HALF HOLLOW HILLS Copyright © 2012 Long Islander Newspapers, LLC
Online at www.LongIslanderNews.com
N E W S P A P E R
VOLUME FIFTEEN, ISSUE 16
16 PAGES
THURSDAY, JULY 5 , 2012
Scenes From A Scorcher Half Hollow Hills photos/Danny Schrafel
Half Hollow Hills photo/Luann Dallojacono
DIX HILLS
Huntington resident Brooke Bené has a new appreciation for the LIRR staff after they found her engagement ring, which she lost on the train from Huntington. TOWN OF HUNTINGTON
Lost And Found! LIRR staff finds engagement ring on train By Luann Dallojacono ldallojacono@longislandernews.com
Huntington resident Brooke Bené always sits in the same spot during her morning Long Island Railroad commute – second car, second seat near the window. And when she lost her 2-carat engagement ring on the train last week, the simple morning routine ended up being pivotal to LIRR staff finding it. Bené, 31, had taken off her ring to apply hand lotion while on the 6:38 a.m. train to Atlantic Terminal on June 26. She put it on her lap, forgot to put it back on and left the train at her stop. Panic set in when she noticed it was missing on her way to work on Wall Street. “She was hysterical crying,” her mother, Chris, of Huntington, recalled. “She said, ‘I think I left it on the train.’” Bené immediately called the LIRR, and told her story to Deana Teemer in the customer service office. Teemer found out the train was headed for Hempstead, and alerted the crew and ticket office to search the train.
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Knowing exactly where Bené sat, longtime conductor Tim Parrett found the pink sapphire and diamond ring between the seat cushion and the seat back. “I’m just so happy and thankful,” Bené said. “Tim and Deana, it’s so amazing how fast they worked… To think that it went all the way to Hempstead!” While Chris was in on the search for the precious piece of jewelry, Bené waited until after the ring was found to tell the story to her fiancé, Bryan Daddio, of Smithtown. “I said, ‘I have good news and bad news,’” Bené recalled telling him. Daddio wanted the bad news first. “He was silent, and he’s not the silent type,” Bené said, adding that it took a minute for the good news to register. Daddio gave the ring to Bené, a 1999 St. Anthony’s High School graduate, in April at Restaurant Joanina in Huntington – where the two shared their first date. It now only leaves her finger when she is sleeping. “I think she’s not allowed to take it off,” Chris teased.
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As the mercury topped out near 100 Friday – and was expected to continue at that pace for the weekend, according to weather forecasts – residents looked for different ways to beat the sweltering summer heat during 2012’s second heat wave. The town pool was a popular destination, where Dix Hills’ Ivonne Recu-
pero assisted her daughter, Iliana, as she paddled through the water at Dix Hills Park. Others worked on their golf game. Dix Hills residents Matthew Gentile and his brother, Paul, visited the driving range as mom Melissa gave their little brother Thomas a drink of water. -SCHRAFEL
HUNTINGTON
Man Hit By Train Lives Town of Huntington commuters found their daily trek into the city delayed on Friday after a train hit a man. MTA officials confirmed LIRR service along the Port Jefferson branch was suspended during morning rush hour after a man was hit by a train. LIRR Media Relations Director Sam Zambuto said an unauthorized person was on the tracks at the Huntington station shortly after 5 a.m. The case is being investigated by MTA Police as a possible suicide attempt. MTA officials said the 19-year-old
man survived with severe leg injuries and was taken to Huntington Hospital. Published reports said he also sustained a broken collar bone. Service between Huntington and Northport was suspended until 6:58 a.m., Zambuto said. Once the service was restored, four westbound trains ran up to 92 minutes late. The incident also stopped service between Huntington and Hicksville until 6:12 a.m. Residual delays of up to 25 minutes lingered once it reopened. -KOEHLER
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