The Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District, the Bellmore-Merrick Community Parent Center and Nassau County Legislator David Denenberg will present a program about the college athletic recruiting process, “Does Your Child Dream of Playing Sports in College?” The event will take place on Thursday, Jan. 26, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at the Brookside School, 1260 Meadowbrook Road in North Merrick. more

They’re called “pharm parties,” short for pharmacy parties. A group of teenagers –– perhaps as young as 12 and 13 years old –– methodically swipe opiate-based pain killers like Oxycontin and Oxycodone from their parents’ and grandparents’ medicine cabinets, dump the pills into a big bowl when no adult is looking and take turns rolling a die. Whatever number comes up, that’s the number of pills a teen must ingest. more

Concerned parents are reserving their seats for “Dangers in Your Medicine Cabinet: What You Need to Know to Protect Your Children,” a parent-targeted substance-abuse awareness program that will be hosted by the Bellmore-Merrick Community Parent Center, in partnership with the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District, the Bellmore, Merrick, North Bellmore and North Merrick elementary school districts, Nassau County Legislator David Denenberg and the Bellmore-Merrick Coalition Against Substance Abuse. The talk will be held at the Brookside School, 1260 Meadowbrook Road in North Merrick, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 11. more

Residents of the Bellmores and Merricks danced the night away last Friday in support of the Bellmore-Merrick Community Wellness Council’s Midnight Madness substance-free post-prom party when the council hosted a zumba class at the Brookside School in North Merrick. more

The scenario is tragic, gruesome and perennial. A high school senior, all of 16 or 17 years old, gets a driver’s license. His or her proud parents hurry out to buy their child a new car –– perhaps a fast car. Within days or weeks, the teen is dead, killed in a fiery wreck. more

  The Bellmore-Merrick Community Wellness Council will hold a zumba dance class in the Brookside School gymnasium on Friday, Nov. 4, with proceeds benefitting the council’s annual post-prom party. more

Lack of grant money couldn’t stop the Bellmore-Merrick Central District’s Midnight Madness. The fourth annual substance-free post-prom party, hosted by the Bellmore-Merrick Wellness Council, got under way last Thursday night at Zachary’s in East Meadow without a hitch. more

Moolala, in the Merrick Commons Shopping Center, will donate a portion of its proceeds from every purchase on Thursday, May 26, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., to the Bellmore-Merrick Wellness Council’s fourth annual post-prom party, to be held in June. more

Two Nassau County Police officers revved up the motor on a device not much larger than a lawnmower engine. As the machine roared last Wednesday afternoon, the officers used its cutters to slowly peel off the driver’s side door of a badly damaged minivan. No one was inside the van, but students at Holy Trinity High School in Hicksville watched quietly and anxiously as the “Jaws of Life” crushed the car’s metal. more

The Bellmore-Merrick Wellness Council’s third annual post-prom party attracted a record 270 seniors and their dates last year, but for the class of 2011, the post-prom celebration is at risk. … more