Friday, August 30, 2019
Vol. 79, No. 35
RUNNERS EDGE TRIATHLON
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Mid Island Y receives grant for senior care BY RIKKI MASSAND
148 youngsters between the ages of 7 and 13 took part in the Town of Oyster Bay’s Runners Edge Junior Triathalon. Above, the 12 and 13 year-olds start the swim in Oyster Bay Harbor. See page 8
Sy-Con coming to Library
BY RIKKI MASSAND
In its second year, Syosset Public Library’s new “Biennial Pop Culture Convention” featuring comic book and anime characters, workshops, artwork and presentations is being introduced to the Syosset Woodbury Chamber of Commerce, area businesses, residents and families throughout summer to build momentum for this September’s special weekend -- September 13 through 15.
On July 18 at Naot Footwear in Woodbury Village, Chamber Vice President Maureen Nickel, a Woodbury resident and owner of BrightStar Home Care LLC, welcomed Chamber members that service the community in multiple ways. The featured speaker that evening was Librarian Jessikah Chautin, one of Syosset Public Library’s lead coordinators for “Sy-Con.” Her outreach and presence at Chamber of Commerce meetings and at largescale community activities,
including the Holiday Lighting Spectacular in December 2018, is part of an expanding role to interact with the public that the library envisions. “The coolest thing about the library is that I see us as the center of lots of things going on in Syosset -- as I hear about great collaborations and networking taking place with the Syosset Woodbury Chamber, we are really branching out to serve the community. For years we were a great pubSee page 10
This summer the Mid-Island Y Jewish Community Center (JCC) was awarded a grant through the New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) to establish a program that will help older adults living in Syosset to agein-place in their own homes and remain in their community. The center’s Neighborhood Naturally Occurring Retirement Community, or “NNORC” program is modeled after a successful launch serving nearby senior citizen populations of Plainview and Old Bethpage, which as of this summer had assisted over 1,000 seniors in each of the two communities. The grant is planned to implement a new Syosset program, Neighborhood Naturally Occurring Retirement Community -- Seniors of Syosset (NNORCSOS). The NNORC-SOS program will provide a range of social services, community health nursing care and support, volunteer-based services, and group activities. Rick Lewis, a Plainview native and executive director of the Mid-Island Y JCC, spoke with the Syosset Advance and Jericho Syosset News Journal on August 22 and explained the new program’s potential along with the JCC’s presence forged through
the Syosset Woodbury Chamber of Commerce. “The Mid-Island Y JCC is keenly aware of service gaps that have existed for older adults in the Syosset area, including limited transportation options for those who no longer drive. There are many Syosset seniors currently aging in-place, and the services we provide are based upon keeping people successfully living in their homes. The target audience is anybody 65 or older that lives in the Syosset/Woodbury area. We are excited to take steps to fill in these service gaps,” Lewis said. He says because the Plainview and Old Bethpage NNORC’s service over 1,000 people apiece, the initial goal would be to have the same population reached in Syosset, “but that would depend on how much service we are providing to each person.” As part of the state-level grant application process for instituting the new program, the Mid-Island Y JCC undertook a needs assessment of the community. Its outreach involved speaking with community leaders, compiling written surveys, and inviting seniors to participate in open forum discussions. “We will offer consultation See page 17
Oyster Bay Harbor cleanup planned PAGE 3 Car Show LI planned for Sept. 22nd PAGE 6