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Friday, November 17, 2017
Vol. 77, No. 46
FALL FESTIVAL
Joseph Saladino elected to Town Supervisor position BY GARY SIMEONE
The Robert Seaman PTA recently hosted its annual Fall Festival. Guests of all ages enjoyed the many fun games and delicious snacks. The fundraising event was a success for all. There were so many happy faces up and down the hallways and it was great to see families and friends spend the day together having fun. See pages 14-15
In a heated race for the Oyster Bay Town Supervisor position, GOP candidate, Joe Saladino beat Democratic challenger, Marc Herman and two other candidates in last Tuesday night’s election. Saladino was originally appointed to the position in January, taking the place of longtime GOP Supervisor, John Venditto, who was indicted on federal corruption charges. Saladino was challenged by four different opponents for the position, including Herman, Bayville resident, John Mangelli, who ran on the Reform line, Jonathan Clarke, an attorney who ran on the Progressive line and Robert Ripp who ran on the End Corruption line. There was a lot of back and forth mudslinging between the candidates during the election, particularly from Herman who sought to change the corrupt culture within the Town government. There was also talk of independent party spoilers who would put a dent in the election process but that did not end up happening. Saladino said he is happy to be past all of that and has a number of initiatives he is focused on as the Town Supervisor.
“Some of the things I will be focused on include the Grumman Navy plume situation, the revitalization project in downtown Hicksville and environmental initiatives such as our new single stream recycling program,” said Saladino. He said that he plans to quickly address issues such as cutting a significant portion of the Town’s debt, working on ethics reform and moved on hiring an inspector general to review Town contracts, standardize procurement and make recommendations to Town Board officials. “I am looking forward to representing all of our residents from the north shore to the south shore,” said Saladino. Plainview resident, Louis Imbroto was elected as Town councilman after having been appointed to the position in March. Michele Johnson was re-elected as Town councilwoman and Massapequa Park resident, Thomas Hand was elected as councilman. “The voters of the Town of Oyster Bay want to see fiscal responsibility and preserving their suburban quality of life,” said Imbroto. “That’s what we ran on and were victorious on and we can’t wait to get back to work representing our Town residents.”
Local organization donates to needy families BY GARY SIMEONE People were getting into the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday last Friday as volunteers came together to donate food baskets to needy families. Members of the UJA (United Jewish Appeals) Federation in Syosset packed and personally delivered Thanksgiving baskets to families in need, homebound seniors and veterans as part of their Families Helping
Families event. Over 200 volunteers including adults and children showed up at ten in the morning to create and pack 120 Thanksgiving baskets. The baskets included everything that is needed in a Thanksgiving meal such as cranberry sauce, canned vegetables, stuffing, cookies and roasting pans. A $25 gift card was also included to help families purchase a fresh turkey to complete the meal.
“We want to make sure that people in need of being serviced have food on the table, that the kids feel cared for, seniors feel cared for and we can do this with UJA and all of our volunteers,” said Orna Sheena, Senior Director at the UJA Federation of NY. Sheena said the organization’s hope is that the baskets can bring people joy and a little bit of holiday cheer despite any hardships they may be going through.
Other local agencies involved in the event included the Mid Island Y Jewish Community Center, Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center, Suffolk Y JCC and the Food Pantry at the Marion and Aaron Gural Jewish Community Center. The UJA Federation is a non-profit organization that is one of the world’s leading local philanthropies.
NS Synagogue celebrates Simchat Torah PAGE 2 Woodbury student Siemens Semifinalist PAGE 10