should I hold out (Aunt Rosie wants to hear from you! If you have just one more week? After the nice warm snap a few comments, ideas, or tips about what’s happening in weeks ago, I started unloading my closet and freshen- your neck of the woods, write to me today and let me ing things up, but as soon as I did, the mercury know the latest. To contact me, drop a line to Aunt plunged again and my springtime togs were put back Rosie, c/o The Long-Islander, 149 Main Street, Huntington NY 11743. Or try the e-mail at in the holding pattern. By now, though, I think I aunt.rosieli@gmail.com) should be safe, so I’m taking the plunge this week.

Suffolk police responded to a Huntington Station hotel on April 20 about an argument. Two known people were embroiled in a verbal argument, when one hit the other in the face. The victim did not press charges.

Maybe Try A Deadbolt A Greenlawn resident called Suffolk County police on April 20 about a burglary. The resident said someone kicked in a rear basement door before making off with jewelry.

Vandal Breaks Car Windshield Suffolk police responded to a Huntington neighborhood on April 19 about criminal mischief. The complainant said their 2004 Honda Civic was parked on a side street and the front windshield was broken.

At Least He Didn’t Need A Ride, Too Suffolk police were dispatched to Dix Hills on April 19 after getting reports of a robbery. The complainant said they were sitting in the driver’s seat when an unknown male entered the vehicle and demanded money. The victim complied with his demands and the suspect fled.

Arrests On Aisle 2 Two Ridgewood residents were arrested on April 19 for allegedly shoplifting from a Huntington supermarket.

Suffolk police said the 16-year-old and 46-year-old woman were stealing groceries from the Jericho Turnpike business. They were both charged with petit larceny.

Road Rage Rears Ugly Head A motorist driving on Route 110 called Suffolk County police on April 19 to report that another motorist was assaulting them. The complainant said they accidentally cut someone off while driving the day before. The suspect then allegedly cut the complainant off, got out of their vehicle and punched them.

One Order Of Identity Theft, Please Suffolk police responded to a West Hills restaurant on April 19 about a grand larceny. The complainant’s 2010 Maxima was parked in a restaurant lot. Someone broke a window, stealing the complainant’s driver’s license and debit card.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK DOLORES DOMAN

BABY OF THE WEEK ELIZABETH FALLON Beautiful baby girl Elizabeth “Ellie” Fallon, daughter of St. Anthony’s High School graduate Jennifer (Lanzo) Fallon and her husband, Matthew Fallon, visited Long Island over the weekend for the wedding of her aunt, Emily (Lanzo) Angrisani, also a St. Anthony’s alum. Ellie’s brother Emmett, 2, loves making his 4month-old sister laugh, much to the delight of grandparents Frank and Patti Lanzo and Maureen and Christopher Fallon.

I Didn’t Buy That…

A Melville resident called Suffolk County police on April 17 to report identity theft. The complainant said an unknown person used their debit card to make purchases a few days prior.

“The explosion was so loud it rocked the tent. Everybody’s faces went white. The young staff, you could just see on their faces, terror...

The unit was in panic.”

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A 42-year-old Huntington Station hardware store employee was arrested on grand larceny charges on April 17.

Store personnel allege she was making fraudulent returns earlier in the year.

Resident Was In Med Tent During Boston Bombing, PAGE A7

HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER

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Friday night was a busy one for area firefighters. First, volunteers rescued two people pinned in a flipped-over Nissan SUV on the LIE’s north service road. There work wasn’t done, however – a nearby rear-ending crash resulted in two more injuries.

MELVILLE

Crashes Keep FD Busy Local firefighters had a busy Friday night, responding to two serious crashes in quick succession.

They first came to the rescue at the scene of a nasty crash on the Long Island Expressway’s North Service Road just west of Bagatelle Road at approximately 11 p.m. on April 19. Melville Fire Department volunteers used the Jaws of Life to rescue two people trapped in an overturned Nissan Pathfinder. The SUV struck a light pole while traveling westbound on the expressway, then crashed through a fence and overturned on the service road,

fire officials said.

Rescuers work wasn’t done, however.

Nearby, there was a rear-end collision that injured two. Ambulances from Melville and Dix Hills rescue squads transported four patients to Huntington Hospital, North Shore/Plainview Hospital, and Nassau University Medical Center.

Firefighters were under the command of Melville Chief Michael Carrieri, and Assistant Chiefs Mike McKeefrey and Jason Bernfeld. An additional ambulance was requested from the Dix Hills Fire Department.

TOWN OF HUNTINGTON

Subpoenaed Over Sandy

By Jacqueline Birzon jbirzon@longislandernews.com

The Town of Huntington has been issued a grand jury subpoena regarding the town’s response to Superstorm Sandy.

According to town spokesman A.J. Carter, on April 10 the Town received a subpoena from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office seeking information about cleanup records.

“I can confirm we received a subpoena on April 10 seeking documents regarding the town’s response to Hurricane Sandy, and we are cooperating fully,” Carter said.

Multiple subpoenas have been issued to

the Huntington-based property maintenance company, Looks Great Services, Inc., regarding Sandy cleanup in both Nassau and Suffolk counties. According to published reports, State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice are separately investigating the company’s Sandy cleanup efforts.

Carter declined to comment on the Town’s relationship with Looks Great.

However, a town permit issued by Lori Finger, director of purchasing, said Looks Great Services was awarded a contract period from December 2001 to June 2011; a town board resolution dated Sept.

(Continued on page A17)

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THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 25, 2013 • A5

A6 • THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 25, 2013

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TOWN OF HUNTINTON

Democratic Contenders Make Pitches

By Danny Schrafel dschrafel@longislandernews.com

Leading into the 2013 election, the Huntington Democrats enjoy an advantage in incumbency – Supervisor Frank Petrone and Councilman Mark Cuthbertson hold two of the three town board seats up for grabs. Democrats also hold all three Suffolk County Legislature seats representing Huntington.

That means stiff competition for the one spot on the town board ticket. The heat was on display April 16 at the American Legion Hall in Halesite as seven Democratic contenders made their case for the nomination.

Up first was Ed Nitkewicz, an attorney from South Huntington. He has served on the South Huntington school board for the last four years and is currently the town’s Accessory Apartment Hearing Officer.

Keith Barrett

Tracey Edwards

Patricia GrantFlynn

“It is, in reality, serving our community by ensuring a balance between affordable housing... and apartment situation in the Town of Huntington,” Nitkewicz said.

On the school board, Nitkewicz has chaired the Teacher Contract Negotiation Committee and distinguished himself as a fiscal conservative who emphasized maintaining school services while keeping tax and budget increases at a manageable level.

Jim Kelly

Michael Kiesel

“It’s striking a balance between the needs of the community and our checkbook,” he said.

A committeeman for nearly a quarter century, Patricia Grant-Flynn, of Northport, an assistant town attorney in Huntington, emphasized her experiences as a stalwart, active Democrat and her family’s history of public service. Her first campaign was 1982, when she volunteered for Bob Mrazek’s Congressional bid.

Ed Nitkewicz

Ed Perez

Then, she wasn’t yet a Democrat, but that would change when, in 1984, she voted for Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro. When she told her father at Thanksgiving dinner, he dropped his fork.

“I told him that someday, I hoped I would have daughters, and I wanted them to know that I voted for the first well-qualified Democratic woman [for vice-president],” she said.

(Continued on page A16)

TOWN OF HUNTINGTON

Gunther Nod May Be Problem For Naughton

By Danny Schrafel dschrafel@longislandernews.com

Huntington’s Conservative Committee announced April 16 they are backing Centerport’s Peter Gunther to run for superintendent of highways – and the announcement may provide some answers to lingering questions about the hotly contested race.

Choosing Gunther, a retired New York City firefighter, Huntington Conservative party executive vice-chair, and longtime volunteer firefighter, provides the best blend of fiscal conservatism, honesty and proven commitment to public service under a Conservative banner, chairman Frank Tinari said.

“The people of Huntington deserve a proven manager who will run an efficient department while holding the line on spending,” Tinari said.

The choice to nominate Gunther could also have implications for current Highway Superintendent William Naughton, a Democrat who has feuded in recent years with his party and who insiders say will

Peter Gunther

William Naughton

not get his party nomination.

Many have projected that for Naughton to run on the Democratic line, he will have to win a primary against either longtime Huntington contractor Kevin Orelli, Parks Commissioner Don McKay, of Dix Hills, or both.

Tinari said Naughton’s tension with his own party factored into the Conservatives choosing Gunther.

“It’s more that we feel that Bill Naughton does not have his own party’s nomination. And you have to look at the fact that Pete Gunther is highly qualified for the position and he’s the Conservative,”

Tinari said. “And when you weigh all the factors together… Pete Gunther is a more attractive candidate.”

The Conservatives previously endorsed Naughton in 2009 and named him Conservative of the Year shortly after.

However, Democratic chairwoman Mary Collins said Tinari’s conclusion about her party’s backing for Naughton – or lack thereof – is premature.

“We haven’t chosen a candidate yet.

We won’t do that until the end of May,” she said.

Some speculated that, faced with a primary challenge, Naughton, who has screened with the Republicans, might run for re-election as a Republican with Conservative backing. Toni Tepe, the Huntington GOP chair, said that theory was “absolutely not” true and had never been discussed. Naughton’s screening with Republicans, she said, is not unusual, as he ran with Republican backing in 2009.

Tinari said Naughton did not screen with the Conservative party and did not ask to.

“Four years ago, Bill got cross-endorsed by all the parties. But four years in politics

is a long time. Things have changed,” Tinari said.

Acknowledging tension between Naughton and some pockets of the town’s Democratic base, Collins stressed the party is focused on working together as a team.

“We want to run a united slate, so there’s still time to work things out,” Collins said.

The Conservative chairman also denied that nominating Gunther, who also screened with the Republican committee, was a play to pressure the Huntington GOP to endorse Gunther as well. He said his party remains open to endorsing Republican candidates on the rest of their slate.

Tepe stressed there is no bad blood between the Republican and Conservative parties. She said the Republicans screened more candidates on April 24 and are simply not ready to back to a candidate.

“The Republican Party will not be making a commitment until we explore all individuals interested in running,” she said.

“There are a lot of conversations that still need to take place between all interested parties.”

TOWN OF HUNTINGTON

Another Face In The Highway Super Race

By Danny Schrafel dschrafel@longislandernews.com

A longtime Northport resident has thrown his name into the pool of candidates seeking the Republican nomination to run for Huntington’s superintendent of highways.

Robert Schmiedecke, 60, a 28-year resident of Northport, joins Conservative candidate Peter Gunther and current Superintendent of Highways William Naughton, a Democrat, in pursuit of the GOP nod.

Naughton, current Huntington Parks Commissioner Don McKay and longtime Huntington contractor Kevin Orelli are vying for the Democratic nomination.

Schmiedecke, a registered Republican, said his experience as a general contractor, graduate-level education and interactions with the town as a snowplow contractor drew him into the race. He mulled a run for the seat before, but decided to take the plunge this year.

A Huntington High School graduate who later studied Industrial Arts and Education, he has been teaching for 32 years and currently is an instructor for Western Suffolk BOCES. Schmiedecke launched Seawind General Contractors in the early 1980s, which he operated for 10 years before getting into education.

“I had to deal with a lot of unions and as a superintendent of highways, you’ve got to deal with unions as well,” Schmiedecke said.

Schmiedecke also worked for Town Hall as an independent contractor for 26 years, giving it up after he argued it was no longer cost-effective to plow roads in the winter.

His experience as an independent contractor – and efforts to lobby the town in the mid2000s for higher pay – is a central issue in his campaign. Schmiedecke argued the town’s treatment of independent snowplow contractors has dried up the talent pool available when blizzards strike.

“If you don’t embrace them, inspections for contractor don’t give them a prevailing equipment and take steps to wage, you’re not going to get the prioritize the use of townjob done. You’re going to have owned trucks to balance union the same routine next storm,” he requirements while ensuring said. more of the strongest equipSchmiedecke pointed to ment remains on the road, esNaughton’s reports of losing pecially during snowplowing about 100 independent contracefforts. He also called on tors to equipment breakdowns greater use of GPS in town during the early stages of cleantrucks to help improve effiing up after the Blizzard of 2013 ciency, especially during storm as proof that the town is no Robert Schmiedecke responses. longer drawing top-rate contractors.

He also suggested replacing current high“We’ve hired weaker and weaker equip- way signage on trucks and roadsides bearing ment,” he said. “Guys that have decent the superintendent’s name with simpler ones equipment, you can’t take $50,000 worth of bearing just web and phone contact informaequipment down the road, which is what a tion for the department. new truck and plow costs you… You’ve got “First of all, for me to get my name on a to be able to make some money with this, or truck, we’re going to have to get rid of the not get involved in it.” pickups and buy all 18-wheelers.

As the highway superintendent, Schmiedecke is not going to fit on anySchmiedecke pledged to implement yearly thing,” he quipped.

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THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 25, 2013 • A7

DIX HILLS

Resident Was In Med Tent During Bombing Local runner watched as wounded filled triage unit from Boston Marathon explosions

By Long-Islander staff info@longislandernews.com

Dolores Doman, of Dix Hills, was sitting in the medical tent when the first explosion at the 117th Boston Marathon went off.

After finishing the race 7 minutes earlier, at 2:36 p.m., Doman’s legs were cramped. She sought medical attention in the triage tent, only to hear the bomb go off just feet away on Boylston Street.

“They turned the medical tent into a lock down and said, ‘Everybody get to the back of the tent, a bomb has just gone off,’” she recalled.

A second bomb went off shortly after, turning a sacred American tradition into a scene of screams and blood on April 15.

Three people were killed and nearly 200 injured, many critically, in the blast. After a week-long manhunt, one suspect is dead, gunned down during a shootout with police, while another is in police custody, in serious but stable condition at a Boston area hospital.

But the pain is far from over for those who were there to experience the horror.

Dorman said immediately after the explosions, the triage tent turned into a trauma unit.

“The explosion was so loud it rocked the tent. Everybody’s faces went white.

The young staff, you could just see on their faces, terror... The unit was in panic,” Doman recalled.

The triage remained in lockdown mode

for roughly half an hour, and medical staff refused to let runners who were already being treated inside the tent leave. Instead, they were ushered to the back to the tent to make room for those who were injured by the explosion, Doman said.

“People were coming in with wheelchairs, their heads bloodied, in stretchers; there was so much blood. They were telling us, ‘don’t look,’ but you were looking, because you want to see if you know somebody; it was a bad scene,” the runner said. “Every victim brought in was in shock; there was no screaming coming from them, they were just laying there on the stretcher.”

Doman was eventually escorted out through the back of the tent. She wandered the streets until she found shelter at a nearby Dunkin Donuts and used a phone there to contact friends at the marathon.

Although she has been a competitive runner for most of her life, this was the Dix Hills resident’s first marathon. Doman was running for the Boston Police Charity that day.

She remembers passing Northport Runners Club member Jim Kehoe on the course. He completed the race at 2:48 p.m., just two minutes before the first explosion went off.

“I had just crossed the finish line, maybe a minute before. I was walking very slowly and maybe I was 50 yards from where the bomb went off,” Kehoe said.

He was one of eight members of the Northport Runners Club participating in

Northport Runners Club member Wil Widman stands at the Boston Marathon finish line April 14. The next day, the 117th tradition ended in tragedy after a pair of bomb explosions killed three and injured nearly 200 more runners and spectators.

Monday’s marathon, along with Dean Neumann, Harry Broere and Wil Widman, all Northport residents. President Michael Roux, who did not run, confirmed everyone was unhurt and accounted for.

Several said they wouldn’t let the tragedy dissuade them from running next year. Widman’s time in Monday’s race qualified him for next year’s race, which he has every intention of running.

“It’s a terrible thing, but if we live our lives in fear, that’s what they want. The second we live in fear, they win. It’s a tragedy. We have to remember what happened, but don’t dwell on it,” he said.

Broere said he also plans to run in next year’s Boston Marathon, but expects the experience will never be the same for the athletes – particularly the home stretch, packed with friends, family and spectators.

“They put so much time and energy into training for something like that, and there’s not going to be anyone there cheering them on,” he said. “[People were] packed from the curb to the storefronts… people just cheering, yelling, having a good time that last mile down Boylston Street.”

Mike Koehler, Danny Schrafel and Jacqueline Birzon contributed to this report.

A8 • THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 25, 2013

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Opinion

Sen

d letters t The Edito o: r, Half Ho llow Hills Newspape 149 M r, Huntingto ain Street, n, New Yo rk 11743 or e info@long -mail us at islanderne ws.com

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

Another Reason To Build Green The evidence is all around us. It’s time we tax exemptions for LEED-rated new construcstarted taking the green movement seriously, tion, and the town is acting. and oftentimes that cannot be done without the If the law is passed, all LEED-certified consupport and direction of the government – and struction would be fully tax-exempt for the first local government at that. three years. The bottom two levels would lose The Town of Huntington has always been at 20 percent of that exemption every year, while the forefront of the green movement, from us- gold-rated projects would have an extra year of ing solar energy to hosting an Earth 100 percent tax-exemption and platDay Expo to give residents a chance inum-certified jobs would have anEDITORIAL other two years beyond gold. to explore new technology and recycle e-waste responsibly. The town It is amazing how LEED-certified also recently began a curbside e-waste pick-up construction has already taken flight. Unfortuprogram. nately two major projects in town - Canon’s Now we have another chance. A proposal up new headquarters in Melville and Target on for a public hearing on May 7 would offer tax Jericho in Huntington Station - broke ground exemptions for new construction that meets too early to qualify, but it only stresses the need LEED qualifications, an internationally accept- to pass this law. ed set of criteria for environmentally-friendly Construction like this is sustainable, envibuilding and construction. New York State just ronmentally friendly, and good for the future of last year gave municipalities the right to offer the town. This is a good proposal.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Committed To Huntington DEAR EDITOR: Yesterday evening, I participated in the democratic candidate forum for consideration to run for the Huntington Town Board. It was a wonderful experience and provided an opportunity to present myself to the democratic committee and also meet the other great candidates.

I look forward to the next step in the selection process. I am also available to meet with any civic, religious, and/or homeowners associations as well as any other group in the community to listen to their concerns, discuss my ideas, and get feedback on how best to move the town forward.

I love Huntington and everything it has to offer. My focus will be to do all I can to increase our property values, provide opportunities to our young people, and ensure that Huntington is a town everyone wants to live, raise their families, or visit to spend their hard working dollars at our small businesses throughout the town.

My experience in business, economic development, civil rights, school board, and overall community service is the right

balance needed at this time.

From my teenage days as a candy striper at Huntington Hospital to serving for many years on the Elwood School Board and Town of Huntington Planning Board, I am committed to Huntington.

If selected and elected, I will do my very best to listen to and represent all Huntington residents from every community in our great town.

TRACEY A. EDWARDS Dix Hills

Thank You For The Chance To Screen The following letter is to Huntington Democratic Committee chair Mary Collins and the executive committee.

Thank you for the opportunity to address the committee last night in support of my candidacy for town council. As I stated in my brief speech, I have been a lifelong resident of Huntington, a lifelong Democrat and an active community leader.

In addition to numerous other volunteer roles, I have served as the president of the Huntington Station Business Improvement District advancing economic development and safety in

Huntington Station for nine years. I have also served as the co-chair of the Huntington Station Awareness Parade and Festival, co-chair of the Community Development Committee of the Huntington Station Action NOW Coalition and Legislator Spencer’s chosen representative on Suffolk County’s Downtown Revitalization Committee.

As a business owner in Huntington Station, a homeowner in Melville and a community leader who has been active throughout the township, I bring a quantifiable record of heightening civic engagement. This track record of success is based on my ability to assess the needs of residents and business owners and apply effective and manageable planning to meet their needs. As an independent thinker and business leader, I bring different perspectives to issues faced by the town and I look forward to engaging in solution-oriented dialogue with my prospective colleagues on the board and members of the Huntington community.

I have never served in elected office, nor do I seek to make a career as an elected servant. I simply wish to serve in this role to leverage my economic development experience, consensus-

Serving the communities of: Dix Hills, Melville and 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, Northport Journal and Half Hollow Hills Newspaper. Each issue of the The Long-Islander and all contents thereof are copyrighted by Long Islander, LLC. None of the contents or articles may be reproduced in any forum or medium without the advance express written permission of the publisher. Infringement hereof is a violation of the Copyright laws.

KEITH BARRETT Melville

Roll Back The Fines DEAR EDITOR: On Feb. 26, I represented the town board at the Huntington Chamber Networking Breakfast, where the topic of the day was the Huntington village parking study.

I noted the merchants’ concerns, anger and distress caused by the increase in parking fines. At the request of some of the merchants and based on my business experience I prepared a resolution to eliminate the increase to metered parking fines.

The Huntington Village Business Improvement District (Huntington Village BID) requested the town board reconsider the increase in metered parking fines that were recently increased from $25 to $50, pursuant to Local Law 18 of 2012. In 2012, over 4,100 traffic summonses were issued at a cost of $102,500 to the residents. I don’t think it is fair to penalize the residents further and

charge them an additional $102,500. As elected officials it is not our job to add insult to injury.

At the April 9 town board meeting I introduced resolution 2013176 to schedule a public hearing to roll back the fines that were part of the 2013 adopted operating budget, that I voted against. The new fines were scheduled to go into effect on March 1, 2013. The only way to roll back these onerous fines is through a town board resolution.

“Shop Local” has become a national rallying call for small businesses across the country; an increase in fines would act as a deterrent and discourage shoppers. I will be re-introducing this same resolution at the May 7 town board meeting. In these tough economic times we need to help promote local businesses, not hinder them.

In November 2012, I voted against the increase in parking fees and fines that were part of the town budget. I advocated for Small Business Saturday because I believe that the town needs to work with small business owners and help stimulate our local economy.

I believe that a public hearing will allow the town board the opportunity to listen to the local business owners, their employees and patrons’ express their thoughts and opinions about parking fines. The hearing will provide a valuable tool to assist in creating a clear picture of how to move forward.

MARK MAYOKA Huntington Councilman

Peter Sloggatt Associate Publisher/Managing Editor

HALF HOLLOW HILLS N E W S P A P E R

building skills and long-time knowledge and devotion to Democratic principles and our community to better a town that has been my home since childhood, the home I chose for my children to learn and grow and the community in which my grandchildren are happily being raised.

Thank you for your kind consideration of my candidacy.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any additional questions.

Luann Dallojacono Editor Mike Koehler Associate Editor Danny Schrafel Jacqueline Birzon Reporters

Ian Blanco Dan Conroy Production/ Art Department

Susan Mandel Advertising Director Marnie Ortiz Office / Legals

Michael McDermott Account Executive

149 Main Street, Huntington, New York 11743 631.427.7000

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THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 25, 2013 • A9

Life&Style LEISURE

Time To Tiptoe Through The Tulips Photo by Wendy Aull

The 2012 Tulip Festival’s second place photo contest winner, “Admiring the Tulips.”

By Jacqueline Birzon jbirzon@longislandernews.com

Residents are invited to wake up and smell the tulips on May 5, for the 13th Annual Huntington Tulip Festival at Heckscher Park.

Sponsored by Councilman Mark Cuthbertson, this year’s free festival will feature thousands of exotic, colorful tulips—over 17,000 bulbs.

Planted in December, the lateblooming tulips typically peak around the first Sunday in May. Featured tulips this year include red and white Tulip Hearts; orange, pink and red Maybelline tulips; and violet and salmon Tulip Sherbet. Other tulips include the French Blend, a multicolored flower; the Fancy, a soft pink and orange tulip; the Black Tie, a maroon and white tulip that stands out among the pastels; and the exotic Chiquita Bordeaux Tulip, a yellow and purple, mardi gras-themed tulip.

The event, which in past years has attracted over 5,000 people, includes live entertainment and hands-on activities for children

and families.

“Heckscher Park is the jewel of parks in Huntington, and it’s another way to bring families together and to celebrate the season,” Cuthbertson said.

From 11 a.m.-4 p.m., more than 40 booths of entertainment and activities, as well as an art exhibit and live performances sponsored by the Huntington Arts Council, will delight attendees. Visitors are encouraged to bring their cameras and submit pictures for the photo contest, held following the festival each year. Entries must be postmarked or received by July 31. Visit the Cultural Affairs department on the town’s website, huntingtonny.gov, for more information.

At noon, there will be a children’s show on at the Chapin Rainbow Stage, followed by the African Dance and Drum Troupe.

The day will also feature a children’s parade and an “Animal Tales” performance that will feature stories from Brazil, Mexico and Peru.

For more information on the Tulip Festival, call 631-351-3099.

LEISURE

‘Shear’ Fun At Sheep To Shawl Festival Free family-friendly event includes demonstrations, tours info@longislandernews.com

For many, springtime means gardening, spring cleaning and the hope of longer, warmer days. For the Huntington Historical Society, it marks the return of an annual tradition popular among Huntington families.

For almost 30 years, the historical society has kicked off spring with its annual Sheep to Shawl Festival. This year’s event will be held on Sunday, May 5 from noon-4 p.m. at 434 Park Ave. in Huntington, on the grounds of the Dr. Daniel W. Kissam House Museum.

The free event invites attendees to watch demonstrators, dressed in colonial costume, share their knowledge and assist visitors in carding, spinning, knitting and weaving. In addition, representatives from various craft guilds demonstrate quilt making, embroidery, lack making and basket weaving. There will also be traditional games, face painting, story telling and old-fashioned crafts for children to enjoy.

The main event of the day is a live sheep-shearing demonstration, which organizers hope leaves onlookers with a renewed appreciation for early colonists

Photo/ Historical Society

By Nicole Brems

and their everyday chores and activities.

According to the society, “For early Americans, shearing a sheep was hard work. Sheep could weigh anywhere from 150-300 pounds, and a colonist who was shearing the sheep would have to wrestle the sheep to the ground and then hold it still while he cut off the fleece with a hand shearer…”

Tours of the Dr. Daniel W. Kissam House and costumes from the society’s collection will be on display in the museum. There will be traditional music, souvenirs and light refreshments available.

For more information on the event or the Huntington Historical Society, please contact 631 427 7045 ext 401.

Tiptoe through the tulips and see the sheep without having to hoof it between Heckscher Park and the Kissam House Museum. A free shuttle bus offered on May 5 will take visitors from one event to the other.

Children lean against the fence to get a good view of a sheep-shearing demonstration at last year’s Sheep to Shawl event.

A10 • THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 25, 2013

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TOWN OF HUNTINGTON

‘Shake Your Love’ At Gay Pride Parade ’80s icon Debbie Gibson to headline PrideFest celebration in Heckscher Park

By Danny Schrafel dschrafel@longislandernews.com

Pop icon Debbie Gibson will headline the Long Island Pride Parade’s post-parade entertainment revue in Heckscher Park, organizers announced last week.

Gibson, who lived in Lloyd Harbor in the mid-1990s, will be joined on stage Saturday, June 8 by “Show Me Love” singer Robin S., singer Janice Robinson, whose group Livin’ Joy registered a No. 1 hit in 1994 with “Dreamer,” other high-profile acts to be signed, and emerging talent, said David Kilmnick, whose Long Island GLBT Services Network is organizing the parade in Huntington.

“It’s going to be a fantastic show… To be able to come see her right in Heckscher Park will be something special for the community and something special for the Town of Huntington,” Kilmnick, the organization’s CEO, said.

The announcement comes a week after Huntington Town Hall signed off on permits for PrideFest in Heckscher Park and a second consecutive parade, which will have a superhero-inspired “Super Pride” theme.

Responding to concerns from business owners about the impact on sales, parade organizers and town officials, led by Supervisor Frank Petrone and Parks Commissioner

Don McKay, agreed on the second new parade route in as many years. Starting at 10 a.m., the parade will muster at the Huntington Village Green before stepping off at noon. Then, they will march up Park Avenue, turn left on Main Street and enter Heckscher Park through the main entrance on Prime Avenue. The parade organizers have access to the Village Green lot until 1:15 p.m. that day.

Petrone said the new route largely mimics the Columbus Day parade route, except that it does not continue on Main Street into the business district.

“This worked out very well, and we now have an alternative that is usable and it doesn’t affect the shoppers,” Petrone said, adding that parade organizers are working with the Huntington Village BID, Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce and other merchant groups to attract gay-pride revelers to shop.

The new route also gives parade participants access to the cafeteria at the Huntington Village Green and moves the reviewing stand to a prominent space in front of Town Hall, the supervisor said.

Also included is a temporary beer and wine permit for PrideFest.

Petrone said he is pleased with the final agreement on the parade route.

“It’s worked out,” he said. “We solved many problems and created new ideas.”

1980s pop supserstar Debbie Gibson will headline the Long Island Pride Parade’s PrideFest in Huntington’s Heckscher Park on June 8.

ART

Art Lovers, Start Your Engines Upcoming exhibits address automobiles and the culture they inspired

By Danny Schrafel dschrafel@longislandernews.com

Art lovers will soon be revving up for two new exhibits coming to Huntington.

First up, Acura of Huntington will become a staging ground for the Art League of Long Island’s “Driven By Art,” an exhibit of photography, mixed media, sculptures, paintings and jewelry celebrating the automobile and its highways and byways. Opening night is April 25, with a reception from 5-8 p.m. at the dealership at 359 W. Jericho Turnpike in Huntington.

“They’re only there a year. They were interested in doing something for the community and attracting folks to come and see an art show, do something different,” said Charlee Miller, the art league’s executive director. “We’re delighted to be selected to put on that art show.”

“Driven By Art,” which runs through May 31, features 10 award-winning Long Island artists. On view at the dealership is: Doug Reina’s paintings of vintage vehicles; Antonio Masi’s paintings of New York’s bridges; Alice Sprintzen’s found object art jewelry made from bits of license plates and tail lights; Thomas Germano’s paintings of local street scenes; paintings from Yohah Ralph’s “Petroleum Age” body of work; Lisa Berley’s photographic works of New York’s urban and suburban landscape; Hap Bowditch’s sculptures, including one made of Bentley parts; painter Pat Ralph's handmade license plates of the eight Northeast states; and Andrea M. Gordon’s close focus photography.

A piece from Joseph Szabo’s signature series documenting American youth and culture in the 1970s will also be on display.

Joseph Szabo will be doing double-duty – in addition to showing at Acura, his silver gelatin print, “The Last Trip” (1976) will be on display at the Heckscher Museum of Art’s “Car Culture” exhibit.

Szabo will be doing double-duty at carthemed art shows in Huntington – he’ll also be on display at the Heckscher Museum of Art’s “Car Culture” exhibit, which opens on April 27.

Lisa Chalif, curator at the Hecksher’s curator, said the thought of a show driven by cars has been on her mind for at least two years.

“Part of it is, here in suburbia, we are all so dependent on our cars – we can’t really imagine life without them,” she said. “I think that out here, certainly, there’s a lot that people can identify with in this exhibition.”

Chalif said some of the artists focus on images of automobiles or create art from car parts. Others use their art to comment on the automobile’s impact on perspective, the roadside environment and the environmental, political and economic implications of a car-reliant culture.

“Diamond in the Rust,” a photograph by Andrea M. Gordon, will be on display at Acura of Huntington as part of the Art League of Long Island’s “Driven By Art” exhibit.

Also opening on April 27 at the museum is: “Scooters, Cranberry Pickers, and ‘Whirling Dervishes’: Hal B. Fullerton’s Long Island,” featuring works by Hal B. Fullerton, a self-taught photographer whose works document Long Island in the early years of the 20th century.

“Car Culture” also serves as a jumpingoff point for a series of events in May and June at the Hecksher. First up is “Voices & Visions: Howard Kroplick: The Incredible Vanderbilt Cup Races of Long Island,”

starting at 10 a.m. April 28; SparkBoomsponsored “Voices & Visions: Cars and Art from Three Perspectives,” on May 10 from 7-8:30 p.m.; “Road Trip with Patricia Shih,” a program for children ages 4-8 from 10-11 a.m. May 18; the “Car pARTS: Still Life Drawing Workshop” from 1-4 p.m. on June 2; and the Fullerton Friday gallery talk on June 14.

For more information about the Heckscher series or other programming at the museum, visit www.heckscher.org.

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History

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THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 25, 2013 • A11

HUNTING DOWN HUNTINGTON

Park Avenue Home One Of Oldest In USA Half Hollow Hills photos/ Jacqueline Birzon

By Jacqueline Birzon jbirzon@longislandernews.com

Latting’s Hundred, located at 424 Park Ave. in Huntington, is one of the 20 oldest homes in the United States. It is the site of the first general store, post office and newspaper in the Town of Huntington. It is also where slaves were issued freedom papers, and it hosted Town Hall meetings for nearly a century.

The red house, just north of Park Avenue’s Woodhull Road intersection, has changed over the years, but its story still resonates with local history buffs, including Rex Metcalf, who now lives there.

Richard Latting was the first owner.

An Englishman, he lived there in 1653, in what was then one-bedroom home, but was banished from Huntington after he loudly opposed the town’s decision to join the colony of Connecticut.

Not only did the town join Connecticut anyway, they banned Latting from Huntington, forcing him to relocate to Oyster Bay. The home was left to Latting’s son, who decided he could not handle the burden of the property. He sold it in 1668 to his brother-in-law.

In 1670, weaver Joseph Wood moved into the Park Avenue home. In its original frame, the one-bedroom dwelling housed a family of 10 for some time.

Wood operated his business from the home until he made a bet on the prop-

An exterior view of Latting’s Hundred, at 424 Park Avenue in Huntington. erty with Captain William Jarvis, a whaler and a merchant. According to Metcalf, Wood told Jarvis that, should his most recent whaling voyage be successful, Jarvis would win rights to the house—and win he did.

Jarvis took over the home in 1702, and with his whaling fortune, expanded the home into a five-bedroom, Englishstyle home and general store.

The general store, Metcalf said, became a marker for the town’s first real business district in the 18th century. Inventory was kept in a back room, while Jarvis would greet customers in the hall to take orders; there are even wooden (Continued on page A20)

Local historian and current homeowner Rex Metcalf stands in the buttery, or the pantry of Latting’s Hundred. All of the wooden kitchenware is from the eighteenth century when the Lewis family owned the property. Peter’s bed frame is seen to the left.

DIX HILLS

Famous Families Buried In Dix Hills Tombstones mark many names, including great-great-grandfather of Warren Buffet Half Hollow Hills photo/Mike Koehler

By Mike Koehler mkoehler@longislandernews.com

Located on Route 231, the hill on the southeast corner of what should be Sunrise Senior Living facility’s property is actually owned by the Town of Huntington as a piece of history.

Town Historian Robert Hughes and Huntington Historical Society Executive Coordinator Toby Kissam confirmed that the small piece of property in Dix Hills was used to bury some of the families that built Huntington.

At least 76 tombstones dot the hill, Hughes said, ranging from the late 16th century until the late 20th century.

It began as a final resting place for members of the Whitman and Wood families. The Buffetts married into the Whitman family late in the 17th century, establishing a farm along Larkfield Road.

Four generations of Buffetts are buried there, including the greatgreat-grandfather of billionaire Warren Buffett. His predecessors left Elwood for Nebraska years and years ago.

“They were a respected family. They

Members of the Whitmans, Buffetts and other famous Huntington families are buried right in Dix Hills. were farmers, like everyone else. One of the Buffetts became a fairly prominent judge,” Kissam said.

The cemetery gradually grew to oth-

er families and became open to the public. Tombstones with surnames of Baldwin, Smith and Willis are all planted into the cemetery. Every grave

marker faces away from the road and towards the thin woods buffering the senior facility.

No longer in use, the cemetery became town property last century. Huntington employees have been mowing the grass and trimming trees for decades, although Hughes said they are not responsible for the grave markers.

According to Huntington Zoning Board documents, Sunrise received a variance in 1999 to build a congregate care facility in a residentially-zoned area. The approval was conditional upon Sunrise landscaping and fencing as the Planning Board deemed necessary, contracting out for ambulance and carting services, keeping exterior lighting limited to necessary areas, keeping gas-powered generators on the roof, having trucks avoid making U-turns on Route 231, and agreeing never to purchase neighboring land for the facility.

No mention of the cemetery was included in the zoning board’s decision.

Sunrise received their building permit in 2000 and their certificate of occupancy in 2003. Sunrise officials did not return requests for comment.

A12 • THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 25, 2013

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COMMACK

Gillies, Marino Visit FD Photo/Commack FD

Former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino and New York Islanders hockey star Clark Gillies visited the Commack Fire Department after celebrating the grand opening of the nearby Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza restaurant on Jericho Turnpike. Both Hall of Famers took the time to sign autographs and take pictures with Commack's bravest. From left are: Clark Gillies, Commissioner Patrick Fazio, Dan Marino, Third Assistant Chief Paul Carnevale, Chief Pete Paccione, Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza owner Anthony Bruno, and First Assistant Chief Andrew Babajko.

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THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 25, 2013 • A13

Grandma’s Kitchen Comes To Main Street Foodie photos/Danny Schrafel

Osteria Da Nino

The

Foodie SECTION

By Danny, Sona, Reena & Brinda info@longislandernews.com

A fixture on Huntington village’s Main Street since 2003, Nino Antuzzi’s Osteria Da Nino has become a destination for rustic Italian cuisine.

Manager Blake Mead, our amiable host, got us started with dark ciabatta bread for the table from Tom Cat Bakery, sweet eggplant caponata, house-cured olives and sharp, yet smooth and smoky Sardinian Pecorino. As with all of Nino’s restaurants, organic is king, bringing a cleaner flavor profile to dishes across the menu.

More delights soon came fast and furious. We started with melt-in-your-mouth Eggplant Parmesan ($10), light and delicate with a dusting of parmesan cheese and dressed in Osteria’s wonderful house tomato sauce. Bufala Mozzarella ($13), imported every 48 hours from Campagna, is a must-have. It’s velvety smooth and creamy, served atop thick-sliced organic tomatoes, balsamic reduction, basil and extra-virgin olive oil.

Heartier fare soon followed. Pagila e Fiero ($19) a medley of spinach and semolina “hay-straw” pasta blended with wild mushrooms, cream and white truffle

292 Main St., Huntington village 631-425-0820 http://osteriadanino.com Atmosphere: Cozy Tuscan Cuisine: Rustic Italian, with organic emphasis Price: Moderate Hours: Mon-Thurs 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; 5-10 p.m. Fri-Sat: 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; 5-10:30 p.m.

Sun 11:30a.m.-3 p.m. brunch; 4-9 p.m.

Presented in a lemon-caper emulsion, Floridian Snapper is comforting and refreshing. oil, is decadent and rich without overwhelming the senses, made with fresh Cassinelli pasta. Floridian Snapper ($28) is another winner, pairing rich and citrusy lemon-caper emulsion with fresh fish, carrots, haricot vert and jasmine rice.

Veal house meatballs are featured in the classic fettuccine dish ($20), and paired with an inviting Parmesan sprinkle and house tomato sauce. For those looking for a lighter, summery plate, look no further than Capricciossa ($20), a base of tender chicken pounded thin and lightly breaded with an arugula salad atop it.

Cap off your evening with, from back, Italian Ricotta Cheesecake, chocolate Tartufo, Flourless Chocolate Cake or Amaretto Tiramisu.

Plan ahead to explore the many dessert offerings. Chocoholics will do well to choose their flourless chocolate cake ($8) or tartufo ($8), the latter which is solid chocolate gelato crusted with miniature chocolate chips. Italian cheesecake lovers will delight in ricotta cheesecake ($8).

Imported from Campania, Bufala Mozzarella is velvety smooth.

And you can’t go wrong with light and creamy Amaretto Tiramisu ($8).

First-timers and old friends alike will enjoy a $28 p.p., three-course prix-fixe Sundays through Thursday, or rise and shine on Sundays to a rustic Italian brunch. Morning or night, we’re pretty sure you can’t go wrong.

A14 • THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 25, 2013 The

Foodie SECTION

www.LongIslanderNews.com

News and reviews from the restaurant capital of Long Island To Advertise Call 631-427-7000

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Side Dish

Read past reviews online at www.LongIslanderNews.com

DINE HUNTINGTON.COM Foodie photo/Danny Schrafel

By DineHuntington.com Foodie@longislandernews.com

BON APPETIT: So many restaurants, so little

The

Foodie SECTION

News and reviews from the restaurant capital of Long Island

CALL 631-427-7000

time… Long Island's annual Spring Restaurant Week returns April 28-May 5, with over 150 restaurants lined up to satisfy any Foodie. Enjoy a $27.95 prix-fixe dinner all night, except on Saturday, when it winds up at 7 p.m. There’s plenty to try in Huntington, including Besito, Bistro Cassis, Black and Blue Seafood Chophouse, BlonDee’s Bistro & Bar, Bravo!

Nader, Café Buenos Aires, HONU Kitchen and Cocktails, Jonathan’s Ristorante, Mac’s Steakhouse, Piccolo Mondo, Porto Vivo and XO Restaurant, Wine and Chocolate Lounge. Others around town are getting in on the act, too. They include: Tom Schaudel’s Jewel in Melville; Grasso’s in Cold Spring Harbor; Andrea’s 25, Ciao Baby and Perfecto Mundo in Commack; Mascali and Wild Ginger in East Northport; Old Fields Restaurant and Ruvo in Greenlawn; and Legal Sea Foods in Huntington Station. If you’re looking to visit a property of the Bohlsen Group (they own Huntington’s Prime), check out Monsoon in Babylon or Verace in Islip. If you’re out and about on Long Island, find a restaurant near you and make a reservation by visiting www.longislandrestaurantweek.com.

SWEET: Kilwins, the nationwide purveyor of fudge, candied apples, ice cream and other delectable treats to satisfy your

Susan and Jake Hirschfeld are ready to satisfy your sweet tooth at Kilwins. sweet tooth, is now open in Huntington village. Mother-son team Susan and Jake Hirschfeld are taking the wheel at the Huntington village location (293 Main St., Huntington, 631-271-4200, www.kilwins.com/huntington) and getting off to a fast start. Watch the crew prepare confectionary delights through the window, or stop in for a free sample.

FADO – A note to Fado-loving foodies – the

Portuguese eatery (10 New St., Huntington 631-351-1010) will be closed on Mondays for the months of April and May. Their first Monday back will be June 3, so if you’re looking to visit Allison and Eddie, schedule accordingly.

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THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 25, 2013 • A15

School Notebook

Compiled by Luann Dallojacono of America’s founding fathers (John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson) when they were children. The book is by author Lane Smith.

“As an avid reader with a love of American history, I enjoyed sharing this fun, comical tale with the Sunquam students. It was great to watch

their faces light up as the characters came to life and the students began to relate to these important figures from our Country’s past,” D’Amaro said. “I once again thank the entire Sunquam community for allowing me to be a part of this wonderful event and applaud them for showing the children how important it is to ‘take the plunge’ and ‘dive’ into a good book.”

Celebrating Black History

Suffolk Legislator Lou D’Amaro reads “John, Paul, George & Ben” by Lane Smith to Sunquam fifth-graders in Mrs. Belz’s class during the recent PARP Mystery Reader Day.

Legislator Surprises Sunquam Students Sunquam Elementary School in Melville recently invited Suffolk Legislator Lou D’Amaro to highlight the importance of reading by participating in its “Mystery Reader Day.” The event was held in conjunction with the annual

Parents as Reading Partners (PARP) statewide program.

Sunquam PARP Committee CoChairs Allison Gruberger and Jill Varlack planned a day-long celebration built around the theme “Dive into Reading.” D’Amaro surprised the students in Mrs. Belz’s 5th grade class and shared “John, Paul, George & Ben,” a humorous story about several

Throughout Half Hollow Hills, February marked a month-long celebration of black history and the rich contributions of African-Americans. At High School West, the AASO club, led by adviser Juanita Simpson, held its annual performance for the community and school assemblies for students. Complete with acting, song, dance, and historical information, this year’s theme was a spin-off of the club’s school trip to Washington, D.C. last spring.

People In The News

Compiled by Luann Dallojacono giate honor society for all academic disciplines. Koerner is pursuing a degree in business administration at Fordham University.

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage President Joe Mamone congratulates Dix Hills branch Vice President Scott Comer on being a top manager.

Scott Comer, branch vice president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage on Long Island and Queens’ Dix Hills Office, has been named to the President’s Club for Managers, a local honor presented to top managers in each local operating company.

“Scott has led his team to success through leadership and determination,” said Joe Mamone, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage on Long Island and Queens. “He has proven himself as a strong leader and will continue to manage and motivate his sales associates to great success.”

Prior to his placement in Dix Hills last year, Comer served as director of training and education for Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage on Long Island and Queens. A graduate of the University of Houston, Comer worked in property and hotel management before beginning his real estate career nearly 10 years ago.

He currently resides in Lake Grove and is a volunteer for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

The honor society of Phi Kappa Phi announced that Michael Koerner of Dix Hills was recently initiated into the nation’s oldest and most selective colle-

Melville-based Racanelli Construction Company, Inc. announced that its LEED Project Manager Megan Bové has been elected to the 2013 Board of Directors of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Long Island Chapter.

She has been an active member of the organization for several years, recently serving as the chairwoman of its Emerging professional Committee. At Racanelli, she takes a leadership role in the company’s many LEED-certified projects.

Prior to joining Racanelli, Bové, of Babylon, was a practicing interior designer with Esotico Designs, a commercial/residential interior design firm. She Megan Bové holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from James Madison University.

In addition to her USGBC affiliation, Bové has been president of the Long Island Junior Chamber (a leadership development group for 18-40 year olds) and was a member in the American Society of Interior Designers.

Rushdan Majumder and Kevin Norris, both of Dix Hills, were named to the Dean’s List at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for the fall 2012 semester. The dean’s list recognizes full-time students who maintain grade-point averages of a minimum of 3.0 out of a possible 4.0 and have no grades below “C.”

Casey Trina Merber of Dix Hills was named to the Dean’s List at Washington University in St. Louis. Merber is enrolled in the university’s College of Art in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts.

Dix Hills’ Perri Korine and James Norberg were among the newest members of the University of Delaware’s Class of 2012, celebrated during Winter Commencement ceremonies held Sunday, Jan. 6, in the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, Del. Many local students received academic honors from Binghamton University by making the University’s Dean’s list for the Fall 2012 semester.

From Dix Hills: Shane Alex Polhamer, Aris Agdere, Haik Agdere, Andrew Williamson, Andrew Kaufman, Naveen Shetty, Rahul Doshi, Kathleen Keogh, Justin Robert Baer, John Louis Frandolig, Michael Anthony Tiongson, Priya Patel, Jonathan Eric Schwartz, Narae Yun, Zachary Douglas, Noel Eileen Palumbo, Harrison Zachary Marx, Aaron Kevin Bryant, Vance Michael Tuminelli, Harris Label, Sarah Greenberg, Isaac Pierce Vingan, Gianna Rose Passarelli, Chloe Engel, Taylor Daniel Brugna, Justin Haenel, Matthew Williamson and Timothy James Boehm.

From Melville: Michael Dylan Stromfeld, Alexandra S.G. Wolff, Paige Gittelman, Graham Mentis, Cody Lagrange, Alison Tuck, Nathaniel Philip Schwartz, Sarah Triolo, Steven Joseph Sundermier, Junaid Nomani and Derek Taylor Friedman.

From South Huntington: Ryan Sheppard.

A16 • THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 25, 2013

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HUNTINGTON OPEN HOUSES Want to get your open houses listed? Get your listings for free on this page every week in the Long Islander Newspapers.

Call Associate Publisher Peter Sloggatt at 631-427-7000 or send an e-mail to psloggatt@longislandernews.com.

MELVILLE

118 Northgate Cir Bedrooms 3 Baths 3 Price $499,990 Taxes $11,439 Open House 4/27 2pm-4pm Coach Real Estate Assoc Inc 631-499-1000

DIX HILLS

12 Waydale Dr Bedrooms 5 Baths 5 Price $949,000 Taxes $20,119 Open House 4/28 2:00pm-4:00pm Douglas Elliman Real Estate 631-499-9191

Town Huntington Sta Huntington Sta Greenlawn Greenlawn Melville Huntington Greenlawn Centerport Huntington Greenlawn Melville Centerport Huntington Sta Huntington Sta S. Huntington Huntington S. Huntington Greenlawn Melville Dix Hills Centerport Huntington Huntington Huntington Huntington Greenlawn Huntington Huntington Melville Melville Dix Hills Dix Hills Melville Centerport Dix Hills Dix Hills Dix Hills Dix Hills Greenlawn Greenlawn Dix Hills Centerport

Address Beds Baths Price Taxes Date 50 Windmill Ct 2 2 $309,000 $8,478 4/27 60 W 11th St 5 3 $339,000 $7,337 4/27 25 Cuba Hill Rd 3 2 $440,000 $6,406 4/27 479 Pulaski Rd 4 3 $499,000 $11,618 4/27 118 Northgate Cir 3 3 $499,990 $11,439 4/27 32 Turtle Cove Ln 4 2 $569,000 $13,429 4/27 482 Pulaski Rd 3 2 $339,000 $8,524 4/28 510 Arthur St 3 2 $415,000 $8,138 4/28 10 Horizon Ct 3 3 $429,000 $10,250 4/28 471 Pulaski Rd 4 3 $439,000 $13,085 4/28 15 Jayne Ave 3 2 $448,000 $9,373 4/28 9 Wainer Ct 3 2 $449,000 $10,401 4/28 3 Tremont Ct 5 4 $449,000 $10,945 4/28 45 Longfellow Dr 3 2 $469,000 $10,782 4/28 193 Beverly Rd 5 3 $479,000 $9,945 4/28 58 Newfoundland Ave 4 3 $499,000 $11,436 4/28 5 Quebec Dr 4 4 $499,000 $10,275 4/28 8 Monett Pl 4 3 $499,900 $13,395 4/28 28 Northgate Cir 3 3 $518,800 $8,942 4/28 4 Arista Dr 3 3 $529,000 $15,304 4/28 413 Adams St 4 3 $575,000 $12,826 4/28 10 Afton Ln 3 2 $599,000 $11,461 4/28 19 Forestdale Dr 4 2 $599,000 $13,772 4/28 5 Greenhill Ln 3 2 $599,000 $15,893 4/28 30 Marlboro Dr 4 4 $600,000 N/A 4/28 3 Andrea Ln 3 2 $610,000 $15,068 4/28 174 Woodbury Rd 4 2 $625,000 $7,542 4/28 54 Dunlop Rd 5 3 $674,000 $16,995 4/28 18 Woodmont Rd 7 6 $699,000 $23,311 4/28 97 Wilmington Dr 5 4 $748,000 $17,098 4/28 32 Wagon Wheel Ln 4 3 $749,000 $13,085 4/28 17 Wildwood Dr 5 4 $799,000 $19,385 4/28 9 Carry Ln 5 4 $799,990 $19,269 4/28 5 Crescent Ct 4 4 $945,000 $18,814 4/28 12 Waydale Dr 5 5 $949,000 $20,119 4/28 1 Stoll Ct 4 3 $995,000 $16,986 4/28 1 Chelsea Pl 5 5 $1,180,000 $22,241 4/28 13 Hunting Hollow Ct 5 4 $1,250,000 $22,241 4/28 16 Ducharme Ln 6 6 $1,300,000 $24,162 4/28 16 Ducharme Ln 6 6 $1,300,000 $24,162 4/28 19 Hart Pl 5 6 $1,499,000 $27,637 4/28 7 Marcia Ct 5 4 $2,795,000 $28,998 4/28

Time Broker 1pm-3pm Coldwell Banker Residential 12:00pm-2:00pm Coach Real Estate Assoc Inc 12pm-2pm Daniel Gale Agency Inc 12pm-2pm Signature Premier Properties 2pm-4pm Coach Real Estate Assoc Inc 1pm-3pm Douglas Elliman Real Estate 1pm-3pm Coldwell Banker Residential 2:30pm-4:30pm Daniel Gale Agency Inc 1pm-2:30pm Douglas Elliman Real Estate 2:30pm-4pm Daniel Gale Agency Inc 1pm-4pm Douglas Elliman Real Estate 1pm-3pm Coldwell Banker Residential 1pm-3pm Coach Real Estate Assoc Inc 12pm-2pm Coldwell Banker Residential 1pm-3pm Douglas Elliman Real Estate 12pm-2pm Douglas Elliman Real Estate 1pm-3:30pm Douglas Elliman Real Estate 12pm-2pm Coldwell Banker Residential 12pm-2pm Coldwell Banker Residential 2:15pm-4pm Douglas Elliman Real Estate 1pm-3pm Coldwell Banker Residential 1pm-3pm Coldwell Banker Residential 12pm-2pm Coach Real Estate Assoc Inc 12pm-2pm Coldwell Banker Residential 2:30pm-4:30pm Coldwell Banker Residential 2pm-4pm Douglas Elliman Real Estate 2pm-4pm Keller Williams Realty Greater 1pm-3pm Coach Real Estate Assoc Inc 2:00pm-4:00pm Douglas Elliman Real Estate 12:00pm-2:00pm Douglas Elliman Real Estate 12pm-2pm Realty Connect USA LLC 1pm-3pm Douglas Elliman Real Estate 1pm-3pm RE/MAX Beyond 12pm-2pm Daniel Gale Agency Inc 2:00pm-4:00pm Douglas Elliman Real Estate 2:15pm-4pm Douglas Elliman Real Estate 1pm-3pm Douglas Elliman Real Estate 1pm-3pm Coldwell Banker Residential 1:00pm-3:00pm Signature Premier Properties 1pm-3pm Signature Premier Properties 2pm-4pm Douglas Elliman Real Estate 1pm-3pm Daniel Gale Agency Inc

Phone 631-673-6800 631-427-1200 631-692-6770 631-673-3700 631-499-1000 631-549-4400 631-673-6800 631-427-6600 516-921-2262 631-692-6770 631-499-9191 631-673-6800 631-427-9100 631-673-6800 631-549-4400 631-549-4400 631-549-4400 631-673-6800 516-621-4336 631-499-9191 631-673-6800 631-673-6800 631-673-2222 631-673-6800 631-673-6800 631-549-4400 516-873-7100 631-757-4000 631-499-9191 631-499-9191 877-647-1092 631-499-9191 631-862-1100 631-692-6770 631-499-9191 631-499-9191 631-499-9191 631-499-0500 631-673-3700 631-673-3700 631-499-9191 631-692-6770

You open the door...We’ll bring ’em in!

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Call your sales representative today. (631) 427-7000 The listings on this page contain open house events conducted by brokers licensed in New York. If you are a broker and would like to get your listings on this page, please contact Associate Publisher Peter Sloggatt at (631) 427-7000, or send an e-mail to psloggatt@longislandernews.com.

Democratic candidates make pitches to committee (Continued from page A6)

The other woman who spoke at the Huntington Democrats’ meeting was Dix Hills’ Tracey Edwards, who argued she was the best complement to the PetroneCuthbertson ticket.

Edwards said she represented the best qualities of the seven candidates, offering wide electoral district support as well as unique qualities. As Verizon's vice president for operations, she is responsible for a budget larger than the Town of Huntington’s and leads a team of 5,000 people. She also co-chairs the Long Island Association’s economic development arm, serves on Governor Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Council, and leads a team of nine Long Island NAACP branches.

Huntington Station, she stressed, will be a high priority for her.

“I come from Huntington Station. Most of my family lives in Huntington Station,” Edwards said.

Huntington Station is also in the wheelhouse of Keith Barrett, a Melville resident who owns Barrett Automotive in Huntington Station and has led the Huntington Sta-

tion BID for nine years.

Barrett worked at Tilden Brakes as an auto mechanic before heading to Kennedy Airport. After his airport work, he was a dealer, then manager, for Snap-On Tools before opening Barrett Automotive 16 years ago. Nine years ago, he helped launch the Huntington Station BID, which since its nascent days has installed 42 surveillance cameras in the community, conducted seasonal beautification efforts and sponsored community events.

“I like to say the BID has been a plus to Huntington Station,” he said. “I think the people that live there think it has been, too.”

Huntington resident Ed Perez touted his 25 years of experience in nonprofits, which most recently include co-chairing the Huntington Station Action NOW Coalition. He is also a co-founder of the Friends of the Huntington Station Latin Quarter alongside attorney Xavier Palacios, who later became a Huntington school board trustee. Perez currently serves on the town’s zoning board.

Perez, who previously worked in

telecommunications, later became the director of community relations and minority affairs during Steve Levy’s administration. His experience during that time in crafting housing anti-discrimination policies gave him valuable experience in cutting through bureaucratic red tape.

“We need someone with the experience to navigate levels of government to make certain the resources needed in Huntington make it back to Huntington,” he said.

Huntington’s Jim Kelly pledged his time as a resource he could bring to Town Hall.

Having recently retired after 33 years with the Nassau County Police Department, Kelly said he would be a full-time councilman.

Speaking of his experience as a participant in Vision Huntington, the forerunner to smart-growth advocacy organization Vision Long Island, Kelly said he would work to ensure that plans, especially in Huntington Station, become shovels in the ground.

“We spent a lot of time and a lot of money, got a tremendous amount of community involvement… it went on the shelf.

Nothing happened,” he said of Vision Huntington’s efforts.

Rounding out the field was a newer face amidst many familiar ones – Michael Kiesel, an investment banker who lives in Northport. His experience touched on public and private equity, mergers and acquisitions and municipal financing, he explained.

He said his experience in grappling with complex financial makes him an ideal choice to join the town board.

“I have extensive experience in advising domestic and global corporate leaders regarding economic and financial conditions that could have a major impact on their shareholder value,” he said.

He has been active in community service, with a central focus on children through the Boy Scouts and veterans, including serving meals to homeless veterans and volunteering for Building Homes for Heroes.

Democratic Chairwoman Mary Collins said the committee would select its candidates for town council and highway superintendent in the month of May.

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Subpoenaed (Continued from page A5)

24, 2012 states the contract was extended for another year. In December 2009, a resolution was issued authorizing the town to execute a contract with the company for “tree removal zone 2 at various locations within the town.” It is unclear if Looks Great was invovled in the town’s Sandy cleanup.

The company’s website also provides a testimonial account, in which the customer, William Dietz, writes that Looks Great Services, Inc. has been selected as the prime contractor for the Town of Hunt-

ington Annual Tree Removal Contract.

Following the Oct. 29 storm, the Town collected over 500,000 cubic yards of vegetative debris over the 785 miles of town roads; in addition to 1,200 tree stumps.

Lloyd Harbor mayor Leland Hairr and Huntington Bay Mayor Herb Morrow confirmed that neither village received a similar subpoena.

Suffolk County district attorney spokesman Robert Clifford declined to comment on the matter because the subpoena was issued by a grand jury.

Chai Center expansion (Continued from page A1)

add worship space, a larger kitchen and a mikvah – ceremonial bath. A third floor was to be built and used for storage in the short-term. As phase I ends, Chai Center staff would move the Bender library up to the main floor and add video cameras to building exits and entrances.

With the first phases finished, the third phase called for building a preschool penthouse, guest rooms and a board room in the newly-constructed third floor.

But when the Chai Center had a consultant come in, Saacks said, he recommended doing the project as one phase to save money.

“We just bit the bullet and did it,” the rabbi added.

The plans remained unchanged, save for eliminating guest rooms since they would be empty so often anyway.

On Friday, Saacks said 95 percent of the building was complete.

The preschool rooms are finished but still need furniture. One of the new rooms, Saacks said, is tiled with arts and crafts in mind. When students spill paint, it’s easy to wash off.

The mikvah is constructed, but still needs rainwater. A bath used for ritual immersion in Judaism, the mikvah uses living water to cleanse after impure incidents, e.g. conversion to Judaism and after giving birth. The water at the Dix Hills synagogue will be rainwater collected through one pipe on the roof, filtered and heated before it enters a holding tank.

“God just needs to give us a few storms,” Saacks said.

While construction on the building draws to a close, work outside is beginning. Wooden stump seats, a split-rail fence and a vegetable garden are the highlights of their “nature playground.” It will also include a basketball court.

Saacks expects the expansion to open within two months. Until then, all programs and schools have continued as

“God just needs to give us a few storms.”

— RABBI YACKOV SAACKS, Chai Center

normal in the existing building.

“It was so important because we were rapidly running out of room,” he said, adding that students were learning in trailers.

Between the preschool, Hebrew school, Hebrew school for special needs children, and Friendship Circle (100 teenage volunteers who visit the homes of special needs children), Saacks said 250 students participate. He was reluctant to say by exactly how much enrollment would grow with the expansion, but speculated they could hold 30 percent more.

Likewise, 7 a.m. daily services attract up to 20 worshippers, Shabbat services attract nearly 100, and bar/bat mitzvahs can bring in as many as 250. With the new 3,000 square-foot social hall, they can set up the traditional Saturday afternoon meal and add more seats to the sanctuary.

With the Chai Center spending for religious-oriented construction and building a mikvah, Saacks expects new worshippers to seek out the synagogue.

“We’re hedging our bets that many more people will be heading our way. We’re growing,” he said.

Donations can be made at www.chaicenter.com or by calling 631-351-8672.

Emergency drill (Continued from page A1)

County Homeland Security and Anti-Terrorism, County Fire Rescue Emergency Services and various federal agencies.

The drill comes at a time when poisoned letters are making national headlines. Last week the FBI confirmed that suspicious letters sent earlier this month to President Barack Obama, a U.S. senator from Mississippi and a Mississippi judge contained traces of the poison ricin.

Chirichello said the exercise did not come as a result of those ricin letters.

Planning for the Melville drill has been ongoing since February, she said, and the postal service conducts these types of drills several times a year in different places.

The events in Washington and Mississippi do, however, indicate how important it is to be prepared, the spokeswoman added.

“This exercise comes at a good time to show the American public how having a plan in place for emergencies makes everyone feel safer,” Chirichello said.

THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 25, 2013 • A17

A18 • THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 25, 2013 THURSDAY Recognizing, Dealing With PTSD The Women’s Center of Huntington hosts a seminar on PTSD, how to recognize and deal with the symptoms, April 25, 7-9 p.m., at Old First Church, 125 Main St., Huntington. 631549-0485.

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Calendar O M M U N I T Y

meeting every Wednesday, 7-8:30 a.m. at the Dix Hills Diner, 1800 Jericho Turnpike, Dix Hills. 631-462-7446.

AT THE LIBRARIES Cold Spring Harbor Library 95 Harbor Road, Cold Spring Harbor. 631-6926820. cshlibrary.org.

• Learn about hosting a city child with the Fresh Air Fund on Tuesday, April 30, 10:30 a.m.-noon.

• The art of Laurie and Jeff Hollman will be on display throughout April.

First-Time Homebuyer’s Seminar A seminar for first-time homebuyers will be held May 2, 7-9 p.m. at the Harborfields Library, 31 Broadway, Greenlawn. Admission is free, but registration is required. Call Housing Help Inc. at 631-754-0373.

Commack Public Library Single Mingle

18 Hauppauge Road, Commack. 631-4990888. commack.suffolk.lib.ny.us.

• Are you game? Adults are welcome to play Bridge and Mahjong on Fridays at 1:00 p.m. through May. • There will be an AARP Driver Safety Program on Tuesday, April 30 at 6 p.m. Completion of the program entitles you to a 10 percent deduction on your automobile liability and collision insurance for 3 years.

Are you single and looking for an alternative to online dating sites? The next Long Island Single Mingle event is May 2, 7-10 p.m. at The Paramount Founders Club, 370 New York Ave., Huntington. Presale only. $50. www.lisinglemingle.com.

FRIDAY Artists In The Attic

Deer Park Public Library

Artists in the Attic present an open studio evening for the group exhibit “ART(that matters) – What Do You Stand For?” on April 26, 6-8 p.m. at 1038 New York Ave., Huntington Station, above the Yankee Peddler. Meet the artists, see their work, share conversation, and enjoy refreshments and music.

44 Lake Ave., Deer Park. 631-586-3000. deerparklibrary.org.

• April is Food for Fines Amnesty Month. Bring in one canned food item to replace one overdue book fine.

• Young adults entering grades 6-9 in the fall interested in reading are invited to enter the 2013 Battle of the Books.

“The Butler Did It, Again!”

Red Is For Passion Love the color red and enjoy living it up? The Red Hat women are looking for new members who enjoy going places and making new friends. Their motto: Fun, Frolic and Friendship. 631-271-6470 or flarpp@yahoo.com.

SATURDAY

The Minstrel Players of Northport perform Tim Kelly’s “The Butler Did It, Again!” on Saturdays, April 27 and May 4 at 8 p.m. and Sundays, April 28 and May 5 at 3 p.m. at Houghton Hall theatre at Trinity Episcopal Church, 130 Main St., Northport. 631732-2926. www.minstrelplayers.org. $15 general/$12 seniors and children.

experiences, and items. Many items will be listed on the website ahead: www.starflowerexperiences.org.

Healthy Kids Day The Huntington Y is celebrating YMCA’s Healthy Kids Day on April 27 with a free community event that encourages kids to get moving and learning, and families to live healthier. The day, at 60 Main St., Huntington, from 1-4 p.m., features fun, active play and educational activities, such as Family Zumba, a kid fun run, sports and games, a petting zoo, healthy snacks and a camp open house. 631-421-4242 or visit www.ymcali.org/hunty.

Last Licks Cafe The Last Licks Café and Wepecket Island Records presents the Rolling Roots Review, a traveling troupe of Wepecket Records artists, on April 27. Open mic at 7:30 p.m. $15 general/$10 students, seniors. At Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Huntington, 109 Browns Road, Huntington. www.lastlickscafe.org.

Drive For A Cure Ford Lincoln of Huntington in conjunction with the Ford Corporation will hold a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society’s “Relay for Life” at Huntington High School, corner of Oakwood and McKay Roads, on April 27, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Participants will test drive a new 2013 Ford car around the parking lot. Ford Corporation will donate $20 for each participant to Relay for Life, up to a total of $6,000.

Contact Alyssa Knudsen at 631-300-3457 or alyssa.knudsen@cancer.org.

Havdallah Service The Huntington Jewish Center hosts a Havdallah Service and a bonfire April 27, 8:30 p.m. in honor of Lag BaOmer. Make s’mores and have fun at the end of Shabbat.

510 Park Ave., Huntington. Call Diane in the HJC Education Office at 631-427-1157. Free.

Live Music Live local bands take over Finley's of Greene Street, 43 Greene St., Huntington, every Saturday night at 11 p.m. Join in the fun and food!

SUNDAY Famous Musical Love Triangle Enjoy “Music’s Most Famous Love Triangle,” the music of Robert & Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms, performed by internationally known soprano Kelley Nassief and pianist Frances O. Roberts, on April 28, 4 p.m. at Old First Church on Main Street in Huntington. $35. Visit francesoroberts.com or call 631219-9100.

Mini Golf For Military Kids Suffolk County Legislator Steve Stern hosts a free event for children of active-duty military personnel, National Guard and reservists on April 28, 10 a.m.-noon at Monster Mini-Golf in Deer Park. RSVP to Stern at 631-854-5100 or by e-mail, steve.stern@suffolkcountyny.gov.

Choral Society Concert

Friendship Circle Yoga Program

The Huntington Choral Society’s Spring Concert, featuring a performance of “Samson” by G.F. Handel, is April 27, 8 p.m. at the Huntington High School auditorium, corner of Oakwood and McKay. $20 adults/students are free.

A Yoga program for children with special needs will be held Sundays, April 28 and May 5, noon-12:45 p.m. at The Chai Center, 501 Vanderbilt Parkway, Dix Hills. 631-351-8672.

RSVP to Serena Kindler at friendshipcircle@thechaicenter.com. $10 per session.

Starflower Auction Starflower Experiences’ annual fundraising auction is April 27, 7 p.m. at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 22 E 18th St., Huntington Station. Free admission. Bid on things like a concert at The Paramount, a flight in a historic WW II airplane, a white water rafting trip on the Lehigh River, and other adventures,

Huntington Winter Farmers Market There’s no need to wait until the weather gets hot to enjoy local produce. An indoor market is held in Huntington Station every Sunday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Jack Abrams School Gym, 155 Lowndes Ave., through April 28. www.winterfarmersmarketlongisland.com.

Elwood Public Library 3027 Jericho Turnpike, Elwood. 631-499-3722. www.elwoodlibrary.org.

• Homework help is being offered for students in grades 3-7 on Tuesdays at 3 p.m. through May 28.

• Are you new to computers? Get one-on-one help on Friday, April 26 at 11 a.m.

MONDAY Half Hollow Hills Community Library Aging And Saging Members of an “Aging and Saging” group shares their experiences at The Women’s Center of Huntington, 125 Main St., Huntington, on Mondays (except holidays) from 10 a.m.-noon. $15 members/$10 non-members. 631-549-0485.

See The Light Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia has organized an exhibit of Huntington Lighthouse artifacts and memorabilia to celebrate its centennial anniversary of The Huntington Lighthouse. The display includes correspondence between the Lighthouse Establishment and Lighthouse Keeper Robert McGlone, and an original painting of the lighthouse, which will be auctioned.

On display in the Town Hall lobby, 100 Main St, Huntington, Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and Friday, 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m. www.huntingtonlighthouse.org. 631-421-1985.

TUESDAY Mommy And Me Yoga Free Mommy and Me yoga classes are offered in Dix Hills every Tuesday. Walkers: 12 Months and up, 9:45-11 a.m. Crawlers: 6-12 Months, 11 a.m.-noon. Register by phone or online: Chai Tots Preschool, 501 Vanderbilt Parkway.

631-351-8672. www.TheChaiCenter.com.

Free Help For Vets Every Tuesday from 12-4 p.m. is “Military Appreciation Tuesdays,” when Long Island Cares specifically assists veterans, military personnel and their families at the Hauppauge and Freeport emergency pantries. Appointments can be made by contacting jrosati@licares.org.

WEDNESDAY Alternatives For Children Open House Alternatives For Children will hold an open house for its Child Day Care Center and Preschool at its four Long Island locations (Aquebogue, East Setauket, Melville and Southampton) from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Call 631-331-6400 or visit us at www.alternativesforchildren.org

Power Breakfast Join business professionals at BNI Executive Referral Exchange’s breakfast networking

Dix Hills: 55 Vanderbilt Parkway. 631-4214530; Melville: 510 Sweet Hollow Road. 631421-4535. hhhlibrary.org.

• There will be a book sale at the Dix Hills location on Friday, April 29, 5-9 p.m. and Saturday, April 30, 10 a.m.- 3 p.m.

• Every Wednesday at 7 p.m., meet for friendly English conversation practice. All are welcome, refreshments provided. Call to register: 498-1225.

Harborfields Public Library 31 Broadway, Greenlawn. 631-757-4200. harborfieldslibrary.org.

• The library is hosting Authors Unlimited at St Joseph’s College on Saturday, April 27, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The event will connect teens with 12 young adult authors. There will be an autograph session at the end of the day and books available for purchase.

• “Les Miserables” will be shown on Friday, April 26 at 1:30 p.m.

Huntington Public Library Main Branch: 338 Main St., Huntington. 631427-5165. Station Branch: 1335 New York Ave., Huntington Station.

631-421-5053. www.thehuntingtonlibrary.org.

• New Horizons String Orchestra invites the public to sit in on their rehearsals on Friday mornings at 9:30 a.m.

• Artist Joseph Anderson’s “New Horizons” will be on display at the main branch through April 28.

Northport-East Northport Public Library Northport: 151 Laurel Ave. 631-261-6930. East Northport: 185 Larkfield Road. 631-261-2313. www.nenpl.org.

• Dress to impress and bring copies of your resume for the job fair on Friday, April 26 at 10 a.m. in Northport.

• The acclaimed Canta Libre Chamber Ensemble will be in concert on Friday, April 26, 7:30 p.m. in Northport.

South Huntington Public Library 145 Pidgeon Hill Road, Huntington Station.

631-549-4411. www.shpl.info.

• Do you have a child entering college in the near future? Learn about selecting, applying to and paying for the right college Thursday, April 25 at 7 p.m.

• Dr. Michel A. Selmer of Advanced Animal

(Continued on page A19)

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THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 25, 2013 • A19

(Continued from page A18)

Famous Musical Love Triangle

Care Center presents a free educational seminar for pet owners who want to know the truth about veterinary care and nutritional holistic treatment options on Thursday, April 25, 7 p.m.

Enjoy “Music’s Most Famous Love Triangle,” the music of Robert & Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms, performed by internationally known soprano Kelley Nassief and pianist Frances O. Roberts, on April 28, 4 p.m. at Old First Church on Main Street in Huntington. $35. Visit francesoroberts.com or call 631-219-9100.

THEATER and FILM Bare Bones Theater Company at the Posey School, 57 Main St., Northport. www.barebonestheater.com. 1-800-838-3006.

• The company presents the comedy “Scapino!” on Fridays and Saturdays, April 26 and 27 at 8 p.m. and on Sunday, April 28 at 3 p.m. A zany comedy about true love frustrated by arranged marriages, this modernday adaptation of Molière offers colorful characters, verbal repartee, sight gags, and a jubilant story. $25.

Cinema Arts Centre 423 Park Ave., Huntington. www.cinemaartscentre.org. 631-423-7611.

• Celebrate Earth Day Sunday, April 30, 7:30 p.m. with “Chasing Ice,” about environmental photographer James Balog. $10 members/$15 general per film.

Dix Hills Performing Arts Center Five Towns College, 305 N. Service Road, Dix Hills. Box Office: 631-656-2148. www.dhpac.org.

• The spring season kicks off Saturday, May 4 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and Sunday, May 5, at noon and 3 p.m. with “High School Musical 2.” $10.

John W. Engeman Theater At Northport 350 Main St., Northport. www.johnwengemantheater.com. 631-261-2900.

• Tony Award-winning comedy “Boeing Boeing,” the story of an architect juggling three fiancées who are all flight attendants, plays through May 5. $55.

The Minstrel Players of Northport at Houghton Hall theatre at Trinity Episcopal Church, 130 Main St., Northport. 631-7322926. www.minstrelplayers.org, • The Players perform Tim Kelly’s “The Butler Did It, Again!” on Saturdays, April 27 and May 4 at 8 p.m. and Sundays, April 28 and May 5 at 3 p.m. $15 general/$12 seniors and children.

AUDITIONS Talent Show A local cable TV talent show is looking for all types of talent (except bands). Singers, impressionists, comedians, magicians, and other performers/acts welcome. Register online at www.talent-showcase.com or call 631-2237011. Auditions are open to all ages.

Registration in advanced is required – no walkins permitted.

MUSEUMS & EXHIBITS Art League of Long Island 107 East Deer Park Road, Dix Hills. Gallery hours: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. weekends. 631-462-5400. www.ArtLeagueLI.net.

• Entries are being sought for their annual Art in the Park Fine Art & Craft Fair at Heckscher Park in Huntington on Saturday, June 1 and Sunday, June 2.

b.j. spoke gallery 299 Main St., Huntington. Gallery hours: Monday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., until 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. 631-549-5106. www.bjspokegallery.com.

• The EXPO 32 Winners Exhibition is on view until April 28.

Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery 1660 Route 25A, Cold Spring Harbor. Open seven days a week, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday and Sundays until 6 p.m.: $6 adults; $4 children 3-12 and seniors over 65; members and children under 3 are free. 516-692-6768. www.cshfha.org • The annual Spring Fair is Saturday, April 27 (rain date Saturday, May 4), 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum Main Street, Cold Spring Harbor. Museum

hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. $4 adults, $3 seniors, $3 students 5 -18, family $12; military and children under 5 are free.

631-367-3418. www.cshwhalingmuseum.org.

fotofoto Gallery 14 W. Carver St., Huntington. Gallery hours: Friday 5-8 p.m., Saturday 12-8 p.m., Sunday 12-4 p.m. 631-549-0448.

• SparkBoom, on display through April 28, includes “New York Underground” by Richard Gardner and “In A Split” by Michelle Carollo.

Heckscher Museum Of Art 2 Prime Ave., Huntington. Museum hours: Wednesday - Friday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., first Fridays from 4-8:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission $68/adults, $4-6/seniors, and $4-5/children; members and children under 10 free. 631-3513250.

• “Car Culture: Art and the Automobile” on display April 27- Aug. 11.

Holocaust Memorial And Tolerance Center Welwyn 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.

• The permanent exhibit explains the 1920s increase of intolerance, the reduction of human rights, and the lack of intervention that enabled the persecution and mass murder of millions of Jews and others: people with disabilities, Roma and Sinti (Gypsies), Jehovah’s Witnesses, gays and Polish intelligentsia.

Huntington Arts Council Main Street Petite Gallery: 213 Main St., Huntington. Gallery hours: Monday - Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Art in the Art-trium: 25 Melville Park Road, Melville. Gallery Hours: Monday Friday 7 a.m.-7 p.m. 631-271-8423. www.huntingtonarts.org.

• “Living Color” shows in the Art-trium through June 17.

Huntington Historical Society Main office/library: 209 Main St., Huntington.

Museums: Conklin Barn, 2 High St.; Kissam House/Museum Shop, 434 Park Ave.; Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Building, 228 Main St. 631427-7045, ext. 401. www.huntingtonhistoricalsociety.org.

• The Sheep to Shawl Festival is May 5.

• “I HAD” by Jeremy Zierau is currently on display.

• The next “Stop-n-Start Movie” night is Friday, April 26, 7:30 p.m. with “NOSFERATU,” a 1922 adaptation of “Dracula.” $5 donation.

SPLIA Headquarters: 161 Main St., Cold Spring Harbor. Joseph Lloyd Manor House: Lloyd Lane and Lloyd Harbor Road, Lloyd Neck.

631-692-4664. www.splia.org.

• “Long Island at Work and at Play,” early 20thcentury photographs from SPLIA’s collections, is now on display Thursdays through Sundays, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

Suffolk Y JCC 74 Hauppauge Road, Commack. 631-4629800, ext. 140. Tuesday 1-4 p.m. Admission: $5 per person, $18 per family. Special group programs available. www.suffolkyjcc.org.

• The Alan & Helene Rosenberg Jewish Discovery Museum provides hands-on exhibits and programs for children 3-13 years old and their families, classes and camps.

Now on exhibit: The Alef Bet of Being a Mensch. “Zye a mensch” is a Yiddish saying that means “be a decent, responsible, caring person,” infusing both the best blessing and the best that an educator can wish for his students.

Vanderbilt Museum and Planetarium 180 Little Neck Road, Centerport. Museum hours through April 15: Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday, 12-4 p.m. Grounds admission: $7 adults, $6 students with ID and seniors 62 and older, and $3 children 12 and under. Mansion tour, add $5 per person. 631-854-5555. www.vanderbiltmuseum.org.

• The newly renovated planetarium is now open. Check the website for show times.

• The Arena Players Repertory Theater presents thriller “The Deadly Game,” opening April 19 at the Vanderbilt Museum Carriage House Theater and running through May 12. www.ArenaPlayers.org.

Walt Whitman Birthplace 246 Old Walt Whitman Road, Huntington Station. Hours: Wednesday-Friday, 1-4 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m.- 4 p.m.

Admission: $6 adults, $5 seniors, $4 students, and children under 5 are free. 631-427-5240, ext. 114. www.waltwhitman.org.

• Kids can visit the Poetry Corner throughout April and “make and take” a poem.

LaMantia Gallery 127 Main St., Northport Village. 631-754-8414. www.lamantiagallery.com.

• Robert Finale presents captivating landscapes and Richard Johnson displays exquisite paintings of the human face and form.

9 East Contemporary Art 9 East Carver St., Huntington. Gallery hours: Wed.-Sat., 3-8 p.m. or by appointment. 631662-9459.

• “Transitional Man,” a solo exhibition by Northport’s John Fink, is on display through May 5.

Northport Historical Society Museum 215 Main St., Northport. Museum hours: Tuesday - Sunday, 1-4:30 p.m. 631-757-9859. www.northporthistorical.org.

• The latest exhibition, “Northport Collects II,” celebrates the passion for collecting by highlighting the unique and varied collections of members. On display through June.

Ripe Art Gallery 67 Broadway, Greenlawn. 631-807-5296.

Gallery hours: Tuesday - Thursday 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Friday 2-9 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m.-5 p.m. www.ripeartgal.com.

MUSIC & DANCE The Paramount 370 New York Ave., Huntington. 631-673-7300. www.paramountny.com. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

• Limp Bizkit plays Tuesday, Apr. 30. $25-40.

p.m. and Sun., April 28, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.; or at South Huntington Jewish Center, 2600 New York Ave., Melville, Mon.–Thur., April 29-May 2, 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Fri., May 3, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., or Sun., May 5, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

Call Robyn Schmigelski at 631 766-3748.

Help The Troops Call Home Assemblyman Chad Lupinacci has registered his District Office in Huntington Station as an official drop-off site for Cell Phones for Soldiers. To help the troops call home by donating your old cell phone, stop by or mail your phone to 1783 New York Ave., Huntington Station, 11746. 631-271-8025.

AID & ASSISTANCE Help After Sandy Touro Law Center has opened a legal hotline at 631-761-7198 that is staffed Monday-Friday 9-6 by law students and attorneys from the bar associations. Bilingual and Spanish-speaking lawyers are available thanks to the Hispanic Bar Association.

VOLUNTEERING Seeking Volunteer Advocates The Family Service League’s Ombudservice Program of Suffolk County is seeking volunteers to train as advocates for nursing home, adult home and assisted living facility residents to help insure they receive quality care and their rights are protected. 631-427-3700 ext.

240.

Artistically Gifted Needed The Gurwin Jewish Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Commack is seeking artistically gifted volunteers to partner with residents in a new program, “heART to heART” aimed at helping people with varying levels of cognitive ability express themselves through art. Contact Judie at 516-931-5036 or jatlas1@optonline.net.

Don’t Hibernate. Help.

The Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP SUFFOLK) needs adults 55+ to help in organizations throughout Suffolk County. Dozens of opportunities available in this federally funded program for just about any interest or skill. Visit www.rsvpsuffolk.org or call 631-979-9490 ext.12 for more information.

Friends At Home Looking to earn some community service hours while changing a life? As part of the Friends@Home program, a project of The Ariella's Friendship Circle at the Chai Center in Dix Hills, visit a child with special needs in an environment they are most comfortable: their own homes. Together, bake cookies, play games, create arts and crafts, read books and more. Contact Nati or Sara at 631-351-8672 or fcchaicenter@gmail.com

Be A Friend Of The Bay Friends of the Bay is in need of volunteers who can help convert water quality data, which is currently kept in an excel sheet, into a Microsoft Access database. Assistance is also needed with ArcView GIS, to configure maps of the watershed. Call 516-922-6666 or email info@friendsofthebay.org.

Ridotto

Be A Host Family

Concerts with a Touch of Theater.

At Huntington Jewish Center, 510 Park Ave., Huntington. www.ridotto.org. 631-385-0373 • Legendary pianists Misha and Cipa Dichter play a two-piano program with music by Mozart, Schubert, Arensky, and Rachmaninoff, on Sunday May 5, 4 p.m. $10 (students), $18 (seniors), $20 (adults).

Reservations recommended.

Huntington Sanctuary is seeking families or individual adults to become Host Homes, which provide temporary shelter to youth between ages 12-17 who are experiencing a family crisis. Contact Jennifer Petti at 631-2712183 for more information.

DONATIONS WELCOME

Submissions 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 to info@longislandernews.com

Bike Drive for Sandy A Bike Drive for Sandy will collect used adult and children’s bicycles in coordination with Project Nivneh, an organization specially created to provide Hurricane Sandy Relief to area residents. www.nivneh.org. Bicycles can be dropped off at: Temple Beth Torah, 35 Bagatelle Road, Mon–Fri., April 22-26, 9 a.m.-7

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(Continued from page A11)

markings on the ceiling of the back room from where a countertop once stood from the early 1700s.

In 1731, Joseph Langdon, a merchant, took over the home until Captain Joseph Lewis, the town’s first public official, took the reins.

Captain Lewis moved into the home in 1739 with Abigail Scudder of Northport, along with her servant, Rachel, and Rachel’s son, Peter, who was a part of her dowry when she married Lewis.

The Lewises continued to operate the general store, but invested a great deal into turning the home into an upscale inn. Meals were cooked over the home’s two fireplaces, one of which still stands today. Metcalf said guests could order their drink of choice, but meals were decided based on what was in stock that day. The home boats an extensive buttery, or a pantry, that held and still holds dozens of wooden cooking devices and a collection of original local pottery.

Peter, who was 19 years old at the time, was the house butler who essentially ran the culinary operation. The buttery was his sleeping quarters.

The captain’s son, Joseph Lewis Jr., assumed ownership of the house in 1764, just two years before the Battle of Long Island in 1766. It was the first major battle in the Revolutionary War, and a ring of spies that stretched from Huntington to Setauket helped Washington defeat the British.

According to Metcalf, British garrisons plundered Long Island for hay to feed cattle, and Huntington was the easternmost extent of serious British occupation. Metcalf said close to 3,000 British

troops plundered the area, while only 1,500 residents lived in town at the time.

British loyalists occupied homes all along Park Avenue, including Latting’s Hundred, during the battle. The parlor was used as the troops’ headquarters, the lieutenant slept in the back room, all while Abigail Lewis, Rachel, Peter, another servant, and seven children lived in an upstairs loft. The family was responsible for waking before dawn and preparing breakfast for the soldiers, who would patrol on horses for signs of rebel activity.

“This house is a vestige of the old days before all that [the village] came to be…

Poor, segregated neighborhoods are all after slavery. During [the time of slavery], everyone was all together. After, however, compartmentalized society begins; it gets fragmented, geographically and in other ways, in the 19th and 20th centuries,” Metcalf said.

In 1781, a smallpox epidemic ran rampant through the Huntington area.

Joseph Lewis and Peter attempted to aid sick soldiers by transporting them by wagon to a military hospital in Jamaica, Queens. The pair had assisted in the transport for nearly three weeks when they both contracted smallpox; they died on the same day. Ironically, both Peter’s mother, Rachel, and Joseph’s mother, Abigail, were born on the same day in 1731, and both saw their sons die on the same day 50 years later.

In 1793, Samuel Fleet, a merchant who was the town’s Overseer of the Poor moved into Latting’s House. It was Fleet who used the residence, inn, and general store as the site of Huntington’s first post office in 1794. The house re-

Half Hollow Hills photo/ Jacqueline Birzon

Historical home

The original Dutch-framed room was built in 1653 and was first occupied by Richard Latting, who was banished from the Town of Huntington for turbulent conduct. This room housed a family of ten after Latting moved out. mained a post office until 1823.

While Fleet owned the home, a sculptor named Phineus Hill started to rent a room there. He would carve tombstones on the front lawn of the Park Avenue property. Ironically, it was Hill who carved out Samuel Fleet’s tombstone on his very own property following his death in 1823.

In 1825, Fleet’s nephew, also named Samuel Fleet, took the helm of the home and launched the first newspaper in the Town of Huntington. The nephew purchased The Eagle, Samuel Seaburry’s newspaper in Sag Harbor, and moved it to Huntington. He operated the paper and ran the printing press from Latting’s House until 1827.

The general store continued to operate

from the home until the business went bankrupt in 1846. After the mid-19th century, Latting’s Hundred was used as a residential dwelling, also operating as a quaint boarding house and farm. One family, the Canavellos, operated a restaurant in the home; years later, another family ran an ice cream parlor.

Metcalf grew up in Latting’s Hundred and helped his parents run a chicken farm on the property until they could not longer afford to. Metcalf has maintained the home ever since.

“For 200 years, this place was a center for commercial and social activity for the town. After that, it ceased to be a central player, when the house was converted to be just a family dwelling again,” Metcalf said.

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Pick up your FREE copy at these and other locations throughout the community COMMACK ROAD American Community Bank ANC Food The Everything Bagel Deli Beer Smoke

100 Commack Rd, Commack 134 Commack Rd, Commack 217 Commack Rd, Commack 223 Commack Rd, Commack

JERICHO TURNPIKE Commack Lucille Roberts New York Sports Club The Cutting Edge Hair Design Mozzarello’s Pizza Stop & Shop Bagel Boss Dix Hills Diner The Critic’s Choice Deli Stop & Shop Desi Bazar Brooklyn Pizza Ruby Salon Dunkin’ Donuts Roy’s Deli Golden Coach Diner Bagel USA

6534 Jericho Tpke, Commack 6136 Jericho Tpke, Commack 6065 Jericho Tpke, Commack 1957 E Jericho Tpke, East Northport 3126 Jericho Tpke, East Northport 1941 Jericho Tkpe, Commack 1800 E jericho Tpke, Dix Hills 1153A E Jericho Tpke, Huntington Station 1100 E Jericho Tpke, Huntington Station 905 E Jericho Tpke, Huntington Station 881 E Jericho Tpke, Huntington Station 822 East Jericho Tpke, Huntington Station 795 East Jericho Tpke, Huntington Station 669 East Jericho Tpke, Huntington Station 350 W Jericho Tpke, Huntington Station 573 W. Jericho Tpke, Huntington Station

DEER PARK AVENUE Dix Hills Fire Department Bethpage Fed’l Credit Union

580 Deer Park Ave, Dix Hills 1350-35 Deer Park Ave, North Babylon

Nelly’s Deli Grocery Gigi’s VIP Deer Park Nails Inc Tony’s Pizza Deer Hills Delicatessen Park Avenue Barbers

1737 Deer Park Ave, Deer Park 1747 Deer Park Ave, Deer Park 1749 Deer Park Ave, Deer Park 1829 Deer Park Ave, Deer Park 2122 Deer Park Ave, Deer Park 2150 Deer Park Ave, Deer Park

OLD COUNTRY ROAD/SWEET HOLLOW ROAD Dix Hills Hot Bagels 703 Old Country Road, Dix Hills Half Hollow Hills Library 510 Sweet Hollow Road, Melville ROUTE 110/BROADHOLLOW ROAD Deli Beer Cigar Walt Whitman Road, Huntington Station Dunkin Donuts 281 Walt Whitman Rd, Huntington Station Berry Healthy Cafe 350 Walt Whitman Rd, Huntington Station Marios Pizza 1 Schwab Rd #17, Melville International Haircutters 439 Walt Whitman Rd, Melville Bethpage Fed’l Credit Union 722 Walt Whitman Road, Melville Roast 827 Walt Whitman Rd, Melville PIDGEON HILL RD South Huntington Library HAUPPAUGE RD Commack Public Library VANDERBILT PKY Half Hollow Hills Library

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A22 • THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 25, 2013

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THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 25, 2013 • A23

FOOTBALL

Student Launches Diabetes Fundraiser Hills East freshman to host Sugar Bowl tournament for research

By Jasmine Weber info@longislandernews.com

Mitchell Siegel, a student at Half Hollow Hills High School East, decided to ring in his birthday with a fundraiser in support of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

The honors student has organized the Sugar Bowl, a touch football tournament, to raise both awareness in his community and money for the charity, for this Saturday.

The cause is close to Siegel’s heart, as he is one of the world’s 300 million people who suffer from diabetes. However, the young student and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation volunteer is deter-

mined to succeed as well as find a cure.

“I live with diabetes every day, and I have realized this disease affects the lives of many. I view diabetes as just a hurdle, and something that will never keep me down. I still am able to play sports, music, get involved in various extra curricular activities and maintain a high GPA,” he said. “[But] a cure is needed and I’m willing to contribute for one.”

Though he is an ambassador for the foundation, the Sugar Bowl will be the first event that Siegel has planned independently.

The event has no official admission cost, but donations will be accepted. The game will be held in William E. Kessler Park in Melville on April 27 from 1-4

p.m. The event is open to people of all ages and skill levels, and there is no limit to the number of people able to join the fun.

“Teams will be made at the field based on skill level, or we may just pick captains to draft their desired team,” Siegel said.

There is a need the pack the sidelines as well. Siegel invites community members to enjoy the game while helping the cause.

Half Hollow Hills East student Mitchell Siegel has organized the first Sugar Bowl, a touch football fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

TOWN OF HUNTINGTON

Sporting A Solid Business Model Half Hollow Hills photo/Mike Koehler

Spotlight On

Huntington Businesses

By Mike Koehler mkoehler@longislandernews.com

Children gather in Huntington Station every Friday night, hungry to do battle in the friendly confines of Winner’s Edge Sports Training (WEST).

The 1,200 square-foot sports facility has long hosted Friday Night Dodgeball, which owner Al DeGregorio caps at 40 kids ages 8-13.

“There’s definitely times we have to turn kids away. It is a popular local event,” he said.

Two games are played at the same time from 7:30-9 p.m. It’s $15 to play with an online signup or $18 at the door.

“The kids have a blast,” DeGregorio said.

But as popular as the dodgeball games are, they’re just the tip of the iceberg.

The Huntington Station facility is home to a large turf field, three batting cages and a party room. Combined with 20 coaches, WEST is a place where preschool children, young teenagers and children of all ages in between can learn and hone their skills in baseball, softball, soccer and lacrosse.

Whereas many similar companies do business by renting their space, DeGregorio said, his company offers group classes, clinics, camps and private lessons.

“We’re definitely more of a training and instructional facility,” he said.

The All-Star Baseball class teaches the fundamentals to children ages 6-9, while Intense Baseball is more geared towards travel players ages 10-13. Similarly, Soccer Skills is for kids ages 6-10 and Intense Soccer is geared towards ages 1013. Just starting to teach lacrosse, Winner’s Edge offers Lacrosse Skills for children ages 6-12.

These classes meet an hour every week for seven weeks. Capped at 20 students, there is one coach for every five children.

The Huntington Station business also operates four national programs for preschoolers – SoccerTots, Lil Sluggers,

Dodgeball is a major draw to Winner’s Edge Sports Training, but the training facility thrives on baseball, softball, soccer and lacrosse instruction.

Lax Tots and HoopsterTots – designed for kids ages 2-5.

Unlike the main classes, DeGregorio said, these classes teach younger children skills used in each of these sports instead of the actual game.

“It’s not like running up a bunch of kids saying, ‘Kicking this ball this way.’ We’ll play a fun game,” he said.

Many of the preschool programs are held in Huntington Station, although they are also operated throughout other parts of Long Island. DeGregorio said those four programs represent “a good portion of the business.”

WEST also offers private lessons in baseball, softball, soccer and lacrosse.

Those lessons can go over the basics of the game, or touch on specifics like pitching or goalie practice. The owner said they do significantly more private lessons in baseball and softball than soccer, especially with local travel teams signing up.

“We’ll employ one of our private lesson instructors to run their team practice. If you’re the coach of a local teacher, you can rent a space and pay for an instructor, and they’ll run a practice or in addition to your

volunteer coaches, and get a higher level instruction,” he said.

New this year, WEST also formed baseball and soccer travel teams. The U9 baseball team plays in the NJBL and uses Cold Spring Harbor Jr./Sr. High as their home field, while the U7 soccer team plays in the JSS league.

“We’re probably going to establish more teams next year,” DeGregorio said.

He bought the business in 2010; it was founded in 2004. DeGregorio said it was an opportunity for him to leave wholesale distribution and start a career in something he enjoys. Back in his college days he played baseball, and his kids now play on travel teams.

Owning a small business was nothing new after almost 20 years owning various wholesale route businesses, although he did admit WEST is larger in scale and scope than his previous companies.

More than 1,500 students are enrolled at Winners’ Edge, with more than 1,000 in the preschool programs. More than half of the total number hails from the Town of Huntington, the owner said, while the rest typically come from nearby parts of Nas-

sau and Suffolk counties. They do have a following in Farmingville where one of the preschool programs is held.

The business has struggled some since 2009, DeGregorio said, after a period of steady growth from 2004-2008. But while many families have limited their disposable income, he said parents seem willing to spend on their children and cut from their lives.

“As a parent, I feel that way. I’d give up my coffee habit or brown bag it if that made the difference for my child to attend a class,” he said.

The group classes cost $169 for the seven-week session, while preschool classes cost $149. Private lessons are available in various packages, including six 30-minutes classes for $250.

Winner’s Edge Sports Training 156 Railroad Street, Huntington Station 631-367-9378 www.winnersedgesportstraining.com

A24 • THE HALF HOLLOW HILLS NEWSPAPER • APRIL 25, 2013

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HillSPORTS GIRLS LACROSSE

TENNIS

Hills East Beats West

By Jacqueline Birzon jbirzon@longislandernews.com

With an 11-0 overall record, the Half Hollow Hills East boys tennis team couldn’t ask for a better season, with a recent win coming against sister-school Hills West.

The two teams from Half Hollow Hills’ high schools shared the firstplace spotlight until last Tuesday’s match, when someone had to walk away with the burden of a loss.

According to East’s head coach Tom Depelteau, the two tennis teams have been in the same league for many, many years—at least 20.

“There is a friendly but fierce rivalry, in large part because both teams are usually among the top teams in the county, so the outcomes of the matches are usually quite significant,” the coach said.

During the April 16 game at Hills East, senior Mike Leffler and junior Roger Cheng, an undefeated pair, beat West’s Dylan Davis and Lucas Udell 6-7(1), 6-4, 7-5, at first doubles. The Thunderbirds defeated the Colts 6-1 overall that day, but are slated for a League I rematch on April 29.

The T-Birds also took home a win on April 17, defeating Westhampton 6-1.

On April 10, Hills East had an undisputed non-league win against Smithtown West, where they won 70. Leffler played singles that match, and defeated his opponent 6-3,6-4 at second singles.

On April 9, Hills East beat Smithtown East to the tune of 7-0.

Second singles player and senior cocaptain Alec Tuckey defeated his opponent 6-3, 6-2.

The day prior, undefeated first doubles pair junior Kyle Alper and senior co-captain Jeff Cherkin served their Islip opponents 6-3, 6-3 to lead Hills 7-0.

Depleteau added that last year’s county championship team of Cherkin and Alper are undefeated thus far, along with doubles pair Travis Leaf and Ross Reiffman. In singles, the coach said, Tuckey, Arnav Srivastava and Eric Handleman are all undefeated as well.

By Jacqueline Birzon jbirzon@longislandernews.com

So close, but no net. That was the scene at Thursday’s home game against East Islip, when the Lady Thundercolts (4-3) failed to seal the deal and suffered a 2-point loss on their home turf.

The girls played a strong game, but East Islip brought an aggressive battle, defeating Half Hollow Hills 11-9. Senior midfielder Julia DiMaria added 4 goals, senior attackman Ally Mackover scored 2 goals, and senior captain and attackman Alexis Maffucci added 2 goals with an assist. Head Coach Lori Horbach said Maffucci, DiMaria and Mackover have really come through in advancing the team along this season.

“Maffucci leads the team in goals with DiMaria and Casadonte, and Mackover has really stepped it up this year and is providing us with other options in the offensive end.

Offensively, our team is really coming together,” the coach said, adding that the same is true defensively. “Gina Dolisi and Dani Marx lead us in turnovers and goalie Jillian Rocco is having the best season of her career here at Hills, with 67 saves so far this season, and has really

stepped it up.”

The team, which has players from Hills High Schools East and West, brought a much tougher game on April 16 against Connetquot, winning 19-3. Maffucci had 4 goals with 6 assists, Mackover added 3 goals and 2 assists, and senior attackman Cara Pascarella scored 2 goals. Sophomore attackman Casie Caiazza, senior attackman Nichole Doran, senior midfielder Sarah Matzelle, and DiMaria each added 2 goals to give Hills a 15point lead over Connetquot.

“We played an overall great game. The girls really came together and midfield-wise, Casadonte, DiMaria, Matzelle and Anna Inserra are doing a fantastic job transitioning the ball down the field for us,” the coach said.

Hills faced another tight loss on April 10 to West Babylon, losing 16-14.

“We came out a little flat and then caught up. We received a yellow card at the beginning of the second half, and they [West Babylon] came out and scored 3 goals, so we had to play catchup after that, and it was a little too much,” Horbach said.

Hills clinched a 19-point win over Sachem North on April 8, coming out strong on the offen-

Half Hollow Hills photo/Jacqueline Birzon

Half Hollow Hills photo/Jacqueline Birzon

Senior Roger Cheng takes a swing during practice at Hills East.

Coach: ‘Time To Push Forward’

Senior midfielder Julia DiMaria stops at nothing to attain possession of the ball during last week’s game against East Islip. sive. The coach said Maffucci and Pascarella delivered, with Pascarella adding 3 goals with 4 assists and Maffucci scoring 3 with 2 assists. DiMaria and senior attackman Jillian Cornetta each added 3 goals.

Casadonte and Doran scored 2 goals each.

“We have been working very hard this year to have an overall game, from the minute the game starts to the finish. I think against Connetquot and East Islip, that happened,” the coach said. “This year Division I has a lot of fantastic

teams, us being one of them. It is time for us to push forward and win some of those close games. We have a large senior class who has done a great job staying focused. I think we are going to peak at the right time; it needs to be now.”

The combined Hills team played at Ward Melville on Monday and hosted Hauppauge on Wednesday, but scores were not available by press time. On Friday, the Lady Thundercolts are scheduled to host Sachem East at Half Hollow Hills East at 4 p.m.

BASEBALL

T-Birds Are King Of The Mound

By Jacqueline Birzon jbirzon@longislandernews.com

Last year, the Hills East baseball team was three games shy of making the playoffs. Midseason this year, the Thunderbirds’ odds are looking good.

Head Coach Tim Belz said the team’s first and foremost goal is to qualify for playoffs. After that, the goal becomes sweeping the League III title.

The team, made of five starting seniors, five starting sophomores, and seven juniors, is particularly driven this year, with an especially strong pitching lineup.

Senior pitcher Stephen Woods is 3-0.

He has given up only two hits and one run in 23 innings. The SUNY Albany-bound player, who received a full athletic scholarship, is batting .424 with 12 RBIs and two consecutive no-hitters. He is hoping to make it three at an upcoming game.

Other standouts this year include senior catcher Louis Sileno, who has 14 RBIs and is hitting .418, as well as senior pitcher Jon Eisdorfer, who is 3-0 on the mound. Senior pitchers Mike Ceprano and John Gallo have committed to playing baseball at the college level, with Ceprano attending Adelphi and Gallo attending New Jersey Institute of

Technology in the fall.

Belz’ five sophomores are driven to make a name for themselves as younger faces on the team. Rich Villa, the No. 3 hitter, is batting .440 and is making “many crucial, big hits for us so far,” Belz said, noting an impressive double during an earlier game against Smithtown East.

Sophomore Matt Schwartz, the TBirds’ No. 6 hitter, has made some “very big hits” and has been able to drive home big runs to win games, going 2-for-3 during a game against Whitman last week.

Brandon Bonomo, who plays third base, has also produced strong hits heading into the latter half of the season.

“We have a very good pitching staff.

We’re concentrating on fielding and becoming a very solid defensive team, and our hitting has just…really surprised us and become a huge strength. We’ve scored total batting averages over .330, which we’ve never had before, and scoring over 10 runs in a game maybe over five times so far. We’re more driven, and come up in big situations and score when we need to score,” the coach said.

The T-Birds won two games of a threegame series against Walt Whitman last week. Hills East clobbered Whitman on April 16, winning 13-0 on the Wildcats’

turf. Woods pitched his second consecutive no-hitter with 4 walks and 14 strikeouts. Villa and Sileno each scored a homerun to lead East in the first game.

The tide changed the following day, when East lost 6-0. Belz blamed the loss on a poor pitching day for East and a particularly good one for Whitman.

The T-Birds walked away winning the majority of the series however, breaking a 1-1 tie last Friday. Eisdorfer threw 5.2 innings, allowing 6 hits and 2 earned runs while striking out 11 and walking one. At the plate, he went 3-for-4. Sileno went 3for-5 with 4 RBIs, and Schwartz went 2for-3 with an RBI. Before the series win against Whitman, Hills East swept a three-game series against Central Islip. On April 11, the TBirds defeated the Musketeers 9-1, when Eisdorfer struck out 9 in a complete game and went 2-for-4 with 3 RBIs. Villa went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs, and Bonomo was 3for-4 with an RBI. On April 9 Hills defeated Central Islip 11-0, during which Woods pitched a no-hitter and struck out 16.

Looking ahead, the T-Birds play a threegame series against Smithtown East on Tuesday and Wednesday, but scores were not available by press time. The team hosts the Bulls at Otsego Park on Friday at