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HERALD Harvesting the farm food
Man arrested in hit-and-run
New optometry office opens
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Vol. 26 No. 33
$1.00 $1.00
AUGUST 10 - 16, 2023
Financing a dream, in honor of Dylan Murphy Foundation raising money for new baseball field By JoRDAN VAlloNE jvallone@liherald.com
Courtesy John Murphy
Dylan’s Dream Team Memorial Foundation, created in honor of Dylan Murphy, who died of cancer in 2018, is raising money to finance a new baseball field in his name. Above, Dylan pitching in a Little League game.
Dylan’s Dream Team Memorial Foundation is hoping to make other kids’ dreams come true. The Bellmore-based organization is in its early stages of raising funds to finance a brand new, state-of-the-art baseball and softball field for the North Bellmore North Merrick Little League — all in memory of Dylan Murphy, the foundation’s namesake. Dylan grew up in Bellmore, attended Saw Mill Road Elementary School in the North Bellmore School District, and was an avid baseball player with the North Bellmore North Merrick Little League. In 2015, when he was 9, he was diagnosed with Wilms tumor, a rare kidney cancer that affects chil-
dren. He underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments to combat the disease, and nine months later, he was cancerfree, Dylan’s dad, John Murphy, told the Herald. “Ultimately, about six months later, we found out that he had leukemia, which is sometimes a side effect of some chemo medications that he took,” John Murphy said. “Some of them are pretty strong, and they could cause other types of cancer, which happened to him.” Dylan underwent a bone marrow transplant, but his body rejected it. He died in September 2018. The following year, John Murphy and his wife, Donna, started a charity in Dylan’s name, to help families and children going ConTinueD on pAge 2
Getting comedians back on stage after the pandemic By JoRDAN VAlloNE jvallone@liherald.com
There’s no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic affected many thousands of local people in dozens of professions — not just doctors, nurses and essential workers, but many others. Including performers. The careers of actors, singers, comedians and more, who make a living by being on stage and entertaining others, were threatened by pandemic shutdowns. One local business, CMIT Solutions of South Nassau, an information technology company, set out to help them. Its owner, Armando D’Accordo, of Wantagh, started sponsoring
comedy shows as a way to get comedians back on stage, and to encourage people to get back out to their shows. The performances are made possible with the help of D’Accordo’s son, Vincent, and Vincent’s friend Paul Dagliolo. CMIT Solutions was based in Merrick for many years, but recently moved to Massapequa. D ’ A c c o rd o h a s l o n g b e e n involved with the Mer rick Chamber of Commerce as well as other professional networking groups. On Aug. 19, CMIT Solutions will host the third installment of its comedy shows, at The Loft in Bellmore. “We’re looking to do a series of them,” D’Accordo said. “It helps local
I
t helps local venues. It helps comedians.
ARMANDo D’AccoRDo CMIT Solutions venues. It helps comedians. We’re trying to do our best to help both sets.” The Loft, a venue above the Bellmore Playhouse on Bedford Avenue, boasts a lot of space, including food service and a bar. Dagliolo, the show’s host and Vincent D’Accordo’s childhood friend, works in comedy. “During Covid, it was a struggle for everybody that was
d o i n g c o m e dy, ” A r m a n d o D’Accordo said. “They were doing, you know, videos and some Zoom comedy, but it’s very difficult. Most of the venues were not having people, so it was very tough.” He and his son wanted to find a way to help comedians. “ Pa u l a n d I h ave b e e n friends since kindergarten,” Vincent said. “We grew up together. We’ve always had
affinity and respect for standup comedy. Paul kind of took that to the next level, by becoming a stand-up comedian himself. Ever since he did that, we’ve been wanting to do a show together.” “After Covid started to lessen — I won’t say it’s gone — we came up with the idea of hosting or sponsoring some of these guys,” his father added. ConTinueD on pAge 12