Year In Review 2001

Bank robber hits O'side
      A man who fit the description of a person suspected of robbing dozens of banks on Long Island since Nov. 1999 attempted a robbery at the HSBC bank, 3544 Long Beach Rd. in Oceanside, on Jan. 5, police reported. According to detectives, a man passed a note to a bank teller demanding money before he fled the bank on foot in an unknown direction. A man fitting the same description robbed the Fleet Bank on Merrick Avenue in Merrick that same morning, police said. While the suspect never displayed a gun, detectives said he had threatened to do so, and he had also followed the same pattern at banks in Suffolk County.

Resnick retires
      Principal of Oceanside High School Jess announced he would retire at the end of the school year. Resnick became principal of OHS in 1992, eleven years after he had served as the school's associate principal.

Santino buried for snow plowing
      At a town hall meeting held at Oceanside Middle School Hempstead Town Councilman Anthony Santino gives the majority of his talk to the Town's admittedly poor job of plowing the streets in Oceanside following the New Year's Eve snowstorm. "Unlike in years past, we did an abysmal job. I personally apologize," Santino said. To explain the reasons for the Town's poor performance, he read from a report headed by Frank Scarangella, a former deputy director in Hempstead's Highway Department. In the midst of this reading, audience members began yelling out accusations such as, "It's a cover up," "It was a holiday weekend," and "overtime."
      Joining Santino to discuss the topic was Commissioner of the Department of Highway Anthony Califano, who vowed that that the town would do better during the next snowfall.

Yesterday as today
      A time capsule that was filled with pieces from the lives of Oceanside High School Students in 1976 was ceremoniously unsealed on Jan. 24 by OHS Principal Jess Resnick, faculty and alumni from the class of '76.


February

Bruno steps down
      Assistant Superintendent of Oceanside Schools Dr. Linda Bruno announced she would leave the district after accepting the position of superintendent of Southampton Schools, a job she applied for last December. Bruno came to Oceanside four years ago as the assistant to the then-newly appointed Superintendent Dr. Herb Brown.

Top people awarded
      The Oceanside Chamber of Commerce held its annual "People of the Year Awards" in January. Citizen of the Year was awarded to Fred Morse, who volunteers at South Nassau Communities Hospital and is president of the Board of Trustees of the Oceanside Library. Business People of the Year went to Steve and Linda Kass, owners of Candy Beaucoup, a chocolate shop on Lawson Blvd. Student of the Year went to Lewis Brown, an Oceanside High School student and son of Superintendent of Schools Dr. Herb Brown, for tutoring students and helping to raise nearly $7,000 for the Children's Hope Project.

Hazards at schools
      A summary issued by the Buildings and Grounds Committee was issued at the February 2 Oceanside School Board meeting, which reported a laundry list of items that warranted attention from maintenance crews and other qualified persons. Averaging 17 items per school, the summery included tripping hazards, overgrown poison ivy, escape route blockage, structural damage, laceration, fire and electrocution hazards. School 9 had the highest amount of entries, at 28, and School 5 had the least, with five. At the board meeting, parents raised concerns about these hazards, but according to committee CO-chair Keith Pearsall, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Herb Brown, and Director of Facilities Richard Brunie, most of the items on the summary have been taken care of soon after they were observed.

Schools overcrowded
      At a special budget workshop on February 5, Superintendent of Oceanside Schools Dr. Herb Brown addressed the Board of Education with the preliminary kindergarten registration numbers at the district's elementary schools and plans to relieve the problem of overcrowding. Based on the figures, Schools 3 and 8 were expected to exceed classroom capacity by a minimum of one class over the next three years. For School 3, Brown suggested the board adopt a rezoning plan that would relocate a select number of children, whereby these students, who would usually start first grade at School 3 next year, would instead attend School 5. The proposal came under fire by parents affected by the plan.

Pergament's files for Chapter 11
      Legal action taken against Pergament Home Centers forced the struggling retail chain into bankruptcy. Three landlords, including one for the Oceanside location on Long Beach Road, filed petition in a federal bankruptcy court on February 1, claiming they were owed back rent. The store in Oceanside held "blow out" sales, but Pergament eventually had to close its doors.

Oceansiders qualify for States
      At the Nassau County qualifying meet Kathryn Murnane and Sharif Aly, members of the Oceanside High School's girls and boys track teams, earned berths to the state meet in March in Syracuse. Murnane qualified in the 1500 meters; Aly qualified in the shot put event.

Trotta named all-American
      Mike Trotta of Oceanside wrestled his way to a fifth-place All-American spot at the National Junior College Wrestling Championships in Rochester, Minnesota. The 133-pound Nassau Community College freshman defeated four national qualifiers over a two-day period the weekend of Feb. 17.

March

Better water on the way
       Responding to complaints from consumers about brown water, Long Island Water Corporation announced that it planned to begin installing iron filters at two supply wells in Baldwin during the fall and expected to have them operating by spring 2002. Parts of Oceanside, Island Park and Baldwin receive water from the two wells. The estimated cost of the project was $7 million.

Full Gospel moves on
      After being tucked away behind the Sands shopping center for most of its existence, the Full Gospel Church of Oceanside announced that it will occupy a highly visible address on Austin Boulevard in Island Park that was once owned by Becker Chevrolet. The church said its new building would be twice the size and on two acres of land.

Marina up in smoke
      On a cold Sunday afternoon in March, a fire broke out in Empire Point Marina on Austin Boulevard boat yard, wreaking damage and destruction on 25 boats docked there for the winter. That day a man had stopped by the marina to check on his boat, and after hearing an explosion, he spotted a fire on one boat. The fire raged for approximately four hours, from 2 to 6 p.m. High winds helped fan the flames, police said. Making matters worse--most of the boats were wrapped in protective plastic tarps, the boats themselves were made of fiberglass, and the tight quarters in that section of the marina made it difficult for the approximately 100 firefighters to extinguish the fire. Police conducted an investigation into the cause of the fire, which was originally believed to come from a faulty battery charger.

Freeport students incorporated
      Reports that the state will decertify the failing Roosevelt Junior-Senior High School and send its students to the Oceanside, Baldwin, Bellmore-Merrick and East Meadow districts swirled for six months. In March, Education Commissioner Richard Mills did little to relieve residents' concerns when he issued a report to the Board of Regents that keeps decertification as an option for Roosevelt High.

April

Fenter named MS Principal
      Assistant Principal of Oceanside Middle School Robert Fenter is named the school's principal, after Enid D'Arrigo announced her retirement in January. Dr. Jill DeRosa, instructional supervisor at South Side Middle School in Rockville Centre, is named to Fenter's former position.

Cairns named HS principal
      Gerard Cairns was officially instated as the principal of Oceanside High School on April 2, after Principal Jess Resnick announced his retirement in January. Prior to accepting the position, Cairns served as assistant principal of Commack High School since August 1999.

Herald buys competition
      The Oceanside Beacon, the oldest newspaper in the community was officially purchased by Richner Publications, Inc., publishers of the Herald Community Newspapers on April 30. Months before being purchased by Richner, the Nassau Community Newspaper group, the Beacon's most recent publisher, had consolidated its 12 weekly papers and renamed them The Record. Richner Publications incorporated the Oceanside Record into its Oceanside/Island Park Herald publication.

Hazardous waste possible danger
      After three sites on Lawson Boulevard where found to contain the hazardous chemical PERC at levels exceeding acceptable standards, these areas were said to pose no direct threat to the drinking supply, according to Tom Dehaney, owner of Clean Solutions, a private company specializing in hazardous waste cleanup. Dehaney, a former director of waterways for the Town of Hempstead, also said that the possibility of the public coming into direct contact with the contaminated areas is limited because of their location along the Long Island Rail Road tracks. PERC is the most commonly used chemical to dry clean clothes and is widely used in a number of consumer products, as well as to degrease metal machine parts.
      As of April 1, the sites continued to languish, as the New York State Superfund Program, created to expedite cleaning up hazardous wastes, was bankrupt, and political disagreement continued over what the conditions of refinancing should be.

School board approves budget
      Following a budget review session on April 18, the Island Park Board of Education unanimously approved the district's 2000-01 proposed school budget of $20,396,961, including a 1.67 percent estimated increase in tax rate for all property classes.

May

Gas spill tanks LIRR service
      A tanker truck containing 11,000 gallons of gasoline tipped onto its side and smashed into a cement railing wall in Oceanside on Lawson Boulevard interrupting train services on the Long Island Rail Road between Long Beach and Lynbrook from approximately 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 24. Approximately 4,000 gallons of gasoline spilled from the two severed compartments of the tanker, as it traveled nearly 500 feet from the nearby railroad tracks.
      The driver of the Getty Petroleum truck, Gregory Ryan, filled the tanker up at the RAD Energy terminal on Hampton Road and was traveling Southeast when he tried to make a left turn onto the steep incline at the base of Daly Boulevard when he lost control of the vehicle. No other vehicles were involved and the driver was not injured.
      The MTA provided buses for commuters traveling on the Long Beach line to Freeport and Rockville Centre. After the remaining gasoline in the tanker was pumped to another truck and enough foam was laid down to keep vapors from the escaped gasoline at a safe level, the fire department gave the okay to restore train service. A shoreline survey conducted the next morning concluded that gasoline hadn't reached the canal and the area's water foul appeared to be unaffected.

Village clerk retires
      Ann Breslin, the woman whom Island Park had depended on for most of the last 25 years as its village clerk, announced that she would retire from her post on Dec. 31, 2001. From permits to licenses, registrar to running the budget, Breslin was the keeper of all records for the village since 1968.

School Districts show improved test scores
      The percentage of students meeting state standards on the fourth-grade English Language Arts exam increased again this year in the Oceanside and Island Park school districts. In the first three years of the state assessments, Oceanside students went from 73 percent making the grade in 1999, to 83 percent last year and 86 percent this year. Improvement in Island Park was more dramatic, rising from a meager 39 percent of students meeting state standards in 1999, to 83 percent in 2000 and up to 93 out of 100 students who took the test.

School budgets pass, incumbents re-elected
      The Island Park and Oceanside school budgets were approved and the incumbents on their school boards were re-elected on May 15. Island Park's $21,414,969 budget passed by just about a 2-to-1 ratio, 506-250. In Oceanside the $82,192,819 budget was favored by 1,440 voters to 936 against. In an election without a contested school-board race, Oceanside incumbent Maryanne Lehrer, a 24-year veteran of the board received 1,702 votes, and fellow incumbent Bob Transom, a one term board member who also ran unopposed, received 1,363 votes. In the race for the one open seat on Island Park's school board, only 66 votes separated incumbent Ann Goldman from first-time candidate Donna Stykes. Goldman, a 21-year board member, received 420 votes and Stykes 386.

Sutton named top senior
      At the Hempstead Town Hall ceremony for the Town's President's Recognition Day on May 17, Oceansider Florence Sutton was named Senior of the Year, which acknowledges the work of the presidents of the Town's many senior clubs and centers. "It really was an honor being named Senior of the Year," Sutton said. "There are so many centers in the Town of Hempstead and so many people in them. That's why I was shocked I was chosen."

Sailors seal Conference A-1 title.
      The Oceanside Sailors Varsity Baseball Team entered its May 14 game against rival Massapequa with the goal of clinching its second consecutive Conference A-1 title with a win. Nick Conte's solid pitching, which included retiring the side in the third inning with three strike outs, and his consistent contributions at the plate, which included an RBI single in the first inning, made him the deciding factor in the Sailors 6-4 victory.


Teens killed in crash
      Oceanside residents Adam Stark, 19, and John Behan, 17, died of injuries received as passengers in a 1989 Honda Civic driven by Edward Perri of Oceanside that collided with a 1994 Oldsmobile driven by Wendy Shepherd of Massapequa. According to Det. Richard Brusa of the Fourth Precinct Homicide Squad, Perri and three passengers in the car were traveling eastbound on Merrick Road in Baldwin and making a left turn onto Grand Avenue when the collision with Shepherd's West-bound car occurred.
      Stark suffered from cardiac arrest with trauma and was pronounced dead on arrival by South Nassau hospital staff, police said. A day later Behan died at Mercy Medical Center of massive head injuries, according to a hospital spokesperson. Shepherd and an unnamed passenger in her car were taken to South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside for treatment. Perri was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving.

Lacrosse falls short in semi-finals
      In this year's lacrosse Class A semi-finals, second-seeded Oceanside falls to third-seeded Hicksville after battling back from a 6-1 deficit. The loss put an end to the Sailor's impressive 13-2 season. "If there was a year we were going to do it, this was it," said OHS Coach Moltisani. "So it's a heartbreaker to get this far and then to have it slip away...We had a team of many seniors and it's going to be tough to replace them."

New IP Asst. Superintendent
      After enduring a year without an assistant superintendent, the Island Park School District announced that Dr. Rosmarie Bovino would fill the position. For the past seven years Bovino served as director of studies at the Friends Academy in Locust Valley. Asked what she believes are the most important attributes she brings to Island Park schools and what she hopes to accomplish, Bovino said, "I think it is my enthusiasm for learning and my belief in every child and his or her ability to realize their potential.


June

Moss, 69, dies
      Sandra Moss, 69, one of the original dancers for the Dumont Television System and an instructional assistant in the Oceanside High School Library for 27 years, died in early June. Moss was a 34-year resident of Greentree Drive in Oceanside whose noodle pudding and stuffed cabbage garnered recognition throughout the community.

NYPD officer in DWI crashes
      John Guglielmo, 36, an Oceanside resident and off-duty New York City police officer, was arrested a short distance from the second of two car crashes he allegedly caused in Oceanside while driving while intoxicated, police reported. Guglielmo, a 12-year veteran of the 105th Precinct in Queens Village, was suspected of fleeing the scene after hitting the rear of a car stopped at a stop sign on Foxhurst Road in Oceanside. Following the incident, police said, Guglielmo continued onto Locust Street and Dunkin Place, where he struck a second car as its driver was backing out of her driveway. He was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of an accident with personal injury in the first degree and DWI.

Cabbie drives into restaurant, dies
      Vincent Christopher, 53, a Long Beach cab driver, drove into Pete's Pitaria, an Island Park restaurant, as a result of a heart attack. Christopher was heading Southbound on Austin Boulevard at about 2:25 a.m. when the 1993 Ford Crown Victoria he was driving crossed three lanes of traffic and smashed into the front window of the restaurant. "It only missed me by two feet," said Leo Kyrogloi, the owner of Pete's Pitaria. Christopher was taken by ambulance to Long Beach Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police reported. At the time of the crash no passengers were in the cab.

Students attend Conference Day at Hofstra
      Oceanside School 2's annual Sixth Grade Conference Day was once again held at Hofstra University. Pioneered by recently-retired School 2 Principal Donald Maresca and his school's Government Student Organization (GSO) in 1984, sixth graders from his and other elementary schools throughout Nassau County join together in workshops on various issues the Oceanside students vote on which are most important to them. This year, workshops were held on four issues: careers, AIDS, personal safety, drugs, alcohol and smoking. Authorities from Nassau County and the Town of Hempstead talked with the students about these issues.


D'Arrigo named Asst. Superintendent
      Former Middle School Principal Enid D'Arrigo accepts the position of Oceanside School District's Assistant Superintendent, which Dr. Linda Bruno stepped down from after being hired as superintendent of Southampton Schools, a job she applied for last December and received in March.
      Superintendent Dr. Herb Brown indicated that he never advertised for Bruno's position. "When Mrs. Bruno told me she was leaving, I offered Mrs. D'Arrigo the assistant superintendent's position," he said. "She accepted it and has been appointed by the Board of Education for one year." D'Arrigo said she believes her new position is only a one-year deal and was basically hired to assist in a period of major administrative change.

Lamonica in and out of council race
      Less than a month after accepting the Democratic Party nomination to once again challenge Republican Councilman Anthony Santino in the Town of Hempstead's Fourth District, Oceanside resident Jerry Lamonica rejected the offer, citing his party's lack of financial support as the governing reason. But after a promise came from Peter Ruffner, chairman of the town of Democratic Committee, to spend "considerably" more money on his campaign and have a "synergy" between Lamonica's race and other party members running for election, Lamonica said that he was back in the race.

Perri charged with manslaughter
      Edward Perri of Oceanside was charged with two counts of manslaughter in the second degree, two counts of vehicular manslaughter in the second degree and one count of vehicular assault in the second degree for the May 26 collision at Merrick Road and Grand Avenue in Baldwin. The accident led to the deaths of his friends Adam Stark, 19, and John Behan, 17.

Drag race ends fatally
      Oceanside resident Glenn Jacofsky, 43, was killed on Lawson Boulevard in Oceanside by a speeding car on June 24. The car that killed Jacofsky was driven by Michael Vasapolli, 30, of North Woodmere. According to police, Jacofsky was racing Kevin Hart, 27, of Malverne, according to police.
      The two speeders began their drag race at the intersection of Lawson Boulevard and Weidner Avenue and headed South. Two blocks later, Vasapolli drove his Lamborghini past another car across the center lane into oncoming traffic and he smashed head-on into Jacofsky's 2000 Volvo. To avoid the spinning vehicles, Heart steered his Corvette toward a nearby fence and hit parked school buses. Both Jacofsky and Vasapolli were killed instantly. At the time of the crash, Jacofsky and his wife, Amy, who received minor injuries, were heading to a relative's birthday party.
      Jacofsky was survived by his wife and two children, Michelle and Michael. He was buried at New Montefiore Cemetery in West Babylon.

July

Bill passes protecting nursing home vote
      After a Long Beach school board election lead to an investigation of the district's practices in absentee balloting, New York State Senate and Assembly unanimously passed a bill that requires boards of elections to provide for oversight of the voting process in adult care facilities with more than twenty-five absentee ballot applicants. This bill amends the provision of section 8-407 of the Election Law into the Education Law.

AHRC opens O'side facility
      The Brookville-based Association for the Help of Retarded Children (AHRC) opened another of its Long Island-wide hubsites in the Madison Plaza shopping center on Mott Street in Oceanside. The mission of AHRC, which offers various programs that include educational, vocational and family support is "to meet the needs of children and adults with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities by providing community-based programs and services, as well as guidance and support for families." Individuals with disabilities operate out of the hubsite. They are trained to volunteer their services in such capacities as delivering food to needy and elderly people, food shopping for homebound elderly, serving lunch to senior citizens, running a thrift shop and working at hospitals and nursing homes. They will perform these and other services in and around the Oceanside community.

P.C. Richard's robbery
      Three employees of P.C. Richard's in Oceanside managed to protect themselves and approximately $1,600 worth of merchandise after they were threatened by three suspects from the Bronx on July 3, police reported. Alfredo Santos, 38, Reynoldo Castro, 39, and Tasha Rivera, 20, were arrested and charged with criminal possession of a weapon (knife) in the third degree and resisting arrest.

Storage facility proposed
      Home to numerous nightclubs for over four decades, the property of the former South Beach Dance Club on Broadway in Island Park was announced as the site of a new storage facility to be built within a year. The Salt Lake City-based Extra Space Storage proposed to develop the property. The Town of Hempstead Zoning Board of Appeals held its first hearing on the company's proposal, which called for the development of 11 storage warehouses, a caretaker's apartment and parking lot.

Illegal dumper caught
      Steven Saggese, 31, of Woodmere and owner of Annex Construction Company in Merrick, was charged with dumping soil contaminated with petroleum oil from a Woodmere construction site -- where a synagogue was being built -- onto land in Island Park where new homes were being built, authorities said. Two piles were unloaded at a construction site along a canal on Julian Place, apparently to be used as fill around the foundations of three house under construction. Saggese was charged with one count of endangering public health, safety or the environment in the third degree, a class E felony punishable up to four years in prison.

Construction underway
      Construction of the Full Gospel Church on Austin Boulevard in Island Park, formerly located on Mott Street in Oceanside, was completed and began holding services for its congregants. The former church had a 320 seat sanctuary within a 7,000 square-foot structure on a single acre of land. Designed by Bolder Engineering of Valley Stream, the new church has 450 seats, 15,500 square feet on two acres and a 147-space parking lot.
      At the same time construction began for two new stores in the Sands shopping center, Express and Ann Taylor. This work was part of ongoing reconstruction at the shopping center and two of its stores. In March, a facelift began on the shopping center's facade, which included brickfacing the Stop & Shop supermarket and building an elaborate, stuccoed overhead along the storefronts. Construction was completed that expanded the Kids Gap, located in the middle of the shopping center's parking lot, houses a Baby Gap. The Gap store, located on the parking lot's North end, was also expanded to include a new store, Gap Body, which supplies men's and women's undergarment and sleepwear.
      Also, on Long Beach Road in Island Park construction began on a former dance club to be convert into a 5,000-square-foot funeral home, Macken Mortuary, which has operated out of Rockville Centre for over 60 years.

August

Lawsuit filed against Lamonica
      Jerry Lamonica, the Oceanside Democrat who challenged Town Councilman Anthony Santino in this year's election in the Fourth Councilmatic District, received a summons pertaining to his bid for a place on the Working Families Party line in the November ballot. Fellow Oceanside resident Thomas J. Pellegrino filed a lawsuit, saying Lamonica's petition for that party's ballot should have been disqualified because a date was missing from one of the two signatures he needed from party members to be considered for the party's endorsement.

Development opposed
      Plans to redevelop contaminated land at the South end of Harbor Isle brought the Island Park community together, but nearly a year since the announcement of those plans, a chasm grew between community members. It was deepened by an information packet and questionnaire that Blue Water Development LLC of Farmingdale sent to 600 neighbors of the property, who would prefer to have single-family homes built there instead, said a leading critic of the project. Blue Water planned to build on the South end of Harbor Isle after it cleaned the oil contamination from soil on the site and received an okay from the Town of Hempstead and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The Harbor Isle Preservation Network was formed after a disagreement over the developer's plans for 11.6-acre parcel led to the breakup of a committee overseeing the project.

Judge upholds suit
      A petition by Democrat Jerry Lamonica for a place
on the Working Families Party line on the November ballot for Hempstead Councilman was disqualified by Judge Thomas Phelan of the Nassau County Supreme Court. Phelan upheld a lawsuit filed by Thomas Pellegrino of Oceanside that challenged the absence of a date next to a signature on the petition.
      "Without having a date," Phelan stated, "a reasonable determination cannot be made whether the signature was in fact available to sign on that date and eligible to sign the designating petition on that date."
      The petition was therefore invalid, Phelan ruled, adding that the defect was technical in nature. The ruling technically knocked Lamonica off the Working Family Party's ballot.


Temperatures rising
      The mercury rose to 100 degrees in Oceanside on August 9. With an approximate 46 percent humidity added on, the heat felt like 115 degrees, said Janet Fisher of the North East Regional Climate Center. A 103-degree reading on July 6, 1999 was the only higher temperature recorded since observations in Oceanside began in September 1994.

Hart pleads not guilty
      At his arraignment, Kevin Hart pleaded not guilty for allegedly contributing to the death of two men while he was drag racing in Oceanside. Hart, 28, of Malverne, was charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter and one count of third-degree assault after police said he drove his Corvette in a high-speed road race on June 24, which resulted in the deaths of fellow speeder Michael Vasapolli of North Woodmere and Glenn Jacofsky of Oceanside. The third charge stems from the minor injuries Jacofsky's wife, Amy, received from the crash.

Man falls from sky
      An unidentified male body landed in the parking lot at Jordan Lobster Farms in Island Park on August 7. According to detectives, the man was stowed away in the landing gear of an American Airlines 777 airplane traveling from Heathrow Airport in London to Kennedy Airport before he fell. Apparently, his fall came after the plane was getting ready to land.

O'side athletes triumph
      Six Oceanside ballplayers contribute to the Long Island Tigers' first national title when the team defeated the Dayton Classics, 19-4, in the American Amateur Baseball Congress World Series. Of the Tigers' 19 ballplayers, all of whom came from New York State and as far away as Chappaqua and Carmel, the Oceanside players were the most from any one town on the team. They were John Fraschella, Jr., 15, Dan Kourie, 15, Dave Krajewski, 15, Vinny Tricarico, 14, Matt Wynn, 15, and Sam Ytuarte, 15. The Tigers were the last team standing in a double-game elimination tournament comprised of 11 regional teams from throughout the United States. The team was 2-1 and on the brink of elimination, but they were victorious in three consecutive games that earned them the championship.

Celebrating 75 years
      The Village of Island Park held its 75th Anniversary and celebrated it with an elaborate parade down Long Beach Road. The birthday bash was attended by former United States Senator Alfonse D'Amato, who served as the parades Grand Marshal. Members of the United State Marine Corps and Island Park Fire Department marched in the parade, and antique automobiles were featured in it as well.

Viglietta, 24, dies
      Island Park native Scott Viglietta, 24, died of cancer on August 21. Viglietta was an artist who worked as a page at the Island Park Library and as an usher for the Broadway show "The Lion King" at the New Amsterdam Theater in Manhattan. He is remembered for being concerned for the welfare of others and his work in this regard.

Triathlon tremendous success
      Over 90 athletes throughout Long Island, ages 7 to 14, swam, biked and ran throughout Oceanside Park in Dr. Jay Kerner's 3rd Annual Youth Triathlon, an event that raises funds to help fight cystic fibrosis. Participation in the event increased from 40 participants in 1999 to 60 last year. "Because it was included in the Olympics for the first time in Sydney last summer, the triathlon is familiar to more people and they are more eager to participate in one," Kerner said, a former Oceanside resident living in Merrick. Rebecca Power, 11, of Island Park, placed 1st in the female 11-12 age group, while Grey Smith, 11, of Oceanside, earned 3rd place in the male 11-12 age group.

Lamonica launches new party
      Town Council candidate Jerry Lamonica (D-Oceanside) launched a new party, the 24-7 Party, as part of his effort to get elected to govern Hempstead's fourth councilmatic district. The party's non-partisan petition contained 1,641 signatures from registered voters of various political parties. Lamonica's petition and party came in the wake of a ruling by the Nassau County Supreme Court that struck down his petition from the Working Families Party over a technical issue.

September

Something new at the Bell
      Reconstruction of Taco Bell in Oceanside on Long Beach began in September. The new restaurant was restructured to be a "two-in-one," which combines into one store both Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. The previous restaurant sat 36 people; the new store is expected to sit 70, a Taco Bell spokesperson said.


Terzo dies, DeVito new commish
      Joseph Terzo, commissioner of the Oceanside Sanitation District No. 7, died a day before his birthday on August 4. Louis DeVito, a longtime Oceanside resident and local business owner, was appointed to serve as commissioner in Terzo's place.

INTERFAITH SERVICES in Oceanside were held following the September 11 terrorist attacks that brought many walks of life together in the name of faith and patriotism.

Interfaith service held
      On the Thursday following the terrorist attacks on our nation, an Interfaith Service was held at the Oceanside Jewish Center. Community members listened to speeches, prayers and songs from various religious leaders throughout the community.

OFD and IPD at 'Ground Zero'
      The Oceanside Fire District and Island Park Fire Department participated in search and rescue efforts at the former site of the World Trade Center, dubbed "ground zero" following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
      "Words cannot describe the devastation," said Oceanside Fire Department Commissioner Bill Lynch, one of thousands of people who have participated in the search and rescue work at ground zero. "Never in my lifetime did I think this could happen in the USA."
      "Inconceivable," Island Park Fire Chief Ron Nurnberger said.
      On Sept. 11, the OFD sent a crew of 27 firefighters who worked at the demolished area for approximately 13 hours. Then, beginning two days later, the department began sending a rotation of 6 volunteers every 12 hours, according to OFD First District Chief Chris Andoos.
      IPFD joined thousands of firefighters in cleaning up the wreckage at the World Trade Center at midnight on the Thursday following the attacks and they worked, with only one or two 15-minute breaks, until 1 p.m. the following day.
      "You had human chains of 30 or 40 people just passing buckets of debris; fireman, policeman, construction workers all performing a common task," said Lynch, explaining the basic task he and the other Oceanside volunteers participated in at ground zero. "We were there for about 6 hours, and in that time, even though it's an insurmountable tasks, you could see progress being made as far as the debris."
      The IPFD assisted in basically the same tasks.
      "We got in line with hundreds of fireman and on hands and knees just dug out by hand this concrete dust, working around the twisted steel girders that made up the buildings," said IPFD firefighter Joseph Annarella. "The only thing significant that we came across was a shoe, human hair, a fireman's personal crow bar, and every time you came across something significant it was put in a certain area."

Kids hold fund-raiser for victims' families
      Students of Oceanside's School No. 2 formed their own fundraiser in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. They set up a table at the intersection of Terrell Avenue and Brain Street during the Rosh Hashanah recess to sell American flags they colored on sheets of photocopied paper. All told, approximately 250 flags were sold and $900 was raised, as some patriotic buyers paid as much as $20 for a single Ole Glory. A portion of the proceeds were donated to the family of James Barbella, a Port Authority worker at the World Trade Center who was killed there; the rest was to go to either an Oceanside fund or the American Red Cross.


Hed: Our Lost Neighbors

      In addition to the fire heroes we honor within this issue, the Oceanside community lost several friends and neighbors who were at work in the towers on Sept. 11.

James Kelly, 39
      "He was an excellent family man who lived for his girls," said Joanne Kelly, wife of James Kelly. Together the couple had four daughters: Brianne, 9, Katie, 7, Colleen, 4, and Erin, 4. Kelly, 39, was a broker on the mortgage desk for Cantor Fitzgerald, the World Trade Center-based bond trading firm that lost every one of the 700+ employees who were at work on September 11. James and Joanne, childhood neighbors and sweethearts in Merrick, married in July 1988 and moved to Oceanside from Massapequa five years ago. An avid New York Mets and Giants fan, Kelly would often watch their games for their family room, dubbed "Kells domain," or he would take "The Squad," his nickname for his four girls, to Shea Stadium. By September 11, Kelly had been working at Cantor for 10 years.

Tim Haviland, 41
      Tim Haviland came to New York from Minneapolis-St. Paul after meeting his future wife, Amy, of Oceanside, through an Internet matchmaking Web site. Haviland, 41, was vice-president and project manager for insurance brokerage Marsh McLennan, a company that lost many employees in the attacks. Their correspondence began in April 1996, in August of that year the couple met, and in January 1997 Haviland moved to Oceanside with Amy and her two children, Nicholas, 14, and Jesse, 12. The couple married in August 1999. "He was very devoted to me and my children," Amy said. Haviland was known of helping Amy's children with their homework and he was a passionate fan of the New York Mets and Minnesota Vikings. At the time of the attacks, Haviland had been working for Marsh McLennan for over three years and he was expected to be promoted to vice president in October.

Laura Marchese, 35
      What radiated most from Laura Marchese, said her loved ones, was her thoughtful consideration of others. Marchese, 35, had been working for a year as an executive assistant with Alliance Consulting Group, a consulting company that formed and managed strategic alliances, mergers, and acquisitions, with offices on the 102nd floor of the World Trade Center. Marchese, a life-long Freeport resident, and her fiancee John Mendez, 31, a life-long Island Park resident, purchased a house in Oceanside, ideally located between the homes of their two families. The couple resided at their new home for just 10 days before the terrorists struck the WTC. "Laura was a very special person," Mendez said. "She was the kindest, sweetest person I'd ever met. She would do anything for anyone she or I knew. She was very loving and caring." Merchese was an avid skier and gave much of her time to certain causes, such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

James Barbella 52
      Oceanside resident James Barbella had a lifelong interest in music, having played the drums as a youngster and the piano and guitar as an adult, and he loved to exercise. Included in his fitness routine was a walk up a Twin Tower's 110 flights of stairs a couple of times each week. For 17 years Barbella worked for the Port Authority at the World Trade Center, and in recent years he served as a property manager, whose basic responsibilities were to oversee the moves by tenants occupying the south tower's 9th through 40th floors. He narrowly escaped death when a terrorist's bomb exploded in the basement of the WTC in 1993. His wife, Monica, described Barbella as someone who was "very clear about good and bad, what was right and wrong; he was very black and white."
[END BOX]

October


Veterans commune
      Most Americans regard the atrocities committed against their country on Sept. 11 as acts of war. Among them are many people who, unlike most other Americans, watched those atrocities unfold from the perspective of having participated in wars themselves.
      "I think that the reaction to this horror was much more than Pearl Harbor," said Frank McGinty, a veteran of World War II and a member of Island Park's American Legion Post 1029 in Island Park. "Remember, at that time Hawaii was not yet a state, it was thousands and thousands of miles away from New York, but in this recent incident it was the first time that an enemy has attacked us on our own land since the War of 1812."
      While comparisons have been widely drawn between the Dec. 7 and Sept. 11 attacks, local veterans also compared the American people's overwhelming support for this war and other wars.
      "The reaction of the American people after this attack compared to WW II is unbelievable," said Frank Yacullo, a member of Oceanside's VFW Post 5199 who fought at Okinawa, about the outpouring of patriotism as captured by the widespread displays of American flags outside people's homes and on their cars and lapels. "I've never seen anything like it. It brings tears to my eyes. I can't believe that people today care that much."
      "In World War II, you probably had 100 percent of the people backing the country to do what they had to do," said Joe Aniano, a veteran of Korea and an Island Park Legionnaire. "In the Korean War, that support dropped a little bit, because people differed in opinion. In Vietnam it dropped even lower and so on. Now, this is the same situation as World War II, and that's why you have over 85 percent support back in the country again."
      Finally, some veterans raised an issue that many people believe has evolved over decades into an important factor to consider while fighting a war: the freedom of the press. They believe the various media have gone overboard in efforts to cover wars and other conflicts.
      "I would like to see less press coverage of certain things that shouldn't be brought to the public, like telling us everybody's whereabouts," said Oceansider Jim Johnson, who choked up when comparing the atmosphere today with America after he'd served 26 months in the Vietnam War.
      
Two drown in boating accident
       Fred Hebig, 70, and Jules Cornfield, 73, of Oceanside, and son Alan Cornfield, 38, an Oceanside High School alum living in Dix Hills, were returning from a fishing trip and passing through troubled waters in Jones Inlet when their 22-foot boat was hit by a breaking wave that tilted the boat. Hebig and Alan Cornfield were knocked off the boat and into the chilly waters where they drowned. Neither man was wearing a life jacket, said Les Dillon, a petty officer second class with the US Coast Guard at Jones Beach. Approximately five minutes after receiving Cornfield's "Mayday" calls, the Coast Guard was on the scene, Dillon said. Cornfield's boat was nearly capsized by the 4-to-8 foot waves at the West bar, which is not usually dangerous unless the weather is bad, said Dillon.

Schoolhouse given green light
      Phase 1 of the Schoolhouse Green project, located on the grounds of former School 1 and which will serve as a historical museum of Oceanside, took another step toward becoming a reality when grass seeds were planted to truly make the site a "green."


West Nile uncovered in O'side
      A dead crow infected with the West Nile Virus was found in Oceanside. The bird was one of three collected by the Nassau County Department of Health (NCDH) between Sept. 27 and Oct. 1. More than 500 mosquito pools in Nassau County that were submitted for testing in 2001 had negative results for the West Nile Virus. Positive cases include 27 mosquito pools, four humans, one horse and 37 birds.


Students salute heroes
      It was anything but usual at Francis Hegarty Elementary School's annual meeting with firefighters during fire prevention week. After participating in the search and rescue efforts at the site where history's most destructive terrorist attacks unfolded, firefighters from the Island Park Fire Department and officers from the Fourth Precinct of the Nassau County Police Department were honored at the school.
      Gathering in the Hegarty's gymnasium that morning were Principal Gloria Maffettone and the school's staff and students from kindergarten to fourth grade. The school put off saying the pledge of allegiance that morning to sing it along with the rescue workers, and the students sang "God Bless America," which brought tears to the eyes of teachers, parents and rescuers.
      In their own words, fourth graders Eddy Suhovsky, Ariel Jacobs, Samantha Cortez and Sam Mazany and third graders Kaitlin Lynch and Sean Garfield, represented their schoolmates in thanking the rescuers for their work, the lives they helped save, and for putting their own lives on the line. The rescuers were presented with four large flags made by students and faculty. The stripes of each flag were made of white and red hearts that bore the signatures of all the students at Hegarty.

Feingold honored posthumously
      Roger Steven Feingold, 55, an Oceanside resident since 1973 who died of brain cancer in March, was recognized at the annual Town of Hempstead Make A Difference Awards. Feingold made a difference through his long and extensive volunteer work he performed through community involvement organizations that are arms of the Masons. The groups assisted by his efforts include: Warden's Association, First Nassau Youth Committee, Public Involvement and Awareness Committee, Child ID programs at Cerebral Palsy of Nassau County and Royal Arch, where he earned the position of high priest. More recently, he was chosen grand representative of the grand lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Yugoslavia.


Anthrax concerns spread
      As terrorists wage germ warfare by exposing American citizens to strains of anthrax sent via letters in the mail, local law enforcement and post offices go on heightened alert.
      "With the recent outbreaks of anthrax, we've had to step up precautions and stress the importance of security to our employees, like having our mail carriers keep their trucks locked at all times, which is standard practice anyway," said Post Master for Oceanside and Rockville Centre Post Offices Neil Mutarelli.
      Several residents bring packages to the Oceanside and RVC post offices that they believed were suspicious, such as having no return address on them, Mutarelli said. However, no actual cases of exposure to anthrax are reported.
      "We receive several calls a day for suspicious substances and we have had no confirmations of anthrax or any other biological hazard," said George Gudmundsen, inspector at the Nassau County Police Department's Fourth Precinct. "People are very nervous and concerned because of the high-profile cases in the media."

Renowned wrestling coach joins OHS staff
      Paul Gillespie is hired as head coach of the Oceanside High School varsity wrestling team. Over 18 years Gillespie, 51, developed a distinguished head coaching career with the varsity wrestling team at Long Beach High School, earning 17 county titles, 17 conference championships, two New York State titles, and national rankings of 7th in 1982 and 13th in 1987.

Girls Tennis attains perfection
      The Oceanside High School Girls Tennis Team achieved an undefeated season, the first since 1996. The 32-girl team went 12-0 in the regular season and won their division, Conference III A. The team capped off their perfect season with two playoff wins. Their final match of the year was against Clark, another undefeated team. Captain and Senior Lesley Small, who finished the year without a lose, won 11 of her matches in just two sets, and Lauren Biron and Brooke Hausman earned 13-1 records.
      "This is the best team I've ever had because we had such depth," said Coach Faye Coslow, who has coached the tennis team at OHS for nine years.

Teacher arrested for child porn
      Robert Ruggiero, 25, a teacher on leave from Oceanside Middle School and a resident of Rockville Centre, was arrested for allegedly attempting to purchase child pornography over the Internet. Ruggiero was also charged with intentionally distributing child pornography via computer, and he faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted, Federal Prosecutors said. According to court papers, Ruggerio answered an ad on July 24 that was placed by an undercover postal inspector, which read "Real home made XXX video of my 9- and 12-year-old girls." The inspector received a money order for $60 on Aug. 9 in an envelope labeled with Ruggerio's name and home address. When the video had not arrived by Sept. 20, Ruggerio sent another email to the inspector inquiring about its whereabouts, and attached to the email were pictures depicting child pornography.


November

OCS holds fundraiser
      For an event normally attended by 175 to 200 people, the Oceanside Community Service's annual fundraising dinner/dance, held at the Knights of Columbus, brought in over 250 residents this year to provide support for and celebrate the 52-year-old service organization. The fund specifically assists families in the community working to make ends meet. While the money provides people with such necessities as clothing and food -- the latter of which the OSC collects approximately 30,000 pounds of annually -- it also goes toward assisting them with their bills, as well as home repairs, school supplies and a variety of other needs.

Burglary wave hits IP
      A rash of burglaries hit the Island Park business district over a six-week span, with nine stores reporting successful or attempted break-ins, police reported. Clay-Time Indoor Tennis was one of three businesses that were burglarized twice or more. Coyote Grill, 104 Waterview Rd., was hit twice, and A & T Garden Center, 4373 Austin Blvd., was hit on four occasions within 21 days. The burglar mainly took cash and often left valuable items behind, a detective reported.


Schools report cards mixed
      Test scores released by the New York State Education Department reveal mixed results in the Oceanside and Island Park School Districts compared to figures from 2000. This year, scores in both districts were up in fourth-grade math, but down in both eight-grade reading/Language Arts and math. In Oceanside, 93 percent of fourth-grade math students met or exceeded state standards, up a percentage point from last year. Fifty-six percent of eighth-graders met the reading/Language Arts standards, down from 69 percent. Fifty-three percent of eighth-grade math students hit the mark, which was down from 58 percent. In Island Park, 95 percent of fourth-grade math students met the standards, up from 88 percent last year; 47 percent of eighth-graders met standards for reading/Language Arts, down from 61; and eighth-grade math students meeting the standards dropped from 62 percent to 48.

Monuments to veterans, rescue workers
      Frank Spingola, a 40-year resident of Oceanside, announced he will finance two monuments to be erected at the Oceanside Triangle on Long Beach Road and Lincoln and Davison Avenues, a property owned by Nassau County. One monument is to honor "the deceased, disabled and veterans of foreign wars"; the other will honor the nation's fire fighters, police officers and emergency medical services," and will sport two photos of two NYC firefighters from Oceanside, Kenneth Marino and Thomas Gardner, who perished in the World Trade Center.
      Spingola's plans to honor these people were met with the approval of Nassau County Executive Thomas Gullota, who in preparation for the installment of the monuments attended a dedication ceremony held on Nov. 1, when new signs renaming the area Oceanside Veteran's Memorial Plaza were unveiled, at the Spingola's request. There was no word on whether other fallen rescue workers from the community, such as Firefighter Robert Spear or John Florio, would also be recognized, as people questioned why Spingola wasn't honoring other firefighters on his monument.

December

Debaun wins fifth term
      In 1988, the last year a sitting commissioner of the Oceanside Fire District (OFD) was challenged for his position, then-incumbent Rudy Valentino was defeated by Jay Tavelaro. The outcome for the incumbent in this year's election was different, however, as 20-year commissioner Craig DeBaun easily held onto his seat.
      Of the 907 votes cast on Tuesday, Dec. 11, DeBaun received 679 to challenger and ex-Chief of Rescue Co. 1 Mitch Krasnoff's 228. After polls closed at 9 p.m. and the winner was determined minutes later, DeBaun was sworn in to serve his fifth five-year term.
      "I think the support of the community and the support from the fire department proves that doing a good job will prevail," DeBaun said about his victory by a considerable margin.

Teachers' contracts unresolved
      A mediation meeting on a contract for Oceanside teachers held on Dec. 11 between the Board of Education and union leaders ended without a settlement. However, after a nearly 13 hours of talks, steps toward a resolution were made and discussions would continued, according to participants in the meeting.
      "All I can say is we made progress, but it's not quite settled and closer than further away," said President of the Oceanside Federation of Teachers (OFT) Leslie Krasnoff.
      The board's original contract proposal, which was to be adopted on July 1, 2001, was rejected by the OFT. Subsequent proposals by both the board and teacher's union were rejected by the other side, with their controversy centered on teachers' salaries and the number of hours they were asked to work.
      By September, after both sides were unable to come to an agreement, the Board declared an impasse. The New York State Board of Education scheduled a mediator to meet with the board and teachers' union in December to encourage a settlement.
      
Rotary records largest food drive
      The Oceanside/Island Park Rotary Club called the first half of its Gift from the Heart food drive on December 13 an "unbelievable" success. Held at the Waldbaum's and Stop & Shop supermarkets in Oceanside on the weekend of December 8 and 9, Rotarians and members of Interact, the Oceanside High School arm of the club, collected considerably more food than is normally donated during the 15-year-old drive, which aims to assist needy families in the community.
      "We filled five pallets with food, which comes out to a quarter of a tractor trailer," said Rotary President Elliot Leibner. "We usually fill about three pallets over the two days. If we get this kind of contribution again during our drive on January 12 and 13, we're going to have enough for 70 families. I've never seen results like this in 15 years."

Auxiliary Police seek overhaul
      Under the direction of Lieutenant Marshall Smith, the Oceanside unit of the Nassau County Auxiliary Police vows to try to rebuild the unit after it atrophied from approximately 30 members in the mid-1980s to its four-man membership today. Dubbed the "trained eyes and ears" of the community and Nassau's police department, the A.P. consists of citizens in their communities who pledge to serve time and assist police officers without being paid.
      "The unit has always been in Oceanside. It was never dissolved, but through attrition, whether men moved away or they got too old or they didn't have the time or they volunteer time for other activities...the unit has come down in size," Smith said.
      Having worked in the five town's unit for nearly four years and putting in over 800 hours, Smith said he would like to bring the Oceanside unit up to the minimum standards of 120 hours a year for new A.P. officers, 132 for sergeant, 144 for lieutenant and 156 for captains.

Teachers vote 'yes'
      After a series of talks following a mediation meeting a week before, teachers from the Oceanside School District voted to ratify a new contract on December 20. The new contract proposes a 14 percent salary and "step" increase for teachers, requires teachers to work 15 minutes more each day, and calls for staff development, which requires 10 hours a year from tenured teachers and 20 hours a year from probationary teachers beyond the school day to take courses on professional development.
      "The teachers passed the contract by more than a majority," said Leslie Krasnoff, president of the Oceanside Federation of Teachers, which represents teaching personnel. "I'm very relieved and happy that this is settled. And I think the sign of a good contract is that neither side is totally happy."
      The board will publicly vote on the new contract at its next meeting in January. "Until the board ratifies it, it's not technically a done deal. Although I'm very optimistic," said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Herb Brown.