East Meadow
CoMMuNITy uPDATE Infections as of Dec. 7
1,459
Infections as of Nov. 30 1,363
HERALD
LOOk iNSide
Holiday Wrapping Paper Contest drawn by our young readers
Town square lights up for the holidays
Chamber welcomes three new members
Small businesses in focus at webinar
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DECEMBER 10 - 16, 2020
Vol. 20 No. 50
Business booms at L.I. Pickers Consignment shop offers snapshot of decades past rus pandemic has taken on many businesses, L.I. Pickers has seen a surprising spike in L.I. Pickers is a time capsule activity over the past nine of the last 70-plus years. Bomber months. “Since the pandemic, jackets, cadet hats and medals it’s busier than ever,” said its from the Korean and owner, Gary GuarVietnam wars sit on notta, adding that he a 1950s-era Coca expected to see more Cola shelf. Across sellers of knickthe aisle, a row of knacks and doodads Mattel’s special-edibecause people have tion Holiday Barbie had more time to dolls from the 1990s clean out their attics stand in their cases. and basements. Lava lamps, bub“What I didn’t figble gum machines, GARy ure was how many Humphrey Bogart GuARNoTTA people would want movie posters, to buy,” Guarnotta Owner, record players, pornoted. “People aren’t celain dolls, model L.I. Pickers going on vacation, cars and other fixthey aren’t spending tures of decades past are all laid money on things like concert out in the cluttered harmony tickets, so they’re treating themunique to thrift stores and selves.” antique shops. Guarnotta, 58, of Levittown, Despite the toll the coronaviContinued on page 3
By BRIAN STIEGlITZ bstieglitz@liherald.com
S
ince the pandemic, it’s busier than ever.
Brian Stieglitz/Herald
CAlVARy luTHERAN CHuRCH, in East Meadow, held its first Christmas tree lighting last Saturday. Joe Sgroi, of East Meadow, helped his daughter, Isabella, 3, hang an ornament she made in nursery school class.
‘A new tradition’ at Calvary Congregation hosts its first tree lighting By BRIAN STIEGlITZ bstieglitz@liherald.com
A lot has changed at Calvary Lutheran Church over the past nine months, in the interest of keeping parishioners safe and limiting the spread of the coronavirus. Congregants no longer pass collection plates at services, instead dropping off donations as they leave. They no longer exchange a “sign of peace” by hugging or shaking hands, but instead
wave or smile at one another. And the church’s pastor, the Rev. Anthony Giordano, doesn’t hand out Communion wafers, but distributes them from a device he calls the “Pez dispenser.” Despite such limits and adjustments, congregants celebrated what could become a new tradition last Saturday when they were joined by children from Calvary Nursery School for the church’s first Christmas tree lighting.
The school holds a Christmas pageant each year, but canceled it this year as the pandemic ramped up. School Director Pat Giovanniello said that she and the church administration brainstormed ideas for different, socially distanced celebrations that they could continue after the pandemic. A church board member, pitched the idea of hosting an outdoor tree lighting, and Continued on page 3
Our COvid-19 traCker With the Covid-19 test positivity rate rising across the country, the Herald is adding a weekly coronavirus tracker to the upper-left corner of our front page to help you gauge what’s happening in your area from week to week. the number is an aggregate of the communities that this newspaper covers. data is obtained from the nassau County Covid-19 dashboard, which provides the total number of cases reported in an area since the start of the pandemic, and is updated regularly.