Serving Manhasset
$1
Friday, december 11, 2015
vol. 3, no. 50
HOLIDAY gift and party guide
tions / litmor publica a blank slate media 2015 • decemb er 11, special section
HOLiDAY GiFt, PARtY GUiDe
MANHASSet SeNiORS wiN SieMeNS cONteSt
NiFA OKs BUDGet witH StRiNGS
PAGEs 29-44
PAGE 2
PAGE 6
Paterson wins re-elex
POstER cONtEst WINNERs
Defeats Hernandez in park district race BY J Oe N i K i c , NOAH MANSKAR A N D M At t G R e c H All 10 incumbents in North Hempstead’s commissioner-operated special districts won reelection in this year’s elections. Nine commissioners won in Tuesday’s election, while incumbent trustee Dr. Tharakaram Ravishankar won his second full five-year term on the Shelter Rock Public Library District last Tuesday. With combined budgets rivaling the town’s in size, North Hempstead’s 26 commissioneroperated special districts are heavy on tax dollars but were light on candidates for the elections. Of the 10 district commissions that held elections, only the Great Neck and Manhasset park districts had contested races. In the other eight, incumbent commissioners ran unopposed to retain their seats, which some of them have held as long as 20 years or more. Continued on Page 57
Second grade Manhasset Chamber of Commerce poster contest winners Kristina Theodosopoulos, Maggie Miller and Vaughn Collins. see story on Page 53.
Taking a bite out of patients’ fears Manhasset resident publishes book to help overcome dental office fears BY J Oe N i K i c Like other dentists, Harvey Passes said, he confronts fear every day. “Anxiety prevents people from moving on in life because of their fear. Everybody’s afraid,” Passes said. “People don’t wake up in the morning and say ‘let’s
see, I’ll go to Carvel or I’ll go to the dentist?’” Passes, a Manhasset resident whose dental practice Passes Dental Care is at 415 Northern Blvd. in Great Neck, said he has dedicated his 41-year career in dentistry to helping patients overcome their fear of the dentist. His success in helping patients overcome their dental fears, he said, inspired his effort to publish the recently released “Profiles in Dental Courage.”
“As time has gone by, I have realized that we do so much, and I said wouldn’t it be great if I could put all of this together in a book,” Passes said. “And have people read this book so they can understand how they can be helped.” Inspired by the popular John F. Kennedy book “Profiles in Courage,” Passes’ book uses short vignettes of patient successes mixed with his career experiences for readers to fight their dental fears. “The book is part memoir
and part informational. You can’t give the information without backing it up with some kind of credential, some kind of testimony, some kind of credibility,” Passes said. “And that’s what the book does by my explaining my background in anesthesia.” The book highlights significant moments in Passes’ life like his rejection of a performing contract offer from Columbia Records, his meeting with Pope John Paul II, his television career with his own Cablevision Continued on Page 57
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