The TIMES of Middle Country
Serving CentereaCh
Volume 11, No. 20
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Selden
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northern lake grove
September 3, 2015
$1.00
SBU & Local Business Resource Guide INSIDe
Photos by giselle Barkley
Snap away home
Man and his son find 25 lb alligator snapping turtle in Smithtown
Page a3
Above, members of the Comsewogue field hockey teams dump water on themselves. Below, Councilwoman Jane Bonner (C-Rocky Point) is dunked into the dunk tank at the second annual alS ice Bucket Challenge on aug. 26.
ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is a slam dunk By giSelle Barkley
As the president of the Port Jefferson Station Teachers Association, Beth Dimino is rarely hit in the face with whipped cream. But on Aug. 26, Dimino sat wearing a large black garbage bag, as whipped cream from a pie toss dripped down her face and body — all in support of the second annual ALS Ice Bucket Challenge at Heritage Park in Mount Sinai. Hundreds of people attended the event, which aimed to raise awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and money for research into the disease, through the Stony Brook-based organization Ride for Life. People who purchased a ticket could trade it for a chance to throw a whipped
cream-filled plate at volunteers like Dimino. Councilwoman Jane Bonner (C-Rocky Point) was one of many, including local school principals and teachers, to participate in the event’s dunk tank or piethrowing games. For Bonner, supporting the cause is important, as her grandfather died from the rare disease around 35 years ago. “It robs your body, not your mind,” Bonner said. ALS affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing motor neurons to degenerate. People with the disease lose control over their muscles, leaving them unable to speak, eat, move or breathe on their own. The cause of the disease is not yet known.
Bonner jumped at the chance to participate in the event this week. “Chris just makes you want to [be involved],” she said about
Christopher Pendergast, who founded Ride For Life in 1997 and has lived with the disease aLS continued on page a8