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HERALD $1.00
Military honored in E.M.
Stay safe with space heaters
New coffee just down the street
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Vol. 22 No. 5
JANUARY 27 - FEBRUARY 2, 2022
E.M. Boy Scout thinks big for Eagle project sense of what they need. He played baseball from around age 4 or 5 until he was 15, and he now The East Meadow Baseball umpires at the complex. and Softball Complex, on Mer“The shelving is really going rick Avenue, will receive two to help out a lot because in the important additions this spring. mini field dugouts they don’t For his Eagle Scout community have any shelving,” Schwartz service project, Boy s a i d . “ Wi t h t h e Scout Alex shelves that I’m Schwartz, 17, will making, they’ll be build dugout shelves able to put their and plant arborvitae equipment in there trees at the fields. instead of leaving it A major commuon the bench or on nity service project, the floor.” which must be comSteve LaSala, the pleted before a scout East Meadow Baseturns 18, is required ball and Softball StEVE laSAlA to reach Eagle Scout, Association commisBSA’s highest rank, Commissioner, sioner, said he loves attained by only 8 East Meadow when young people percent of scouts in Baseball/Softball who played at the 2019, the latest year complex give back to Association for which data was it. “I think it’s absoavailable. An Eagle lutely fantastic what board of review must approve he was doing for the complex,” the project once complete, along LaSala said. “He’s a great kid with the scout’s Eagle applica- and always helps out on the tion. Eagle Scouts must also field,” adding, “He’s everything earn a minimum of 21 merit you would want a kid to be.” badges and serve as a troop leadSchwartz said he started planer, among other requirements. ning the project over the sumSchwartz, a Troop 362 mem- mer of 2020, developing a ber, said he decided on the proj- required 10-page report on it. ect because he has spent much Once BSA’s executive board of his life on the fields at the approved the project, he could complex, giving him a good Continued on page 11
By MAlloRY WilSoN mwilson@liherald.com
H
e’s everything you would want a kid to be.
Courtesy Melissa Nails
MEliSSA NAilS ANd her husband, Tom, are involved in the community with their daughters, Sophia, left, and Olivia. Melissa has taken a leading role in the Bowling Green Elementary PTA.
A PTA leader with heart
Melissa Nails is a ‘staple in the community’ By MAlloRY WilSoN mwilson@liherald.com
Melissa Nails joined the Parent Teacher Association in 2015, when her oldest daughter, Sophia, now 11, started kindergarten at Bowling Green Elementary School. Since then, she has made her way up the PTA ladder, most recently becoming Bowling Green’s first vice president since 2020. She is also a member of the W.T. Clarke Middle School PTA.
Meet your
PTA
leaders Fourth in a series The Salisbury mother of two joined the PTA because she knew she wanted to be involved once her daughters started kindergarten.
“I enjoy volunteering and meeting new people, so I thought the PTA would be good for me,” Nails said. “I’ve met some of my closest friends through the school and the PTA, and I still continue to meet new faces any event I go to.” Her first position on the PTA board was corresponding secretary from 2018 to 2020. Previously, she had chaired events and volunteered her Continued on page 12