_______ Malverne/West HeMpstead ______
your HEALTH body / mind / fitness
November 17, 2022
HERALD Your Health
With a focus on
ho lid ays
Healthy Holidays
Inside
Vol. 29 No. 47
Saluting military veterans
Helping to feed those in need
Page 3
Page 5
NoVEMBER 17 - 23, 2022
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Sharing native heritage at the park By KYlE CHIN Special to the Malverne/West Hempstead Herald
Joe Abate/Herald
MEMBERS of tHE Montaukett Women Circle showed off intricately woven blankets in a traditional blanket dance in a pavilion in Hempstead Lake State Park.
Hempstead Lake State Park was filled with chanting and dancing on Nov. 5 as the park celebrated National Native American Heritage Month, featuring members of the Montaukett Indian Tribe. In addition to just sharing their cultural heritage, some of the Native American participants sent a clear message to New York state: to restore the Montaukett to being a government-recognized tribe. November has been celebrated as National American Indian Heritage Month since the presidency of George Continued on page 4
Village receives $7 million to renovate Whelan Field By KYlE CHIN Special to the Malverne/West Hempstead Herald
Malverne’s Whelan Field is set to undergo a complete overhaul in 2023, with initial plans for the upgrades unveiled at a village board meeting on Oct. 20. Whelan Field, a pair of baseball fields used by the Malverne Little League, is tucked away off Ocean Avenue, currently accessible via the short streets Ray Lane and Constitution Lane. According to the village’s proposal, the fields would be expanded and leveled, new bleachers and scoreboards would be installed and the fields would be surrounded by new
netting and a barrier wall. The gravel parking lot would be paved, and a small, fenced-off area for dogs would be expanded and fitted with interactive equipment. The plan also calls for the creation of a paved walking path around the fields, extending along the neighboring stream, with exercise stations and ecological information signs. One end of the path would be a nearcentury-old stone Long Island Rail Road trestle that bridges the stream, and a series of tiered steps would access the cleanedup stream. The architectural and engineering firm H2M, based in Mel-
ville, has drawn up conceptual designs for the project. “One of the things the board’s been working on is actually the largest grant we’ve ever received in the history of Malverne,” Mayor Keith Corbett said at the meeting. “We received just shy of $7 million to completely renovate Whelan Field.” “I do have to thank Trustee (Tim) Sullivan and the entire board,” Corbett added. “But Trustee Sullivan, in particular, has been working very closely in putting this together.” The overriding purpose of the project is to bolster floodresistance infrastructure along the stream, though that will be
less apparent to the public. The stream is a tributary to Mill River, connecting with Hall’s Pond, in West Hempstead, to the north. The Mill River empties into the East Rockaway Channel to the south. “We are going to be constructing some stormwater management systems on the field,” explained architect and H2M
vice president Matthew Mohlin. “Right now the park has no stormwater management infrastructure at all. So the fields will be grass, but we’re putting in a new subsurface retention system that will contain the stormwater runoff, which will overflow into the creek.” Mohlin further explained that Continued on page 8