_________________ BeLLmore ________________
Men’s Health Inside $1.00 $1.00
Vol. 25 No. 27
North Bellmore’s grads move up
Explosive devices found at lakeside
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JUNE 30 - JUlY 6, 2022
Calhoun alum publishes first fantasy book and recently he has gotten involved in photography and video making. “A combination What if Spider-Man had lived of all that just kind of made me in medieval times? want to make my own story,” he The answer can be found in a said. new book that was self-published “A Champion’s Odyssey” is by 2021 Calhoun High School the first of 12 books Otalora is graduate Sebastian Otalora. The planning. It is an adventure-fan19-year-old Merrick native has tasy that takes place in medieval been working on a book since he times, whose main character is was in middle named Esmond. school, and in JanuOtalora was inspired ary he finished “A to write it by two Champion’s Odyschildhood favorites sey.” — Spider-Man, the Otalora is a firstMarvel superhero, generation Colombiand the video game an immigrant with a series “The Legend passion for the arts, of Zelda.” including drawing, “The whole idea writing and graphic is that Esmond stumdesign. He was bled upon this sebastian otalora drawn to animation ancient godlike in middle school, power from an and his love of comancient hero,” Otalora said. “He ics led him to start the book. wrestles with the coming-of-age “As a kid, I used to draw com- and the responsibility of trying ics because, to me, it is the easi- to be a heroic presence in his est form of storytelling from a community.” childhood perspective,” said His target audience, Otalora Otalora, who is now taking com- said, is teenagers and young puter science courses at Farm- adults. “In the first book, I introingdale State College and work- duced the main characters,” he ing part-time. “And then as I said. “Alex, who is a good friend grew up, I would just want to cre- of Esmond; Zurk, a vigilante; ate these stories.” He has studied color theory, Continued on page 20
By KEPHErD DaNiEl kdaniel@liherald.com
Tim Baker/Herald
KristiN talBot, lEft, the garden manager at St Francis Episcopal Church, and the Rev. Grace Flint at the garden last Saturday. In celebration of Pollinator Week, the garden hosted a series of events to educate the community on how to protect pollinators.
Protecting the pollinators
Bees, butterflies and birds were the focus at the Garden at St. Francis Episcopal Church
By JorDaN ValloNE jvallone@liherald.com
A healthy garden relies on many things, among them sunlight, proper irrigation, regular weed removal, and human upkeep. But unbeknown to many, the key to the success of natural food sources is simple: pollinators. Threats to the environment and the habitats of bees, butterflies and even birds — earth’s pollinators — can put gardens at risk.
Volunteers at the Garden at St. Francis Episcopal Church in North Bellmore hope not only to help protect local pollinators, but also to make an impact by educating the community about their importance, and creating an environment that allows them to thrive. On the heels of the garden’s Pollinator Week, which wrapped up last Saturday, St. Francis’s garden manager, Kristin Talbot, told the Herald that the mission to protect
pollinators is part of a national movement. “Pollinator Partnership is a national organization, built by people who are trying to spread resources and knowledge about pollinators, to people who are just living in their neighborhoods that are interested in protecting pollinators, farmers like us, (and) people who are turning to land management and have acres and acres in preservation,” Talbot explained. Continued on page 7