East Meadow Year in Review: January/February

Chamber begins new year of taking care of business

The East Meadow Chamber of Commerce kicked off a new year of serving the community with its 55th annual installation dinner at Fox Hollow in Woodbury on Jan. 29.

As she accepted the gavel as president for 2010, Rose Fuger issued a challenge for her fellow colleagues.
        

“People need help more than ever,” Fuger said during her acceptance speech. “This body we call East Meadow needs to be more unified than ever. We need to huddle together to weather the storm.”

Fuger’s husband Dan and her sons, Tim, Chris and Daniel, joined the new president, who owns A Taste of Home Bakery in North Bellmore with her sister, Monica Tarantino. Tim Fuger opened the program by leading the audience in the singing of the National Anthem.
         

Dr. Janine Kelly, the 2009 president, was installed as the chairwoman of the Board of Directors. Fuger’s officers were also installed — Mike Panagatos, 1st vice president; Peter Cipriano, 2nd vice president; Connie Duggan, treasurer; and Millie Jones, secretary.

Cipriano will be sworn in this January as the Chamber's president in 2011.

A delivery close to their hearts

Jean Pierre and Jean Saint Marc were two of nearly 200 employees at the Nassau University Medical Center who were concerned about their homeland of Haiti, which suffered a devastating earthquake on Jan. 12.

Pierre and Saint Marc are accustomed to preparing the loading dock for deliveries, but this one, three days after the earthquake, was special to their hearts. They helped their colleagues load about 200 cases of food, 300 cases of bottled water and several articles of clothing into a truck to be shipped to Haiti.

The NUMC's effort was led by Dr. Lambros Angus, the hospital's trauma director and an official for the Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad.

Local representatives start new terms

The Republicans, which wrested control of both branches of county government in the 2009 general elections, were sworn into office along with their Democratic counterparts on Jan. 4 at the Cradle of Aviation.