Friday, December 31, 2021
Vol. 99, No.8
FOUNDED 1923
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New minister
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Ice hockey
Cheerleaders make history
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Board to mull six month amnesty to legalize permits BY RIKKI MASSAND
At the first Village Board of Trustees meeting in the new year, scheduled for Thursday January 13, a public hearing will take place on a new local law regarding Garden City Department of Building policy for issuing building permits. Currently some residential projects and permits are subject to a “legalization fee” of three times the regular fee to legalize work that has already been completed. In recent meetings several residents have complained about the excessive cost for building permits which include this fee. According to the Village, the legalization fee is designed to address the additional work of the Village and its staff, in inspecting work “without the advantage of advance plans and specifications, ongoing See page 39
The Garden City High School cheerleaders BY GARY SIMEONE It has been a memorable month for the Garden City High School cheerleading squad, as the team was the first one to ever compete in the traditional competition at UCA (Universal Cheerleader’s Association). The team placed second in the Northeast Region with a bid to the Nationals competition. “I am extremely proud of these athletes. They are so talented and their hard work dedication and passion shined on the mat last Sunday,” said Chelsea Bressingham, head coach of cheerleading. “The best thing about our team is that they all uplift one another and they encourage each other to do better and want
everyone to succeed which really shows a strong bond between them.” The team competed at Wantagh High School on Sunday, December 12 in front of a large group of family members and friends. “We competed in the Large Varsity Division and competed against some really hard teams,” said Bressingham. “Our squad, which is made of twenty seven talented girls, placed in second, which is a huge accomplishment.” Bressingham, who is a new coach with the team, said that it was the first year that the cheerleading squad has competed in the traditional Regionals competition. “I believe that in 2019, that squad had competed in the
Game Day Division with a bid to go to Nationals, but they weren’t able to secure a bid. With the excitement that our team has with this historic moment, I can’t wait to watch this team continue to grow on their journey to Nationals.” She said that not only is her squad talented, but the girls have fun with each other in their cheering routines. “We ended having no falls and zero deductions, which is an accomplishment in itself. The only thing we fell a little bit short on was in our stunt sequence, but there were no points deducted for that.” The Nationals competition is scheduled for February 11–14, 2022 in Orlando Florida.
EAB to recommend seasonal ban on gas leaf blowers BY RIKKI MASSAND
At the last Board of Trustees’ meeting of 2021 Trustee Mary Carter Flanagan, the chair of the Environmental Advisory Board (EAB), announced that the EAB plans to submit a recommendation to the Board of Trustees for a seasonal ban on gas-powered leaf blowers. “The EAB voted on the gasoline-powered leaf blowers issue, with two recommendations that will be forthcoming – one is for every landscaping business operating in Garden City being licensed by the village; that is something that had been discussed for some time by the EAB. The second vote was to propose a seasonal ban on gas-powered leaf blowers to begin on the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend (the See page 40
GCHS Varsity Basketball bounces back PAGE 41 Volunteering with head, heart, hands PAGE 12