Lynbrook/East Rockaway Herald 09-02-2021

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Restaurants still facing staff shortages 20s and was happy to volunteer to help at Lynbrook Eats.

She said she has noticed Lynbrook Chamber of Com- wait times increasing at local merce Vice President Nazia eateries owing to a lack of staff, DeFrank said she was at Lyn- which she attributed to the brook Eats, on Merrick Road, coronavirus pandemic, as resfor a meeting last month when taurant employees were among she noticed owner Timmy those who have received extra Anagnostos, 75, moving quickly unemployment benefits. Anagfrom table to table to serve cus- nostos was in Greece at press tomers amid a staff time, and the busishortage. ness did not “When he walked respond to a request over with plates, his for comment. hands were shaking On the night so bad that some DeFrank worked, food was falling off her sons, Adam, Stethe plates,” ven and Deen, visitDeFrank recalled. ed the restaurant.

“I took the plates along with Deputy and he started tear- BRIAN FERN Mayor Michael ing up, saying he Hawxhurst and his Owner, Pearsall’s had no help, and no family and former one wants to work. I Station Ly n b r o o k Po l i c e really couldn’t bear Chief Joseph Neve. the thought of this Lynbrook Eats is man crying. It broke my heart.” one of many businesses in the DeFrank, who is the chief area that have had to deal with executive officer of the Lyn- staff shortages. Brian Fern, the brook-based Gour met Ghee owner of Pearsall’s Station, on Company, which produces but- Sunrise Highway, said he ter that is made by straining believed there were three reathe fat and dairy out of it, sons why his business has been decided to volunteer as a wait- unable to hire help. He said he ress at the eatery to help Anag- believed people weren’t motinostos. She said she worked as a waitress when she was in her CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

By MIKE SMOLLINS msmollins@liherald.com

Courtesy Lynbrook Kiwanis Club

Back to school, Kiwanis-style The Lynbrook Kiwanis Club recently distributed school backpacks stuffed with supplies for students in the school district. Taking part were, from left, Superintendent Dr. Melissa Burak, Kiwanis President Susan DeSena and club Treasurer Stephen Wangel.

Lynbrook Library could go down in the history books

By MADELINE ARMSTRONG lyn-ereditor@liherald.com

Village officials and Lynbrook Public Library administrators are seeking historical landmark status for the library.

According to library Director Robyn Galloon, the application will be made official next spring.

Places that receive such a distinction “bring a special historical, cultural or aesthetic value to the city.”

Built in 1929, the library is significant for its architecture, which resembles many of the Carnegie-style libraries built between 1883 and 1929. Mayor Alan Beach said the facility was also founded by a group of women who were active in the suffrage movement in Lynbrook.

Additionally, Hugh Tallent, a renowned architect, designed the library. He also designed the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Aguilar Branch of the New York

Public Library and many Broadway theaters that have received historical landmark status.

“The age of the building does not necessarily qualify it as a landmark,” Beach said. “Landmark status must demonstrate various factors, including, for example, social significance, architecture and affiliation with historic events or persons.”

It can be challenging to apply CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

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e’re running with a short pool.

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September 2, 2021 — LYNBROOK/EAST ROCKAWAY HERALD

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New location, same discipline, for Ryu’s

LYNBROOK/EAST ROCKAWAY HERALD — September 2, 2021

By KATHERINE FENTON lyn-ereditor@liherald.com

Ryu’s Martial Arts has moved to a new location, with space for more students to learn and practice taekwondo.

Now at 309 Sunrise Highway, the martial arts studio reopened during the first week of August, continuing its 21 years of operation in Lynbrook.

The studio is open from 2 to 9 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2 to 8:30 p.m. on Fridays and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Classes are available for adults and children ages 4 and older.

No date was set for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at press time, but an open house to celebrate the reopening was held on Aug. 28. During the event, anyone was welcome to drop in to watch a class, participate in different activities and learn about taekwondo.

Kim Ryu, office manager at Ryu’s, spoke highly of the new location’s modern design and larger accommodations, which initially surprised many young students.

“This space is so much better, so much nicer, so much bigger,” he said. “There’s much more visibility, so I can see everybody coming through the door. Everything is just fantastic here. The kids love it, too. It was great, when they first started coming in, to see what the look on their faces was — so shocked they didn’t even know what to do. They’re still getting used to it.”

While the Covid-19 pandemic slowed down the process of moving into the new building, it also made the more spacious location especially necessary, Ryu explained.

“With Covid, we were very limited in the class sizes before,” he said. “Now, because the space is so much bigger, we’re able to have more kids per class. People used to kind of get locked out of classes, and now they don’t.

There’s plenty of room for everybody who wants to come.”

Head instructor Fernando Lopez Cruz said that the new location has been embraced as a fresh start by students who have been dealing with the effects of the pandemic in recent months.

“We do miss the other location, so it’s a little bit nostalgic, but so far this new location has been great,” he said. “I see that a lot of our students are liking it, espe-

3

Courtesy Ryu’s Martial Arts

RYU’S MARTIAL ARTS recently opened their new location at 309 Sunrise Highway in Lynbrook. cially with this past year and everyone being quarantined. Something new, I think, can definitely bring us that energy we need again.”

The martial arts studio will also host a back-to-school celebration this month. Lopez Cruz, who has worked at Ryu’s for over five years, will give an anti-bullying seminar at the end of the event. For the seminar and martial arts lessons alike, Lopez Cruz said that the principles of

discipline and respect are crucial.

“I think that there’s a big misconception of martial arts,” he said. “Yes, the kicking and punching are a part of it, but the discipline and respect and all of those things? I think they’re a little more important.”

For more information on Ryu’s Martial Arts’ programs and upcoming events, visit ryusmartialarts.com, or call (516) 596-2444.

E.R. schools name new assistant superintendent

Courtesy East Rockaway School District

JAMES DETOMMASO WAS recently appointed the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction in the East Rockaway School District.

James DeTommaso was appointed assistant superintendent for cur riculum and instruction in the East Rockaway School District by the Board of Education and began his role on July 8.

DeTommaso, a Massapequa resident, graduated from The Johns Hopkins University in Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in social sciences. He also earned his master’s degree in special education and a professional diploma in education administration from Long Island University, C.W. Post in Brookville.

He began his 28-year career in education at East Rockaway Junior-Senior High School as a special education teacher and coach for the varsity football and lacrosse teams. He also served as dean of students and assistant principal for 15 years.

For the past three years, DeTommaso served as the prin-

cipal of West Hempstead High School.

He said he was excited to retur n to East Rockaway schools in his new role. DeTommaso added that he planned to share his knowledge and leadership experience to support the district’s strategic plan and help guide and improve it in the areas of cur riculum, instruction and assessment.

DeTommaso said that his additional goals include “working closely with the administrators and teachers to improve student outcomes and provide opportunities for all learners to reach their potential and to continue focusing on re-connecting students to a positive learning environment to meet their academic and social and emotional needs.”

Courtesy East Rockaway School District; compiled by Mike Smollins

September 2, 2021 — LYNBROOK/EAST ROCKAWAY HERALD

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Businesses still struggling to find staff CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE vated to work because they make more on unemployment; that some staff members who could not work during the pandemic found other jobs when businesses were forced to switch to takeout-only for three months; and that many people were initially scared to return to work amid the uncertainty brought on by the pandemic.

“We’re running with a short pool,” Fern said. “If someone wants a day off or someone isn’t feeling well, it’s hard for us to get people. So sometimes I put on a waiter or server hat just because we need to get it done.”

Fern said he had about 20 employees before the pandemic, but has lost several staff members. He added that the restaurant used to be open seven days a week, but because of the lack of wait staff, it is now closed on Mondays. He also noted that summer is typically a slower season for him, so the staff shortage has not affected him as badly as it would in the cold months, but he hopes to find a way to get fully staffed by fall and winter.

Fern added that he was unsure if a vaccine mandate for restaurant workers would be something he supports.

“It’s a slippery slope,” he said. “I think people need to do what they’re comfortable doing, but I don’t think people should be held prisoner for the people who don’t want to. I’m never a flu vaccine guy. I [received the Covid-19 vaccine] because I’m the face of this business, and I thought it was important to lead by example.”

Joel Juarez, the general manager at Il Luogo, at 159 Sunrise Highway, said the business has felt the impact of a staff shortage over the past three months and has tried to generate more help by posting listings on Indeed.com and other job sites. He said most people have not shown an interest in working in the restaurant business or have asked for too much money, and in turn, the business cannot serve as many customers as it used to.

“For dinners we used to take over 100 reservations,” he said, “and we have to keep that down now because we can’t handle that many people because we are short-staffed and can’t handle the bal-

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Photos courtesy Nazia DeFrankt

LYNBROOK CHAMBER OF Commerce Vice President Nazia DeFrank volunteered to wait tables (and shoot photos rather than appear in them) at Lynbrook Eats last month because it was one of many businesses dealing with staff shortages. Her children, from left, Adam, Steven and Deen (not pictured), visited, along with former Lynbrook Police Chief Joseph Neve. ance.”

DeFrank said she hoped to work with the Chamber of Commerce to continue to help businesses in town, and that her advice for those struggling to staff their eateries was to find ways to get creative.

“The businesses will have to come to a point where they will have to reinvent themselves, not the wheel,” she said.

“They will have to find ways to attract workers that will stay long-term and help them grow.”

LYNBROOK DEPUTY MAYOR Michael Hawxhurst, his wife, Shannon, far right, and their daughter, Nora Kane, also came by the eatery.

lynbrook/east rockaway ______

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MAIN PHONE: (516) 569-4000 ■ WEB SITE: www.liherald.com/lynbrook or www.liherald.com/eastrockaway ■ E-MAIl: Letters and other submissions: lyn-ereditor@liherald.com ■ EDITORIAl DEPARTMENT: Ext. 265 E-mail: lyn-ereditor@liherald.com Fax: (516) 569-4942 ■ SUBSCRIPTIONS: Press ”7” E-mail: circ@liherald.com Fax: (516) 569-4942

Infections as of Aug. 26

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■ DISPlAY ADVERTISING: Ext. 249 E-mail: sales@liherald.com Fax: (516) 569-4643 The lynbrook/East Rockaway Herald USPS 323040, is published every Thursday by Richner Communications, Inc., 2 Endo Blvd. Garden City, NY 11530. Periodicals postage paid at Garden City, NY 11530 and additional mailing offices. Postmaster send address changes to Lynbrook/East Rockaway Herald, 2 Endo Blvd. Garden City, NY 11530. Newsstand Price: $1 Subscription rates: $50 for 1 year within Nassau County. Out of Nassau County: $60 for 1 year. Copyright © 2021 Richner Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

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THE EAST ROCKAWAY Junior-Senior High School welcomed both upcoming seventh graders and new entrants through annual orientation days.

ERHS hosts orientation days addition, they also took part in a scavenger hunt building tour to learn about important locations and people.

Through the help of the PTA, the class of 2027 was provided prizes, positive messages and pizza.

Courtesy East Rockaway School District; compiled by Mike Smollins

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Friedberg JCC delivers Rosh Hashanah meals On the morning of Aug. 27, volunteers at the Barry and Florence Friedman Jewish Community Center (JCC) bagged and delivered 50 Rosh Hashanah packages to 46 individuals, couples, and families who are struggling with financial issues and food insufficiency or are isolated and/or in areas highly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The delivery of the ‘Sweet Baskets’ was a collaboration with the Gural JCC in Cedarhurst who provided the packages and their contents, which consisted of honey, challah, kasha mix, matzo ball mix, apples, honey cake, and more.

“It’s a mitzvah to do something like this,” volunteer Elizabeth Malmud said.

“People are still homebound, and the older people are extremely happy to see a face in person. It’s what we do.” She also helped during the Friedberg JCC’s deliv-

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“It’s a really important connection for people who are home even more now during the pandemic,” Pamela Jaffe, Director of Dementia Programs and Services at the JCC, said. “Because these people might have compromised immune systems or their families might be worried about their health, they may not be coming for the in-person programming that has slowly returned to the JCC, but they still know that they are remembered by this symbol of the Jewish community.”

Jaffe and Director of Social Services Gloria Lebeaux stressed the need to extend the JCC to meet the needs of its community members who have been greatly affected by the continued pandemic. Providing these ‘sweets’ can lift spirits for the holiday as many remain in isolation for health reasons.

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The East Rockaway School District’s upcoming seventh-graders and new entrants were welcomed to the East Rockaway Junior-Senior High School during their respective orientation days, which were held on Aug. 25 and 26.

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BACK SCHOOL classroom Beyond the

to

After-school activities The pros and cons of filling your kids’ schedule

By Emily Starbuck Gerson

W

hen Robyn Parets’ two boys were young, she was torn in numerous directions, running all over Boston to take them to extracurricular activities.

Like many parents, she thought her kids needed to be involved in as many activities as possible. But one day at her 7-year-old son Noah’s soccer game, she noticed he was more interested in pulling grass than actually kicking the ball.

“That was a lightbulb moment for me; my kid didn’t love it and he wasn’t good at it,” she says. “Sso why am I even knocking myself to get to those games?”

Since her kids were little, Parets has owned Pretzel Kids, a nationwide kids yoga company that trains adults to teach yoga to kids, so she knew the importance of mindfulness and stress management. Following that aha moment, she focused on guiding her kids to just one activity each that they both were good at and liked — not just what all the other kids were doing.

In recent decades, there’s been increasing pressure on parents to involve their children in extracurriculars. Part of it is the competitive nature of getting into schools and college these days. Another factor is the need for after-school care with today’s working family. There are certainly mental, physical and developmental benefits to being involved in after-school activities like sports or the arts, but overscheduling kids can also do more harm than good.

Keeping your kids so busy outside of school that they lack free time for play or rest can lead to stress, anxiety and depression, says Dr. Harpreet Kaur, a licensed clinical psychologist for kids and teens.

“I think parents feel this pressure to prepare their kids for academic success and make them competitive college applicants and make them successful for a job, but they often miss out on that unstructured playtime that provides some of the skills that kids need to be successful anyway,” she says.

Extracurriculars enrich development There are plenty of compelling reasons to have kids involved in extracurricular activities. Kaur says extracurriculars help improve the overall functioning of children.

Encourage positive habits: Kids do best when they have structure and routine, she says, and those involved in extracurriculars perform better academically and are more likely to finish high school. “These children engage more with their parents and are more active in their community,” Kaur says. “They’re also less likely to engage in drug use or other criminal activities.”

Help develop skills and interests: Jennifer Fink, a nurse-turned-freelance writer, the mother of four boys, says an extracurricular activity “gives children a chance to develop their skills, learn more about their interests and connect with others who may share the same passions they do.”

Foster time-management skills: Fink

After 3 p.m.

has found that getting involved in extracurriculars can also help teach the kids time management.

“Sometimes a kid wants to do a lot of different things, and it may look like too much to us,” she says. "There’s some value in letting them try it and see how it goes. If all of those things are really important to the kid, they may find a way to make it work and learn time management skills in the process — things like how to get your homework done even when you’re playing on a sports team and taking a dance class.”

The downside of overscheduling Unfortunately, overscheduling kids in too many extracurricular activities can take a toll on both the children and their parents, and it’s becoming increasingly common — an alarming trend that Kaur has observed in her practice.

Interrupts valuable unstructured playtime: Kaur says there’s simply not enough information out there about how valuable play is.“Unstructured playtime promotes social skill development, and kids develop problem-solving skills,” she says. “It allows them to be creative thinkers and develop assertiveness, and they learn how to cope with negative emotions.

Kaur says unstructured playtime has become so deprioritized that an American Academy of Pediatrics report recently encouraged pediatricians to prescribe play to help make it more common for children again.

Triggers stress, anxiety and depression: When kids are too overscheduled and stressed, they’re more prone to anxiety, irritability, tiredness and destructibility, Kaur says. She adds that rates of anxiety and depression are already somewhat high in the general adolescent population, and “overscheduling kids just makes those rates increase.”

Devise a realistic plan If your family feels hopelessly overbooked and overstressed, here’s the good

news: There’s a lot you can do to regain a sense of balance.

Create a visual schedule: Kaur recommends that parents create some sort of visual reminder of everything that’s going on, whether it’s a calendar or list of activities, and to color code it by family member. “If one person has too many things going on in their schedule, it’s easy to identify, and it helps families be more aware when they’re creating schedules."

Schedule downtime: Another way to help busy kids, Kaur says, is to schedule at least an hour a week for family time to relax and have quality interactions together. This could be anything from cooking or playing a game to watching a movie as a family, she says.

Practice moderation: While it’s tempting to have your child involved in a million activities in order to look like a stellar college applicant, Kaur says, pay attention to what the children value and where their interests are, and consider picking just one or two activities that are meaningful. It’s wise to focus on quality over quantity and schedule in moderation, Kaur says.

Celebrate kids’ differences and talents: Parets has noticed that many parents fear their kids being “different” from other kids if they aren’t involved in certain activities, and they worry that their kids won’t get into college if they aren’t involved in everything under the sun. But in her experience, tuning into your child’s true talent and nurturing it, even if it’s not the most popular extracurricular, makes them happier and healthier — and there are colleges that are happy to accept someone who shines at one thing rather than is simply involved in 10 things, she says.

Above photo: Afterschool and summer enrichment programs have been a consistent source of support to young people and families who have been juggling a disrupted school routine, dealing with the health and related stressors created by the pandemic and managing the toll that Covid-19 is taking on their overall well-being.

Thriving once that final school bell rings "School” can be defined in many different ways these days, which means the after-school benefits might speak louder to you than others. The simple point is that school is just different than what kids and teens are accustomed to in our post-pandemic “normal” — they’re learning from teachers differently, however that might be; they’re doing homework differently, however that might be; they’re being tested differently, they’ve been socializing differently, etc.

In our new normal, kids may be needing the benefits of an afterschool program more than ever as a result. From online homework to the afterschool routine, and more, there is a lot to consider, and a lot that afterschool actitivies can do in order to help.

A good afterschool program can turn the aimless hours after school into productive learning time. That’s a big benefit, especially for kids who learn and think differently.

Create a sense of belonging If the afterschool program isn’t run by your school district or a local facility, it may be a way for your child to make some new friends. Being away from school can offer a break from any usual cliques or social concerns.

If the program is local or at school, it enables your child to connect with peers in a new setting. Kids in afterschool programs are more likely to be included and feel like they’re part of a group. These programs often have more adult supervision than playground time offers.

Improve social skills A good program promotes cooperation, support, and respect. This can help kids feel more secure about joining a game or starting a conversation. And if they slip up, a sympathetic staffer should be on hand to remind them to take turns or stop interrupting.

Academic support Some afterschool programs provide classroom support, including an opportunity to do homework.

This time can be very helpful for kids who struggle with homework at home or who can’t sit down to do it until late. Getting it done after school can make everyone’s evening more pleasant.

Finding balance

7

“A lot of people see a list of all the great things that are being offered,” says Lee “and sign up for everything and then they realize it’s so unrealistic with their time constraints and all the schoolwork that they have.”That’s not good — as Newman notes, it’s no fun for kids “to have so many things that they have to drop out.”

An overload of extracurricular activities also doesn’t bring the perceived benefit a lot of parents and kids are looking for: a goodlooking college application. “What they’re really looking for is applicants who are well rounded and have focus. You can see they are pursuing a goal and they really like what they are doing,” Newman says.“And not just dipping their hand in this and that and the next thing so they can fill out more lines on the application.”

T

By Harry Kimball he vast array of extracurricular activities offered to school-age children can be a headache for kids and parents both. They can help kids develop talents and passions and learn how to push themselves. And, of course, we want them to look like well-rounded, accomplished kids to college admissions committees. But we don’t want to run them ragged or turn them into stressed-out automatons. Even parents of young children,are feeling the pressure.

After school activities have also stepped in to supplant the unsupervised “free time” we’re no longer comfortable allowing our children to have, says Rachel Cortese, a speech-language pathologist and former New York City schoolteacher. And there is a consensus that children should have the opportunity to experiment with a variety of activities in well-delineated blocks — ”structured free time,” as it is called.

But how much should parents push their kids to engage — and how much is too much?

The benefits In general, says Cortese,“kids tend to do really well when they have structure, and part of that structure is having an afterschool schedule.” Educational and learning specialist Ruth Lee also extols some well-known benefits of getting kids together outside of the classroom for more activities — especially the physical kind.

“It gives kids social interactions,” she says, at the same time helping them “get out some of their energy so they can settle and go back to their work” after school. This is particularly important, she notes, as schools are cutting back on recess more and more.

For older kids, after-school activities can be very important as protection against more dangerous activities, says clinical psychologist Dr. Mary Rooney — particularly if parents are busy at work or with other children.“Once kids get into middle school and high school,” she says, “the hour or two after school is the highest risk time for dangerous behaviors like substance abuse, because

it’s the largest chunk of time when kids are unmonitored.”

And of course, more recreational activities outside of school, whether its sports, dance, theater, science, give kids another arena to demonstrate competence and mastery, which is important for their self-esteem and identity development —especially for kids who might be struggling in school.

The drawbacks But what about overscheduling? It is not to be taken lightly, says Dr. Susan Newman, a social psychologist and author of, among many others,“The Case for the Only Child.”

For one thing, Newman warns that mastery might suffer. “If you are spreading yourself too thin you’re not going to be able to focus and get really good at one thing.”

The school-life balance How many activities are too many? “Seven,” jokes clinical psychologist Dr. Jerry Bubrick. But really, it’s too much when afterschool activities start interfering with a child’s life. Bubrick notes that in the case of intensive commitments like sports or theater, even one activity can be too much.

Bubrick has a pretty simple calculus for how much is too much.“Can you still do your homework? Can you still get 8+ hours of sleep each night? Can you still be a part of your family? Can you still hang out with your friends? If the answer is ‘no’ to one or more of these, then it’s too much.”

Back to school: What’s a parent to do?

Know your child. “Kids come to us with different predispositions,” Cortese says, and the best activity “depends on the individual child.” And when it comes to scheduling, kids respond better to different kinds of structure. “One kid who is highly scheduled might do very well and another might need to dial it back,” says Cortese.

Courtey Child Mind Institute Above photos: Kids have lots of options these days, but an overscheduled child can go from busy to burned out in no time.

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LYNBROOK/EAST ROCKAWAY HERALD — September 2, 2021

Helping kids choose extracurricular activities that work for them, without the stress

September 2, 2021 — LYNBROOK/EAST ROCKAWAY HERALD

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EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

COMMUNITY UPDATE Ongoing

pher Christodoulou NYPD and Det. Russel Timoshenko. Contact Chris Denker at 516599-2708 or cmdenker@optonline.net.

VFW Thrift Shop in East Rockaway Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3350 in East Rockaway has launched its Veterans’ Thrift Shop. The post is at 164 Main St. Due to the pandemic, the store’s schedule varies, but members are trying to open daily, including Sundays. For thrift shop information and hall rentals, call the post at (516) 887-8170, and ask for Pat, Gary, Tony or Gene.

Wednesday, Oct. 13 Lynbrook Board of Education The Lynbrook Board of Education will host its next meeting at 7:30 p.m. at Lynbrook High School, 9 Union Ave., Lynbrook. Virtual meetings can be found at lynbrookschools.org.

Thursday, Sept. 2 Back to School in East Rockaway Students in the East Rockaway School District return to school.

Wednesday, Sept. 8 Lynbrook Library Book Club Meet with others to discuss the monthly book selection at 56 Eldert St.

Thursday, Sept. 9

HAVING AN EVENT?

Back to School in Lynbrook Students in the Lynbrook Public Schools return to school.

Saturday, Sept. 11 9/11 Memorial Ceremony Lynbrook is hosting its annual 9/11 memorial service to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks fo Sept. 11, 2001. The event is set for 8 p.m. at Memorial Park behind Village Hall, 1 Columbus Drive. Plans for East Rockaway’s ceremony were not available on the village’s website at press time.

Courtesy Town of Hempstead

Lynbrookite S.T.O.P.s pollution Lynbrook resident Michael Morahan, right, participated in the Town of Hempstead’s Stop Throwing Out Pollutants (S.T.O.P.) program on Aug. 15 at the town’s Department of Public Works. The program enables residents to dispose of harmful pollutants in a safe and environmentally friendly manner. Above, Morahan with Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin.

Monday, Sept. 13 East Rockaway Village Board Meeting The East Rockaway mayor and village board will host its next meeting at 7 p.m. at 376 Atlantic Ave., preceded by a work session. Vist villageofeastrockaway.net or call (516) 887-6300 for more information.

l l l l l

Lynbrook Village Board Meeting The Lynbrook mayor and village board of trustees will host its next meeting at Village Hall, 1 Columbus Drive, at 7 p.m. It will also be streamed virtually. Visit lynbrookvillage.net or call (516) 599-8300 for more information.

Tuesday, Sept. 14

Sunday, Sept. 19

East Rockaway Board of Education

St. Mary’s/Maris Stella Communion Breakfast

The East Rockaway Board of Education will host its next meeting at 7 p.m. at East Rockaway Junior-Senior High School, 443 Ocean Ave. Live stream recordings will be posted at eastrockawayschools.org.

The East Rockaway VFW’s thrift shop is open for business.

School is back in session in early September.

Villages are set to host 9/11 memorial ceremonies.

Lynbrook, E.R. village boards meet on Sept. 13.

The East Rockaway school board meets on Sept. 14.

The day starts with a 9 a.m. mass at Our Lady of Lourdes in Malverne before moving to the Lynbrook Knights of Columbus at 78 Hempstead Ave. The mass and breakfast are in memory of Sgt. Christo-

Items on the Community Update pages are listed free of charge.

The Herald welcomes listings of upcoming events, community meetings and items of public interest.

All submissions should include date, time and location of the event, cost, and a contact name and phone number. Submissions can be emailed to msmollins@liherald.com

9

NEIGHBORS IN THE NEWS The East Rockaway School District recently welcomed 19 new staff members to the district for the 2021-22 school year. At the end of August, they participated in the district’s annual new teacher orientation in preparation for their journey as members of the East Rockaway family.

During the orientation, teachers learned the district’s practices, initiatives, curriculum overview and expectations through a series of workshops.

They also met with administrators and directors.

LYNBROOK/EAST ROCKAWAY HERALD — September 2, 2021

E.R. schools welcome new staff East Rockaway’s new staff members include Kirsten Anderson, Jeremy Brandel, Emily Brostowin, Heather Bolanos, Molly Butler, Dame Forbes, Alexis Freudenberg, Fernando Gomez, Jana Guber, Valentino Grayson, Gary Gregory, Ann Ker ner, Alison King, Megan Librizzi, Rebecca Mantle, Kallen McNoble, Sheila Olsen, Joseph Polite and Estefany Toribio.

Courtesy East Rockaway School District; compiled by Mike Smollins

EAST ROCKAWAY HIGH School senior Matthew Pollackov has been selected as a Long Island Scholar Artist in the area of media arts for the 2021-22 school year.

All photos Courtesy East Rockaway School District

POLLACKOV WAS SELECTED based on these works.

Student named a scholar artist dents who excel academically and in the areas of either music, visual arts, dance, theater or media arts.

Courtesy East Rockaway School District; compiled by Mike Smollins

Your Neighbor, Your Realtor The Long Island Housing Market continues to thrive.

If you have questions about your home’s current value, please contact me for a complimentary market analysis.

As your neighbor, I know the worth of our wonderful area, as your realtor I have the expertise to guide you through your next move.

Christine Nappi

Licensed Real Estate Salesperson

O 516.307.9406 | M 917.751.0261 christine.nappi@elliman.com

Leading Edge Award Recipient* elliman.com

110 WALT WHITMAN ROAD, HUNTINGTON STATION, NY 11746. 631.549.7401. © 2021 DOUGLAS ELLIMAN REAL ESTATE. ALL MATERIAL PRESENTED HEREIN IS INTENDED FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY. WHILE THIS INFORMATION IS BELIEVED TO BE CORRECT, IT IS REPRESENTED SUBJECT TO ERRORS, OMISSIONS, CHANGES OR WITHDRAWAL WITHOUT NOTICE. ALL PROPERTY INFORMATION, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO SQUARE FOOTAGE, ROOM COUNT, NUMBER OF BEDROOMS AND THE SCHOOL DISTRICT IN PROPERTY LISTINGS SHOULD BE VERIFIED BY YOUR OWN ATTORNEY, ARCHITECT OR ZONING EXPERT. EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY. *AT DOUGLAS ELLIMAN REAL ESTATE, 2020.

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Courtesy East Rockaway School District

THE EAST ROCKAWAY School District recently hosted its annual new teacher orientation to welcome new staff members to the community.

East Rockaway High School senior Matthew Pollackov has been selected as a Long Island Scholar Artist in the area of media arts for the 2021-22 school year through the Long Island Arts Alliance.

The program annually recognizes stu-

Richner hosts vaccine clinic for employees

By JORDAN VALLONE jvallone@liherald.com

Covid-19 vaccinations are now being administered at businesses, thanks to a new initiative by the Nassau County Department of Health.

On Aug. 27, Richner Communications Inc., parent company of Herald Community Newspapers, hosted a pop-up vaccination clinic at the company’s Garden City office in conjunction with the county-sponsored initiative — referred to by county officials as the “traveling vaccine pod.”

Nassau County communications specialist Vicki DiStefano said many people around the county still do not know where and how to get vaccinated. The new program — which brings vaccines directly to businesses for “in-house” vaccination — quickly grew in popularity, according to DiStefano. Covid infection rates have recently been on the rise in Nassau, hovering around 4 percent.

Interested RCI employees, as well as eligible friends and family, received their first doses of the Moderna vaccine. The second dose will be administered at the RCI office on Sept. 24. If employees had already received their first dose of the Moderna vaccine, they were also able to receive their second shot at the pop-up site.

“In Nassau County, 86.7 percent of adults 18 and older are vaccinated,” County Executive Laura Curran told the Herald, making Nassau the leading county in the state for vaccinations, and third in the country among large counties with a population of 1 million people or more.

The first business vaccination pod took place at Café Baci in Westbury on Aug. 3. “Since then, dozens of businesses have reached out to us,” Curran said, adding that officials have seen a solid uptick in the vaccination rate

Sue Grieco/Herald

AT A TRAVELING vaccination clinic hosted by Nassau County at the Herald Community Newspapers’ office in Garden City last Friday, nurse Jeanne Ost injected RCI pressman Richard Maitland with the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. since the program’s start.

“With the Delta variant, we want to get everyone vaccinated,” Curran explained.

The pods are run by health department nurses, all of whom have been on the front lines of vaccine administration since earlier this year.

Pod manager and nurse Holly Marrano said, “We’re bringing the vaccine to local businesses to make it more

convenient for people to get vaccinated.”

“We are making this as easy as possible — no excuses,” Curran said. “No business is too big or too small.”

Any business interested in participating in the program and hosting a vaccine clinic for employees can reach out to the county health department at (516) 2279570, Monday through Friday.

Among the RCI employees who were vaccinated was Richard Maitland, 46, of Rockaway, Queens. Maitland has been working as a pressman for the company for nine years.

“I’ve been watching the news and seeing what’s going on,” Maitland said. “I’m seeing that it’s the unvaccinated that are transmitting the virus.”

Saying he was never against the vaccine, he thought getting it now was the right thing to do with the infection rate on the rise, and especially since the vaccination pod made it so convenient.

“No one is safe, and I don’t want to be that carrier who gets someone sick,” he added, calling to the Delta variant “round two” of the coronavirus.

“I don’t want to be part of the problem,” Maitland said. “I want to be part of the solution.”

That solution, according to Curran, is to vaccinate as many people as possible.

Covid-19 vaccines are not 100 percent effective in preventing the disease; however, county officials are finding that those who are vaccinated and do test positive for Covid are less likely to end up with a severe case that results in hospitalization.

Pod nurse Camille Laudando said the traveling vaccine clinic is all about “community outreach” and is the “definition of public health.”

“The vaccine is the most effective way to prevent Covid,” Curran said. “Our residents understand the value of the vaccine.”

BEST WISHES Don Clavin

Town of Hempstead Supervisor

FOR A

SHANA TOVA

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September 2, 2021 — LYNBROOK/EAST ROCKAWAY HERALD

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Paid for by Friends of Don Clavin

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Become a member. Volunteer. Donate.

Contact our office or visit our Thrift Shop 342 Central Avenue, Lawrence 11559 516-569-3660 / office@NCJWPeninsula.org

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May we continue to enrich and protect the lives of women, children and families in our community and in Israel as we have for 85 years.

As we begin 5782, one of the most important tasks you can accomplish is to get vaccinated against Covid-19. This is the way we can protect others as well as ourselves, and return to the activities we love.

Christina Daly/Herald

Lynbrook Library seeks historical recognition CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE for historical landmark status, the mayor noted. “It is a very technical process requiring extensive research,” Beach said.

According to Gilloon, the process could take about one year. Beach said he is hopeful, though, of the library’s chances of passing, because village historian Art Mattson is involved and was successful in having the Rockville Cemetery and Bristol and Mexico Monument landmarked five years ago. The 18-foot marble obelisk pays homage to the victims of a pair of shipwrecks, which killed 215 mostly Irish immigrants off Long Island in 1836 and 1837.

The library has been a vital community resource for decades and has survived through many obstacles and changes, including those brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. While it was required to

close at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the facility, at 56 Eldert St., has expanded its collection of eBooks, downloadable audio and magazines, while offering many programs, such as crafts and story time.

The library has returned to more normal operations in the last few months, enabling patrons to browse in person and take part in numerous events while also allowing them to explore the library’s offerings virtually.

“Landmark status will bring pride to the community and prestige to the library,” Beach said. “Moreover, it could make the library eligible for historic preservation grants.”

The grants could help keep the library intact, preserving its value and history.

Beach urged community members to assist in the historic research to gain historic status for the library.

The Lynbrook Chamber of Commerce is wishing friends, family and the community a Happy New Year

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VILLAGE OFFICIALS ARE seeking historical landmark status for the 92-year-old Lynbrook Public Library.

Candidate For Town of Hempstead Supervisor – Bringing Common Sense Change to the Town of Hempstead

May the Year 5782 Bring Renewed Health and Sweetness to our World!

Central Synagogue - Beth Emeth 430 DeMott Avenue, Rockville Centre

Join us for the High Holy Days

Contact 516-766-4300 for more information.

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Rosh Hashanah begins Monday Evening, September 6th.

Services available in person and in hybrid format.

Covod-19 protocols in place.

Pre-registration required.

Wishing The Community A Healthy and Sweet New Year

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www.electjasonabelove.com

LYNBROOK/EAST ROCKAWAY HERALD — September 2, 2021

National Council of Jewish Women Peninsula Section wishes you a Happy and Healthy New Year.

ROSH HASHANAH MESSAGE

Approach challenges with your best self this New Year The Jewish community will be celebrating our New Year, Rosh Hashanah, on Sept. 7 and 8.

As was the case last year, this movement into a new season is a very welcome transition — it has been another challenging year. The great hope that Covid-19 was in the throes of defeat was dashed by the emergence of the Delta variant. In many ways, this year was even more emotionally difficult than before. We arrive at this moment with an understandable eagerness to move forward and to not look back. To keep putting one foot in front of the other, looking straight ahead, trying to just withstand the tempest until the storm waters recede and the rainbow illuminates the sky, finally marking the end of this plague.

But Jewish tradition encourages a different approach to the New Year. In fact, the literal definition of the Hebrew term Rosh Hashanah is “head of the year.”

One understanding of the phraseology is that the concept of the New Year can be viewed as a head which has the ability to gaze both backward and forward. Indeed, traditional texts teach that it is crucial to look backward in order to gain the

insights necessary to most effectively and Caesar, keep his most precious wine in simple clay vessels?” She responded, thoughtfully move forward.

To the Jewish people, New Year’s Day “Why, yes he does.” The rabbi said, “You, is not merely a festive, celebratory day, who are so important should rather put your most treasured beverages in silver but it is actually considered, “The Day of and gold containers.”

Judgment.” It is a time when So, she went home and we are instructed to be in a told her father to put all of state of self-reflection in his wine in gold vessels. Caeorder to prime ourselves for sar followed his daughter’s personal growth. Despite the instructions and the wine reluctance to look back, parended up oxidizing and ticularly in ugly times, we going sour. He then asked are challenged to try and her who told her to do this, peel back the layers of darkand she let him know that it ness and find the seeds of was the homely rabbi, whom light within ourselves and Caesar then summoned. within the world which can abbi When the rabbi arrived, Caeserve as the basis for future aviD eRneR sar asked him why he did elevation. what he did. The rabbi There is a story in the responded, “To demonstrate Talmud of a Rabbi in Roman times who was approached by Caesar’s that sometimes the finest material is best daughter after she heard him relate a held in the lowliest of vessels.”

We, as a society, have gone through brilliantly insightful teaching. Now this rabbi happened not to be the most pleas- another incredibly challenging year. We antly looking fellow, and so she asked have experienced much loss, isolation him, “How can such glorious wisdom be and emotional strain. But we understand contained in such an ugly vessel?” The that an essential part of the human conrabbi responded to her with another dition is that the amount by which we question. He asked, “Does your father, can grow is directly proportional to the

D

R

Wishing you a happy and a sweet New Year Friday September 10

Monday September 6 Erev Rosh Hashana Candle Lighting: 7:01pm

Wednesday September 15

Candle Lighting: 7:06pm Shabbos Ends: 8:13pm

Tuesday September 7

Candle Lighting: 8:00pm Rosh Hashana ends on Wednesday at 8:07pm

Lerner is a rabbi at Congregation B’nai Sholom-Beth David in Rockville Centre.

- 5782 -

Happy New Year

Shabbat and the High Holy Days Friday September 3

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degree of struggle we face. While not minimizing the harm caused by this seemingly endless pandemic, ugly vessels can contain very precious gifts. As we look back over this past year, where did we shine? Where did we step up? And, where did we miss the mark? How do we not merely try to weather the storm, but challenge ourselves to grow in the process? How can we expand this perspective to lift up those around us as well?

This pandemic has dragged on for so long, but we must not let it sour us in the process. It is my hope and prayer that we can still see the beauty in all of this ugliness. Because in this world, and in all of us, is a spark of the divine. This coming year, we should witness the end of Covid19 as a threat to our well being, but while it is still with us, let us honestly ask ourselves if we are confronting this challenge with the best versions of ourselves.

Let us all strive to make this world better for this coming year. L’Shanah Tovah U’Metukah — To a happy and sweet New Year.

L’Shanah Tovah From the Staff of the

Candle Lighting: 6:54pm Shabbos Ends: 8:02pm Erev Yom Kippur (Kol Nidre) Candle Lighting: 6:46pm Yizkor on Thursday Yom Kippur ends on Thursday at 7:53pm

Far Rockaway times from White Shul

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Stuart Richner Publisher

Scott Brinton Ed Weintrob • Editor and Publisher

Executive Editor

Rhonda Glickman V.P. Sales

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September 2, 2021 — LYNBROOK/EAST ROCKAWAY HERALD

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Sept.9th Courtesy Steve Grogant

LYNBROOK WILL COMMEMORATE the 20th anniversary of 9/11 on Sept. 11 at 8 p.m.

Members of the Lynbrook Fire Department’s color guard stood next to a piece of steel recovered from the World Trade Center at a previous ceremony.

Village to host 9/11 ceremony

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Plans for East Rockaway’s ceremony were not available on the village’s website at press time and requests for comment were not returned.

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Lynbrook will host its annual 9/11 memorial service to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks fo Sept. 11, 2001, on Sept. 11.

The event is set for 8 p.m. at Memorial Park behind Village Hall, 1 Columbus Drive. It will feature a moment of silence,

LYNBROOK/EAST ROCKAWAY HERALD — September 2, 2021

BACK

HERALD HERALD

NURSES

MEDICAL Covid-19 Covid-19 PROFESSIONALS

MOUNT SINAI HEART CARE, WITHOUT THE COMMUTE. You can can get get quality quality heart heart care care without without going going to to You Manhattan or or the the North North Shore.

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CLAIRE FIONA DESETTO MARREN ROCKVILLE CENTRE

MALVERNE Director, Peri-Operative Nursing student, & Emergency Services, Boston College Mercy Medical Center

I

have been dreamed a nurse at of Mercy Hospitala for almost 've always becoming nurse.

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I hopeThe thatstaff through nervouspeople as we can prepared theand appropriate study, kind with of see investigate [personal equipment]. so with the this. that thereprotective are different ways toAnd cope crisis began atthe Mercy Hospital.

ICovid-19 started researching subject about three As ago. the crisis peaked, my Emergency Department years staffI was wereselected workingas incredible hours, movingfrom from one of 11 students one sickHeart patient to another.

They were dealingour with Sacred who were invited to present patients who came in talking and within hours research at the Association of Psychological were on ventilators.

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Working these remarkableand menhappy and shock to me.alongside I was just so surprised woman truly work an inspiration that all was my hard paid off.to me . . . I could seeFor themy fearresearch, in their eyes, but they just went I worked online with where they were needed most and they did what 99 nursing and education students at they do best to give the best care to our sickest Molloy College.

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I wouldassigned talk dailyto with my daughter, who randomly a “controllable” or is also an ER nurse atstressor another condition, facility. We would “uncontrollable” and I talk aboutwhat PPE and how amazing all nurses have analyzed each student experienced been. We talked fearI of this throughout the about schoolthe year. gotbringing to work disease with homeDr. with us and toMoore, our families.

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Association.

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Instead, I passed on myof a lifetime.

I always knew that nurses were amazing study on to another Sacred Heart student who people and true front-line workers, but it tookthe was interested in the subject to continue Covid-19 to let the world know the same. research.

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HERALD HOMETOWN HERO

LUZ OTEROKAREN CALDERON

GLEASON BALDWIN Licensed Practical Chief Quality Officer Nurse, Mount Sinai St. John's Episcopal South Nasau Hospital

T M

he ore hospital, along with theKaren TownGleason than 30 years ago, of Hempstead, created this project, was a bedside nurse performing thethe tasks Vaxmobile, to bring vaccines to different related to patient care.

“I always had a communities in Nassau We areand several passion for patients andCounty. their families, LPNs, and ofmy allcareer of them, they chose metotohelp be throughout I always wanted an interpreter for the community. drive improvement forHispanic our patients and their Every day can assure51,you more families,” saidI Gleason, as that she sat at than her 50 to“Throughout 60 percent ofthe patients desk. years,are as ISpanishbegan my speaking.

Many of theasHispanics workproviding in career, I realized that I know I was restaurants which to they our patients and withother greatplaces care, Iinwanted lead cannot takelevel a day offdrive to get a vaccine. I keep at a higher and improvement across pestering them toand bring people. the organization, that led meFor toexample, a role in a cook came up to me, and we gave him the administration.” vaccine.

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“While I might not have directthey one-onknow any English, do notI know how to one impact with ourthey patients, that I’m write. I love what I do. making a difference every day for our patients, came from Puerto Rico years ago, and theIhospital at-large and our20community.”

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In align the same role helps me strategically the way that people helpedand mevision when with I gotquality here, soand to hospital’s mission pay back life, Ialways help others. patient safety at the forefront,” she said.

For the past year-plus Gleason’s team has reported all the Covid-related data, including number of cases, patients and supplies.

HERALD HOMETOWN HERO

LUZ USMAN OTEROCALDERON KHAN, MD

BALDWIN EAST MEADOW Enfermera práctica con Dir. of Geriartic licencia en Mount Sinai Medicine South Nassau Glen Cove Hospital

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Aparte dethe serpandemic enfermera,did yobring doy latomano I think our extra porque muchos no sabenofusar el teléfono, attention the importance having close ofno saben su número de teléfono, noinsaben nada care conversations and knowing advance de Inglés, saben escribir. what your no patient wishes are, how they want encanta lo que Yo vine de Puerto theirMe care to be met.

Wehago. realized it’s important Rico hace 20 años, y no hablaba Inglés. the Yo to have these conversations, not during teníawhen un miedo terrible y mucha mebut time you are severely ill andgente scared, ayudó.times Me frustré quewith hasta cogíitclases, during when tanto you are it and stable hice miltocosas, mildecision lugares,about cogiendo enough cometrabajé up withenthe mi bachillerato todo. la misma what you wouldylike.

WeDehave made manera it a habit, queany a mí me ayudaron cuando aquí, for patient that comes to thellegué emergency entonces paraCove pagarle para atrás a lathat vida, yo room at Glen Hospital, to have ayudo a los demás. conversation so we can document it and fill out the paperwork so the patient can share it with their family and primary care doctor. No one should rely on others to make decisions for them.

HERALD HOMETOWN HOMETOWN HERO HERO HERALD

9

OCEANSIDE/ISLAND PARK HERALD — May 27, 2021

September 2, 2021 — LYNBROOK/EAST ROCKAWAY HERALD

14

15

HOST

LYNBROOK/EAST ROCKAWAY HERALD — September 2, 2021

PRESENTS

FREE LIVE WEBINAR

LIVING 50-plus HEALTH + WEALTH + SELF A Three Part Webinar Series

Eric Feil Herald Community Newspapers

SPEAKERS

WHAT EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW 10 STEPS TO A BETTER RETIREMENT

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 • 6PM Bernard Macias Associate State Director Long Island AARP New York

REGISTER www.LIHerald.com/Wealth CAN’T MAKE THE LIVE WEBINAR? REGISTER AND YOU’LL RECEIVE THE RECORDING! To sponsor a webinar or for more information contact Amy Amato at aamato@liherald.com or 516.569.4000 x224

Constantina Papageorgiou Local Attorney 1142792

Today we are living more active and engaged lives 20 to 30 years longer than our grandparents did. This takes more financial resources. It’s no surprise, then, that one of the things we fear most is outliving our money.

The time has come to change the conversation — or in many cases, start one — about preparing financially for our later years!

Learn about Wills & Trusts, Estate Planning, Medicare & Medicaid, Long Term Care Insurance plus more.

Ronald Fatoullah Local Attorney

September 2, 2021 — LYNBROOK/EAST ROCKAWAY HERALD

16

Relationships 101 The basic principles of relationships are best learned when you’re just a baby. They’re taught by example, honed by repetition and absorbed into your bloodstream as you interact with others who live by the principles day in and day out.

principles while growing up in a welleducated family in a beautiful home in the Five Towns. Clearly, neither money nor formal education is the decisive factor.

• treat one another with kindness

M a r c i e , h o w e v e r, lear ned the principles only years after she was a full grown adult. Hence, they have special mean-

• listen to one another respectfully

ing for her today.

The principles are simple. They are:

• pay attention to what people are telling you - directly and indirectly

• When a friend says a kind word to her, she feels goosebumps on her arms.

And since you are one of the people in the relationship, you must also • treat yourself with kindness

• When her spouse responds affectionately to her request, she feels elated.

• speak to one another respectfully

• listen to yourself respectfully • speak to yourself respectfully • pay attention to what you are telling yourself Eli learned the principles of relationshipwhile growing up in a crowded apartment in a poor neighborhood in Brooklyn. Jimmy learned the

Person to Person

linda S

• When her child asks for her opinion and listens to what she says, she blinks away tears.

It still seems somewhat of a miracle to her that when she expresses an opinion, she isn’t told how selfish, stupid or bad she is. Or doesn’t get bullied, shamed or blamed for her thoughts.

Have a great story?

Call our editors today 516-569-4000 or email msmollins@liherald.com

www.liherald.com

Public Notices

LLYN1 0902

LEGAL NOTICE INCORPORATED VILLAGE OF EAST ROCKAWAY NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a public hearing will be held by the Board of Trustees of the Incorporated Village of East Rockaway on Monday, September 13, 2021 at 7:00 PM at 376 Atlantic Avenue, East Rockaway, New York, to introduce the following proposed local law:

Proposed Local Law #6 of 2021 - amending Village Code Chapter 194. The above proposed local law may be inspected in the office of the Village Clerk at Village Hall, 376 Atlantic Avenue, East Rockaway, New York, seven (7) days before the hearing, during regular office hours, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.

All interested persons shall have an opportunity to be heard at the time and

place aforesaid.

BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES of the Incorporated Village of East Rockaway, New York.

Patricia Renner Village Clerk-Treasurer August 30, 2021 127306

PUBLIC AND LEGAL NOTICES… Printed in this publication can be found online. To search by publication name, go to: www.newyorkpublicnotices.com

When you adhere to the basic principles of relationships, will discord and dissension be a thing of the past?

Sorry, that only happens in fairy tales. In real life, when people bump up against each other, there’ll be conflict. When people disagree on a matter, there’ll be tension and discord.

But conflict doesn’t need to lead to warfare!

Clashes don’t need to end in character assassination! Hostilities don’t need to end in humiliation! Disagreements can be resolved. Compromises can be made.

So, next time your apadin spouse disappoints you, remember the most fundamental principles of relationships. Instead of screaming at him (or her), calling him names, blaming her for what’s gone wrong, tell him respectfully how you experienced what he did and what’s bothering you.

Next time your teen treats you disrespectfully, instead of getting into a tug of war, drop the rope! Don’t be

PUBLIC AND LEGAL NOTICES… Printed in this publication can be found online. To search by publication name, go to: www.newyorkpublicnotices.com TO PLACE AND AD CALL 516-569-4000 x 232 PUBLIC AND LEGAL NOTICES… Printed in this publication can be found online. To search by publication name, go to: www.newyorkpublicnotices.com TO PLACE AND AD CALL 516-569-4000 x 232

bullied into doing what she wants you to do. Instead, tell her you’ll be happy to converse with her on this matter as soon as she can speak to you respectfully.

It’s easy to slide down the slippery slope to being mean when someone disappoints you. You blame them, treat them poorly, then make excuses to justify your own behavior.

But now that you know the basic principles of relationships, I trust that you, dear reader, will do your best to avoid sinking down to the lowest common denominator even if “he deserved it” or “I didn’t start it.”

Instead, you’ll pay attention to the soft voice inside of you that’s whispering, “there’s gotta be a better way for us to get along.” ©2021 Linda Sapadin, Ph.D., psychologist, coach and author specializes in helping people overcome procrastination and debilitating anxiety and fear. Contact her at DrSapadin@aol.com. Visit her websites www.BeatProcrastinationCoach.com and www.PsychWisdom.com.

Nothing: to write home about Last week I awoke at 3 a.m., ventured into the living room and sat still for about an hour doing … nothing.

Doing nothing … watching nothing … hearing nothing … texting nothing.

There was nothing on TV. Nothing on the (finally) smartphone, nothing on the Me (I mean, I) pad and nothing on the computer to receive (or delete). Nothing to repair, replace or remove. Nothing to assemble, nothing to order, nothing to answer, nothing to question.

Unique to the moment, there was nothing to comment on, nothing to complain about, nothing to on report and nothing to laugh at. Nothing to move, nothing to stop, nothing to encourage, nothing to criticize.

Straight ahead was nothing to catch, nothing to fear and nothing to worry about. On either side was nothing to dodge, nothing to correct, nothing to decide, nothing to ignore and nothing to contradict. (And nothing personal.)

A quick glance behind me revealed … nothing. Nothing broken. Nothing serios, nothing lacking, nothing distracting, nothing annoying.

I suddenly realized that nothing was ventured and nothing was gained; that nothing was doing and, for a change, I had nothing to say and nothing to do, with nothing to lose and nothing to hide.

Fo r t h at b r i e f instant, nothing was threatening, nothing was depressing and nothing was scheduled.

Yup, I had nothing on my mind, nothing going on, nothing happening, nothing to oldman start and nothing to finish. Nothing was standing in my way, and nothing was going to get (pr put me) down or set me back.

Indeed nothing was left to keep up, so I headed back to bed suddenly aware that nothing, absolutely nothing was really … Something?

Unreserved Judgment

R G

© Ron Goldman 2021

17

Employment

CLASSIFIED

To pLACE your AD CALL 516-569-4000 - press 5

Fax your ad to: 516-622-7460 E-mail you ad to: ereynolds@liherald.com E-mail Finds Under $100 to: sales@liherald.com DEADLINE: Monday, 11:00 am for all classified ads.

Every effort is made to insure the accuracy of your ad. Please check your ad at the first insertion. Credit will be made only for the first insertion. Credit given for errors in ads is limited to the printed space involved. Publisher reserves right to reject, cancel or correctly classify and ad.

School Monitors Part Time $15.00/Hour. 17 ½ to 25 Hours/Week.

an equal Opportunity employer

Immediate Openings Available Elementary School Nurse

Starting Immediately!

Candidates must hold a NYS Registered Professional Nurse License CPR Certification required

TRAINED SURVEYORS

1140833

Malverne UFSD Office of Human Resources 301 Wicks Lane, Malverne, NY 11565 or Call 516-887-6419

Candidates must hold a High School or College Diploma $125 Daily

Malverne Union Free School District is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Rockville centRe UFSD

Classroom Aides Noon Aides Substitute Noon Aides

Seeking CandidateS for the following poSitionS:

Candidates must hold a High School Diploma

wanted in small firm with large opportunity to advance. Applicants must be career oriented with excellent work ethic, attention to detail and the desire to become licensed. Work directly for licensed Land Surveyor. Experience with Total Stations, RTK GPS and Civil 3D software a big plus.

Salary commensurate with experience. ra@aksurveyors.com 516-678-9610

Eldercare Offered ELDERCARE OFFERED/ HOUSEKEEPER AVAILABLE

Caring Reliable Person For All Elderly Needs. Own Transportation.

Carol 516-316-9281

HERALD

Part time teacher Aides at South Side High School Salary: $15.00 per hour

All positions require fingerprint clearance

If you need care from your relative, friend/ neighbor and you have Medicaid, they may be eligible to start taking care of you as a personal assistant under NYS Medicaid CDPA Program. No Certificates needed.

Phone: 347-713-3552

Applications may be picked up at:

Per Diem Substitute Teachers

$18.50 NYC, $17 L.I., up to $13.50 Upstate NY!

1140773

Malverne UFSD Long Island, New York

vaLLeY StReam ufSD tHiRteeN

Homes Real estate

OHEL CHILDREN’S HOME AND FAMILY SERVICES F/T & P/T work with individuals with developmental disabilities

Medical Escort: 8am-1pm, DSP: 3pm-11pm & Overnight Community Habilitation & Respite Positions

855-OHEL-JOB, www.ohelfamily.org/careers EMPLOYMENT Help Wanted $18.50 NYC, $17 L.I. up to $13.50 Upstate NY! If you need care from your relative, friend/ neighbor and you have Medicaid, they may be eligible to start taking care of you as personal assistant under NYS Medicaid CDPA Program. No Certificates needed. 347-713-3553

A P P O I N T M E N T C O O R D I N AT O R WANTED for Franklin Square Dentist.

Must be Friendly Customer Focused, Organized. Dentrix Knowledge Preferred. Call 516-605-8934

CLEANER NEEDED PART-TIME 17 hours a week/ $15 an hour Call or email clubin@lakeviewlibrary.org 516-536-3071

1142100

IVERS BUS DR TED WAN NEW

IN BRIEF Coach Realtors Of Hewlett Welcomes Janice Sweet

DoN’T MISS The Bus!

STARTING SAlARIES Big Bus Van

$26.18/hr.

1142008

H.S. Diploma or equivalent, must drive, speak and write English. $15-$18/hr. Excellent benefit package.

letter of interest and resume to: Mr. John Murphy Principal of South Side High School jmurphy@rvcschools.org

CODE ENFORCEMENT P/T. Person Wanted For 19 1/2 Hours Per Week. Must Have Valid NYS Driver License And Be Willing To Work Weekends. Interested Parties Please Submit Resume To Inc. Village Of East Rockaway, PO Box 189, East R o c k a w a y, N Y 1 1 5 1 8 O r C a l l 516-887-6300

COMPANION w/ Elderly

Double pay - Holidays Work close to Home P/T and F/T Hours Call AGENCY 516-328-7126 CROSSING GUARDS Needed For

FREEPORT SCHOOL DISTRICT

3 Hours/ Day - $18.00/ Hour Must Be 21 Years Old Retirees Welcome

Call 718-541-6011

FRONT DESK RECEPTIONIST: Knowledgeable With Billing. Part Time. Cedarhurst Ofiice. Call 516-374-2605

Non-Benefit Rate

$23.41/hr.

Non-Benefit Rate

Sign On Bonus $2,500.00 for CDL driver bus and van *Some restrictions may apply.

$500.00 for non CDL drivers. Will train qualified applicants

1141611

For additional information please visit www.valleystream13.com

1141879

Please submit your application online at NYSED Fingerprint Clearance required.

To place an ad call 516-569-4000 press 5 www.olasjobs.org 5th_floor • Clients • m-Clients • Malverne • 43053 Malverne Richner Communications or email Résumé to: 3.125x 3" Richnershould Communications Candidates email a lderrico@valleystream13.com Pg 1 School Monitors

EDUcATIoNAl BUS TRANSpoRTATIoN 516.454.2300 OFFICE ASSISTANT P/T

Small, Busy College Finance Office Seeking P/T Office Assistant For Answering Phones, Filing, Scanning, Data Entry, Etc. E mail Resume To: reception@ wilsoncollegeconsulting.com

REAL ESTATE SALESPERSONS WANTED

Open F/T & P/T Positions Experience Preferred Virtual Work Environment Make Money From Home Call For Confidential Interview 516-484-2999

RECEPTIONIST

Part-Time, Hours 9-2

Needed For Corporate Office In Valley Stream Must Have Clear Verbal And Written Communication Capabilities. Responsibilities Include: Phone, Mail, Keeping Track Of Supplies, Booking Conference Rooms, Meeting And Greeting Guests Email Resume Or Inquiries To: ReceptionVS@nhca.com

SALES PA R T / F U L L T I M E AVA I L A B L E .

Flexible Hours in a Busy Women's Hosiery & Accessories Retail Store in Cedarhurst NY. Some Experience- Will Train to help customers and promote sales & restocking merchandise.

516-395-5408. Ask for Chuck

Coach Realtors of Hewlett is proud to welcome our newest team member, Janice Sweet. Janice comes to us with over 20 years of experience with selling and rentals on both North and South shores of Nassau County. She raised her 3 children in her 46 year residency of Atlantic Beach while participating in community organizations. Janice is an experienced artist, stemming from FIT’s Apparel to Briarcliffe’s Graphic Design.

A devoted gal, extremely detailed oriented with all issues addressed. Clients and customers are top priority with integrity and honestly equal to each.

Janice can be contacted at 516-456-9062 or jsweet@coachrealtors.com

Realtors are encouraged to send briefs and photographs to: Herald Homes, 2 Endo Blvd.., Garden City, NY 11530.

Rent Your Apartment through the Herald and PrimeTime Classified section. Call us for our great *specials. 516-5694000, press 5 for Classified Dept. *(private party only)

LYNBROOK/EAST ROCKAWAY HERALD — September 2, 2021

HERALD

Rethinking a high-rise condo

Homes

HERALD

To place an ad call 516-569-4000 press 5

HOME OF THE WEEK

• To place an ad call 516-569-4000 press 5

Q. My wife and I bought a condo on the top floor in a tall building on the beach and have lived there for seven years. Now she wants to sell because she’s worried about what happened to the building in Surfside, Fla. What went wrong, and how can I persuade her to keep our home, short of hiring an engineer to come take a look and reassure her.

Atlantic Beach

Location! Location! Location!

C

ustom built one family home, currently configured and taxed as a two family house. This East

Atlantic Beach home features 5 bedrooms, 3 full baths and is located on Reynold's Channel. There is a 150' pier, 12,000 lb boatlift, plus an 8' x 24' float for the day slip. You will enjoy a private beach in your own backyard, plus a resident only beach on the ocean.

Located in the Long Beach school district this home boast a lot size is 40 x 140.

Application for tax grievance for 2022/2023 has been submitted. Asking price is $1,375,000. Taxes are $27,707.43. Flood insurance is $919.41.

Rhonda Healy 1025 W. Beech Street Long Beach c: 516-236-7269 o: 516-431-6160

Ronnie Gerber 516-238-4299 OPEN HOUSES SUNday, 9/5/21

1142955

Where Dreams Come Home

WOOdMERE

HEWLETT HaRBOR

267 Channon Rd, BA, REDUCED! 7 BR, 4 Bth Exp Ranch Full FBsmt on Quiet St in SD#20. 2 Car Att Gar ..................................................................................... $1,100,000

HEWLETT Bay PaRK

40 Heron Dr,BA, REDUCED 10,000 Sq Ft Waterfront Property on an Acre of Parklike Grounds Tucked away in Cul de Sac. 5 BR, 5.5 Bth Contemporary. Soaring Ceilings.

IGP, Hot Tub. 285' Vinyl Bulkhead Raised & Redone Dock. 3 Car Garage ...$3,699,000

HEWLETT

1534 Broadway #103, BA, NEW! Spacious 2 BR, 2 Bth Condo in Luxurious Jonathan Hall. LR/DR, Large EIK, Laundry Rm, & Pantry. Terrace Facing into Courtyard.

Doorman Bldg with Elevator. Indoor Garage Pkg & Storage .......................... $599,000 395 Serena Rd, NEW! 5 BR, 2 Bth Col on O/S Property. Updtd EIKs. 3 BR Main Level, 2 Upstairs with OSE. SD#14. Possible M/D with Proper Permits. Near All ... $799,000 1610 Hilary Ct, BA, Beautifully Gut Renovated 4600 Sq Ft Colonial in Cul de Sac. 5 BR, 3.5 Bth with Full Fin Bsmt, 2 Car Att Gar. SD#20. Tax Grievance Filed ...........................................................................................REDUCED! $1,279,999 1390 Broadway #102, BA, REDUCED! 2 BR, 2 Bth Coop in Luxurious Hewlett Townhouse. LR/DR,Updtd Kit & Office/Den. Elevator, 24 Hr Drman, Valet Pkg, Pool.

Priv Storage Area. Great Location Near Shops & Trans ................................. $349,000

EaST ROCKaWay

54 Rose Lane, BA, REDUCED! PROPERTY LOVERS DELIGHT! 3 BR, 2.5 Bth Split on Over 1/2 Acre Parklike Property in Waverly Park Area. Updtd EIK, Den/Fpl/Vaulted Ceiling, FDR & Mstr Ste/Updtd Bth & Sitting Rm. 2 Car Gar. SD#20 ............ $899,000

CEdaRHURST

WATERFRONT LAND for sale! Great Opportunity to Build Multiple Homes on One Acre Including 5 Lots. Permits & Bulkhead Required. SD#15 ........................ $599,000

OCEaNSIdE

2808 Willard Ave, BA, NEW! 3 BR, 2 Bth Split on 1/4 Acre in Cul De Sac. LR, FDR, EIK, Den & Fin Bsmt. Att Gar. Low Taxes. Oceanside SD. Won’t Last ............ $629,000

Real Estate Attention Sportsmen! NY-VT Border, Minutes to Bennington, VT. 30 acres, Only $99,900! Open and wooded, trails throughout property. Abundant wildlife, great views with southern exposure. Town road, power, telephone, Owner Financing 802-447-0779

Open Houses EAST ROCKAWAY BA 54 Rose Lane, NEW!PROPERTY LOVERS DELIGHT! 3 BR, 2.5 Bth Split on Over 1/2 Acre Parklike Property in Waverly Park Area.Updtd EIK, Den/Fpl/Vaulted Ceiling, FDR & Mstr Ste/Updtd Bth & Sitting Rm. 2 Car Gar. SD#20...$949,000 Ronnie Gerber, Douglas Elliman 516-238-4299

NYS Licensed Real Estate Associate Broker

Michele Librett-Lawlor, CBR, SFR

1140110

4 Clubside Dr, BA, REDUCED! Renovated 3 BR, 3.5 Bth Townhouse in Cedar Glen.

Updtd Gran/Wood EIK & Baths. HW Flrs. Fin Lower Level. Att Gar. Community Pool & Tennis. Near All. SD#14 .................................................................................... $699,000

55 Merrick Avenue, Merrick NY 11566

John Lawlor, CBR, SFR

NYS Licensed Real Estate Salesperson

BestLiHomes.com • 516-418-3333 “Going Above & Beyond to find your Dream Home”

Rhonda Healy

M: (516) 236-7269

Real Estate Salesperson, abR, SRS E: Rhonda.Healy.VW@gmail.com Verdeschi & Walsh Realty 1025 W. Beech St. | Long Beach, NY

OneKey Multiple Listing Service

1139054

984 Singleton Ave, BA, NEW EXCLUSIVE! Expanded 4 BR, 2.5 Bth Colonial on Oversized Lot in Old Woodmere. Bsmt & 2 Car Det Gar. Near All. SD#14 ..... $899,000

ROCKVILLE CENTRE OFFICES FOR RENT PRIME LOCATION!!!

AMENITIES INCLUDE: • Shared Kitchen • Conference Room • Reception Area • Municipal Parking Open Houses HEWLETT 1610 Hilary Ct, , REDUCED! Beautifully Gut Renovated 4600 Sq Ft Colonial in Cul de Sac.5 BR,3.5 Bth with Full Fin Bsmt, 2 Car Att Gar. SD#20. Tax Grivance Filed.....$1,279,999 Ronnie Gerber, Douglas Elliman 516-238-4299 HEWLETT BA 1534 Broadway #103,, NEW! Spacious 2 BR,2 Bth Condo in Luxurious Jonathan Hall. LR/DR, Large EIK, Laundry Rm, & Pantry. Terrace Facing into Courtyard. Doorman Bldg with Eleva t o r. I n d o o r G a r a g e P k g & S t o r age...$599,000 Ronnie Gerber, Douglas Elliman 516-238-4299

CALL US TOdAy!

516-405-3918

1140159

September 2, 2021 — LYNBROOK/EAST ROCKAWAY HERALD

18

Open Houses HEWLETT OPEN HOUSE BA 395 Serena NEW EXCLUSIVE! 5 BR, 2 Bth Col on O/S Property. Updtd EIKs. 3 BR Main Level, 2 Upstairs with OSE. SD#14. Possible M / D w i t h P r o p e r Pe r m i t s . N e a r All..$799,000 Ronnie Gerber, Douglas Elliman 516-238-429 WOODMERE BA 984 Singleton NEW To Market! Expanded 4 BR, 2.5 Bth Colonial on Oversized Lot in Old Woodmere.

B s m t & C a r D e t G a r. N e a r All.SD#14...$799,000 Ronnie Gerber, Douglas Elliman 516-238-4299

Ask The Architect

A. You should assure your wife that her concerns are very real and it is all right to be concerned. Validate her feelings and be understanding, because many people in the same situation, in taller buildings, are questioning the safety of where they live.

Questioning and confirming are what keep us safe, onte eeper no matter what the issue is or where we are.

Ignoring or dismissing a potential problem doesn’t make it go away.

Applying knowledge and reason leads to security.

Many people assume, with most things, that some qualified person simply took care of a problem, solved it correctly, and kept us safe. I often share my calculation process with clients, showing them the reasoning behind steps taken to calculate a beam, for example, for two reasons. One is so they understand how buildings work, and also so that when a substitution is requested, they understand why it was rejected.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of assumptions that work is being done with correctness and conscientiousness. With larger buildings, there are many safety procedures, including independent certification by qualified consultant engineering professionals. You might feel better if your building hired an engineer who could explain the building’s structural system and how it keeps you safe. If the people living in the Surfside condominiums could have questioned and acted with a maintenance program, which would have required spending money, things might have been different. The design, review, construction and maintenance all played a part in the failure.

Look at your own building’s track record and ask informed questions. If you have no knowledge of the building process, ask others who do. The more I learn about the investigation of the collapse, the more convinced I am of the reasons for never ignoring the smallest details of how these giant custom jigsaw puzzles fit together. Every failure I have ever learned about had at least two common denominators, confidence and naïveté.

If a reinforcing rod is shown on the drawings to be a specific diameter, don’t substitute a smaller size because it was more available or install separate pieces where a continuous rod was supposed to go. The pool deck of that building was a separate structure that should never have been tied into the columns of the taller adjacent building, just like a deck should have minimal or no attachment to a house. The right force, wind or water, can pull a vertical support column sideways, rendering the column useless and toppling the taller structure.

Listen to your wife and have a happy life!

M

L

© 2021 Monte Leeper Readers are encouraged to send questions to yourhousedr@aol.com, with “Herald question” in the subject line, or to Herald Homes, 2 Endo Blvd., Garden City, NY 11530, Attn: Monte Leeper, architect.

19

Market Place • •

To place an ad call 516-569-4000 press 5

To place an ad call 516-569-4000 press 5

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21

OPINIONS

hirty years ago this week, I hopped on an electric train with a brightred engine, a nervous energy pulsing through my arms and legs straight to my fingers and toes, which fidgeted uncontrollably. My head was spinning.

I carried all I had in my arms — two gray suitcases of clothes, one violin in a worn brown case and one blue duffle bag with running shoes and toiletries. I was 24 and headed to the greatest adventure of my life, a twoyear bicultural SCOTT exchange that excited me, at BRINTON times vexed me and forever changed me.

I served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Veliko Tarnovo, a 5,000-year-old city in central Bulgaria with a medieval fortress that was flanked by white stucco houses, squeezed onto the steep hills above the winding Yantra River.

In the first week of September 1991, I left the safe haven of the training site the Peace Corps set up in Bankya, a spa resort 11 miles outside Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital, and headed to Tarnovo, as it’s commonly known. After two and a half months of preparations, I still had no idea what to expect. I loved every minute of the next

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two years.

I was part of the first group of 26 Peace Corps volunteers to enter Bulgaria after the fall of communism there a year earlier. As was the case in Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Romania between 1989 and 1990, thousands of Bulgarians took to the streets to protest communist rule. Todor Zhivkov — the longest-serving Soviet Bloc dictator in the post-World War II era, who reigned from 1954 to 1989 — was deposed without bloodshed. In July 1990, then President Petar Mladenov, a former communist leader, quit over accusations that he had ordered tanks to roll against protesters in December 1989.

People rejoiced after Mladenov’s resignation, The New York Times reported on July 7, 1990. “Never again a communist president in Bulgaria!” 5,000 protesters chanted in unison in central Sofia.

To be there, in this place burning with democratic idealism after more than four decades of repressed speech and thought, was the thrill of a lifetime for an American who had freedom of speech and assembly ingrained in him. Bulgaria felt so alive. I felt so alive. People were suddenly free. As an outside observer who was quickly acculturated to Bulgarian beliefs and practices (I married a Bulgarian), I internalized their joy, their relief and,

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sometimes, their fear of a return to communism.

On June 20 this year, most of the original 26 Peace Corps volunteers, our Bulgarian manager, Emil Patev, and my wife, Katerina, who was one of our language and culture trainers, gathered on Zoom to reminisce.

It was perhaps the strangest feeling I’ve ever experienced. Because of the intensity of the experiences that we shared, the names and faces of my fellow volunteers were indelibly etched in my mind. I pictured them as their younger selves, and then we appeared in little boxes on a computer screen, significantly older variations of ourselves, as if this were a “Dr. Who” episode. It was jarring at first.

Then we started to share what we took away from Bulgaria. Many spoke of the Bulgarian work ethic, the slower place of life, the neighborliness or the kindness they were shown by their colleagues at the schools where they taught — we were all English teachers.

Happy memories coursed through my mind — meeting my lovely wife for the first time, soaking in the sights and sounds that were so different than the United States, chatting with my students, who were 17 when I met them and 19 when they graduated from the Vasil Drumev High School of Mathematics and Natural

ecalling a lifealtering stint in Bulgaria after the fall of communism.

Sciences, as they attended a fifth year of high school for advanced studies.

That graduation, in June 1991, was among the most beautiful days of my life, aside from my wedding and the births of my children. It was a simple, short ceremony, full of music. The students poured flowers into their teachers’ hands, as is Bulgarian tradition. Katerina and I taught at the school together, and we came away with so many flowers that our tiny, rented apartment resembled a florist’s shop.

I’m occasionally asked to speak to young people about my Peace Corps experiences. They often ask about the challenges, or whether I had any regrets about signing up. I can sense their trepidation.

Volunteering for the Peace Corps is a monumental, life-altering decision.

I used to speak of the pluses and minuses. There is, no doubt, a financial sacrifice, because you’re volunteering for two years of your life, I would say. Perhaps that was the reporter in me wanting to give both sides of the story.

If they have a strong interest in joining, I tell them now, they should embrace any fears they might harbor and let the river of life take them wherever it might flow.

You needn’t know where it will end up. It could take you to magical lands you never imagined.

Scott Brinton is the Herald Community Newspapers’ executive editor and an adjunct professor at the Hofstra University Herbert School of Communication. Comments about this column? SBrinton@liherald.com.

In the eye of the western firestorm

e’ve been through a lot together, you and I. Now this.

As I wrote last week, my husband and I and Lillybee the dog headed out West to the Northern California mountains on Aug. 10. We drove from Denver through Cheyenne, Park City and Elko and arrived here in Tahoe-Donner on Aug. 20.

We’re in a rental house perched on stilts set into a hillside, a half-hour from anything, including our kids and grandkids, who live in a nearby town. They’re the reason we came, RANDI and they’re the reaKREISS son we’re still here, 10 days into a month-long stay.

We’re in the throes of a wildfire emergency, officially declared by President Biden yesterday. Smoke obscures views of the mountains. The grandkids’ school opening was delayed. The smell of smoke is in our clothes, our hair and even on the dog.

The Caldor and Dixie fires are raging around us, from 45 to 100 miles away. We’re told to stay inside, not exert ourselves and

keep the windows closed.

The obvious move is to leave ASAP, but that means driving back to Denver in our rental car through areas that are now smoky as well. Our children surely aren’t ready to abandon their family home. We hate to run, since the wind could change in a week, and it could be healthy to resume normal outdoor life. We don’t know when we’ll have the chance to sit down at the same table again.

Our kids must figure out if their life out here is sustainable going forward.

These fires aren’t going away, and it’s unlikely that it will be better next year. The snowpack has been lighter every winter, and the ground brush is drier. Tinder. No one has grass, just scrub around the homes, cut back for safety.

Back home, I know you’re struggling with the Delta variant and unusual heat.

We Long Islanders have had our shared disasters, mostly hurricanes, and there will likely be more this season.

This is something else. People who live up here are tough and self-reliant, but everyone is shaken by the hazardous air quality and the danger of encroaching

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fires. We all have alerts set on our phones should the conditions get more dangerous.

Ash falls out of the smoke clouds, irritating our eyes and throats.

We have captured some moments with the grandkids, some meals, a lot of time together playing Rummikub.

They seem able to be outside longer than we can, younger lungs and all that. But they are tuned in to our talk about the smoke and fire and what the options are. These kids just lived through more than a year of relative isolation during the pandemic, and so much of their hope was invested in this summer, to do the swimming and rafting and hiking that is their reason for putting up with life in the semi-wilderness. All of our kids and grandkids have tolerated so much constraint and disappointment. I hope it makes them stronger.

To summon my own resolve, I’ve been reading about people who live in places where the geography or the weather or the terrain is a constant challenge and threat.

Why do they stay? My husband and I can and probably will leave if the air remains unhealthy or the fires get worse; we have

ur kids must figure out if life out here is sustainable going forward.

that option. Our kids will make their own calculation of risk vs. benefit of life in these mountains.

People live on the slopes of Mt. Etna in Sicily, generation after generation, despite the inevitability of lava flows and ash that burn them out of their houses. They rebuild; they stay. Some say the reason is that the volcanic soil is fertile and produces the best olives and olive oil in the world.

People in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., know for sure that periodic super-floods will drive them from their homes, but they come back and they build again. Why does anyone live in New Orleans? Or on any barrier island?

Why didn’t we all flee after Hurricane Sandy?

Ultimately people look around and decide that the benefit outweighs the risk of living near a volcano or in a flood plain or on a fire-scarred mountaintop.

We would not have come to California now if we knew how the smoke and fire would look and feel and taste. The headline in the San Francisco Chronicle yesterday read: “Caldor Fire Knocking on the Door of Tahoe Basin.”

The fire is knocking, and there isn’t much here to keep it out.

Copyright 2021 Randi Kreiss. Randi can be reached at randik3@aol.com.

LYNBROOK/EAST ROCKAWAY HERALD — September 2, 2021

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The two most adventurous years of my life

22

HERALD EDITORIALS

LYNBROOK/EAST ROCKAWAY

September 2, 2021 — LYNBROOK/EAST ROCKAWAY HERALD

HERALD Established 1994 Incorporating East Rockaway Observer Lynbrook News, Lynbrook USA Michael SMollinS Editor jill kaplan Advertising Account Executive office 2 Endo Boulevard Garden City, NY 11530 Phone: (516) 569-4000 Fax: (516) 569-4942 Web: www.liherald.com E-mail: lyneditor@liherald.com official neWSpapeR: Village of East Rockaway Village of Lynbrook

Copyright © 2021 Richner Communications, Inc.

HERALD COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS

Robert Richner Edith Richner Publishers, 1964-1987 ■ cliffoRD RichneR STUaRT RichneR Publishers Michael bologna Vice President - Operations ■ ScoTT bRinTon Executive Edtitor jiM haRMon

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jeffReY negRin Creative Director cRaig WhiTe Production Coordinator cRaig caRDone Art Director

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Get your teenagers vaccinated ASAP . . .

ome 87 percent of Nassau County’s adult population, ages 18 and up, has received at least a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. Bravo, Nassau! That’s a remarkable statistic, well ahead of the state average of 79.3 percent.

Nearly a million people have been vaccinated here, and we could soon reach that threshold.

But here’s the thing: Looking at all age groups in the county, only 73 percent of the total population has gotten at least one dose. That’s because children are ineligible, and only about 49 percent of teenagers, ages 12 to 18, had received a first dose as of last Friday, even though 16- and 17-year-olds have been eligible for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine since April, and 12- to 15-year-olds since May. Clearly, we must focus our efforts on vaccinating teens. With school starting in many districts this week, and therefore with students starting to congregate in large groups five to six days a week, there is the potential for the virus to spread rapidly in this population, and then to be passed on to unvaccinated adults and even

to the relatively small number of vaccinated people who will get Covid despite being inoculated.

Nassau County government now has an excellent program that brings a team of vaccinators to a workplace on request. It’s all about making the vaccine readily available to people who are too busy or otherwise unable to break away from work to get inoculated. The Herald Community Newspapers took part last Friday afternoon, and the vaccination team did all the work.

Similarly, the county and the Town of Hempstead, each of which has a mobile inoculation unit, should bring the vaccination fight to our schools, one by one, starting in low-income areas, where parents may be unable to take their teens to a vaccination site because they’re working long hours and worry about taking time off.

We’ve already seen mobile units brought to a small number of school districts like Freeport, but the effort should be rapidly expanded to all 54 Nassau districts.

At the same time, parents should seek to have their teens vaccinated. With the

. . . And have a Covid talk with all of your kids

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chool’s starting this week. That’s a scary thought, given that we were supposed to have vanquished the coronavirus by now but simply have been unable to, despite our best efforts. This is one mean virus.

All parents of school-age children, whether they’re kindergartners or seniors in high school, should have a talk with them not only about avoiding strangers and saying no to drugs and

alcohol, but also about staying safe from Covid-19.

Remind them to wear their masks in school, as mandated now by New York state. Tell them to maintain social distancing, and to cover their mouths when they cough, and to stay home when they’re feeling sick. And don’t forget about handwashing — lots of handwashing with good old soap and water.

Conversations should be age-appropri-

■ Dianne RaMDaSS Circulation Director ■

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Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine receiving full approval by the federal Food and Drug Administration for those 16 and over, we should all feel confident about its efficacy and safety. It will now be marketed as Comirnaty, according to the FDA. For those ages 12 to 15, the Pfizer vaccine will continue to be available under an emergency-use authorization.

The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are likely to receive FDA approval for 12- to 17-year-olds in the coming months.

Clinical trials are still under way to test all three vaccines for children ages 5 to 11.

It’s uncertain when, precisely, they might receive approval under emergency-use authorization for this age group. It could be as early as this fall, though that seems unlikely now. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said that authorization would more likely come by late December.

The bottom line for parents: Have your children vaccinated as soon as humanly possible.

LETTERS Happy birthday, President Johnson To the Editor: The late President Lyndon Johnson was born Aug. 27, 1908. Many remember him for succeeding President John F. Kennedy after Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. Others remember him for his domestic Great Society program, which included civil rights, Medicare, Medicaid, the War on Poverty and public broadcasting. There was also foreign policy, most notably the Vietnam War. Few remember that the success of public transportation can be traced back to one of Johnson’s greatest accomplishments, which continues to benefit many Americans today. On July 9, 1964, he signed the Urban Mass Transportation Act into

ate. There’s no need to scare young children. They need to be reassured that they will be safe in school. Meanwhile, teens might need a more frank discussion.

PBS Kids for Parents has an excellent primer on “How to Talk to Your Kids About Coronavirus” that’s worth a quick read. You can find it at www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/how-to-talk-to-your-kidsabout-coronavirus.

23

OPINIONS

n the 1987 movie “The Princess Bride,” Vizzini, a Sicilian assassin, warns Wesley, also known as the Dread Pirate Roberts, “You fell victim to one of the classic blunders — the most famous of which is, ‘Never get involved in a land war in Asia.’”

The United States fell into that classic blunder when it ignored 19th-century British debacles during the First AngloAfghan War (18391843) and the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880) and pretended it could avoid the ALAN fate of the Soviet Union in the SoviSINGER et-Afghan War (1979-1988).

A 1979 internal memo to the Soviet Union’s governing Politburo explained why “nation building” by the Soviet Union was doomed to failure. The reactionary forces described in the memo are now known as the Taliban.

“The Afghan reactionary forces,” the memo stated, “are very skillfully taking advantage of the almost complete illiteracy of the population, complex interna-

tional and intertribal conflicts, religious fanaticism and nationalism. Subversive actions, sabotage and the resistance of the overthrown class of exploiters are deepening the economic problems, lowering industrial and agricultural output, as well as hampering business activity, raising prices and reducing the influx of revenue into the state budget.”

The memo warned the Politburo that “the use of Soviet troops in repressing the Afghan counterrevolution would seriously damage the international authority of the USSR.” In his 2010 memoir “Decision Points,” former President George W. Bush tried to justify the 2001 decision to invade Afghanistan and the prolonged war that followed. This wasn’t just about revenge for the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, or a strategy to kill Osama bin Laden and destroy Al Qaeda.

According to Bush, “Afghanistan was the ultimate nation-building mission. We had liberated the country from a primitive dictatorship, and we had a moral obligation to leave behind something better. We also had a strategic interest in helping the Afghan people build a free

P

erhaps every candidate for president should be a certified historian.

LETTERS law. It has resulted in the investment of several hundred billion dollars in public transportation under grants from the Federal Transit Administration, which before 1991 was known as the Urban Mass Transit Administration.

Even with Covid-19, millions of Americans continue using various public transportation alternatives, including local and express buses, ferries, jitneys, light rail, subways and commuter rail services. Investment in public transportation today contributes to economic growth, employment and a stronger economy. Dollar for dollar, it is one of the best investments we can make.

LARRY PENNER Great Neck Penner is a transportation advocate, historian and writer who previously worked for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 New York Office.

State is now offering Excluded Workers Fund To the Editor: New York state’s Excluded Workers Fund, which is intended to provide much-needed relief to workers cut off from government unemployment bene-

society. The terrorists took refuge in places of chaos, despair and repression. A democratic Afghanistan would be a hopeful alternative to the vision of the extremists.”

The nation-building task was “more daunting” than Bush and his advisers anticipated because of their ignorance about Afghanistan and because they apparently never consulted either Wikipedia or the CIA World Factbook. It is a mountainous region of tribes, clans and linguistic groups, with millions of people who have little connection to those outside their locality or village. The constitution of Afghanistan, written in 2004 under U.S. auspices, recognizes 14 major ethno-linguistic groups. The largest is the Pashtun, who make up almost half of the population of the country and are the dominant group in the Taliban.

If only the Bush administration in 2001, or policymakers in the Obama and Trump administrations, had watched “The Princess Bride” or had access to the Soviet Politburo memo. I found it, quite easily, translated from Russian to English, on the website of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

The memo, “Our Future Policy in Connection with the Situation in Afghanistan,” became available to the public in 1993.

As President Biden made clear in a speech to the American public, “After 20 years, I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw U.S. forces [from Afghanistan] . . . There is no chance that one year — one more year, five more years or 20 more years of U.S. military boots on the ground would’ve made any difference.”

After the diplomatic, military and human disaster in Afghanistan, maybe there should be a constitutional qualification for becoming president of the United States: that a candidate be a certified historian. The American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians could review all candidates the way legal organizations review potential judicial appointments.

Dr. Alan Singer is a professor of teaching, learning and technology and the director of social studies education programs at Hofstra University. He is a former New York City high school social studies teacher and editor of Social Science Docket, a joint publication of the New York and New Jersey Councils for the Social Studies. Follow him on twitter at https://twitter.com/AlanJSinger1.

FRAMEWORK by Linda Smith

fits and stimulus checks during the pandemic, is now accepting applications.

Any workers who were not eligible for enhanced Covid-19 pandemic unemployment benefits can apply. The funds do not need to be paid back, and this relief is available regardless of immigration status.

Please visit https://dol.ny.gov/EWF for more information and to apply.

I thank state leaders for their efforts to maximize the scope of our Covid-19 relief initiatives. In the weeks ahead, I look forward to sharing information about the Excluded Workers Fund at community events and with our local faith and civic leaders to ensure that economic relief reaches the maximum number of Nassau residents possible.

CARRIÉ SOLAGES Nassau County legislator, Lawrence

Thoughts or comments about our stories?

Send letters to the editor to execeditor@liherald.com

OK, we’re persuaded: We’ll work remotely — Maui

LYNBROOK/EAST ROCKAWAY HERALD — September 2, 2021

I

There was no winning in Afghanistan

H E A LT H C A R E FOR EVERY LIFE ON EVERY JOURNEY LONG LIVE LONG ISL AND™

We know that every person, every path, and every experience is important to life on our island.

That’s why at every Catholic Health hospital, practice, and care facility, you’re far more than just another patient. So, we’re able to provide the highest quality, most innovative care because we know how much your humanity means to all of us.

For more information, visit LongLiveLongIsland.org

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September 2, 2021 — LYNBROOK/EAST ROCKAWAY HERALD

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