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Oceanside/Island Park Herald 04-06-2023

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_________ Oceanside/island park ________

April 6, 2023

HERALD Higher Education

Empowering a brighter future

HERALD CoMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS WINNER of

Inside

Vol. 58 No. 15

9

Annual egg hunt is a hit for kids Page 4

AWARDS APRIl 6 - 12, 2023

$1.00

A wind farm’s local windfall Equinor pledges benefit funds, and residents have lots of ideas By KARINA KoVAC & JAMES BERNSTEIN of the Oceanside/Island Park Herald

Courtesy Island Park school district

Everyone’s favorite ogre The Lincoln Orens Middle School Theatre Group presented ‘Shrek the Musical Jr.’ last weekend on the middle school stage. Story, more photos, Page 5.

Equinor, the Norway-based international energy firm that is proposing the construction of a wind farm off the South Shore, has pledged $246 million in community benefits to Island Park and Long Beach. More direct funding would go to Long Beach, because of the proposed underground cable routing there, but Island Park would see more tax relief, since Equinor is no longer vying for a payment-in-lieu-oftaxes, or PILOT, financing arrangement. U.S. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito,

who is from Island Park, met with Equinor on March 28 to discuss his and the communities’ concerns with the proposed wind farm. The $3 billion project, dubbed Empire Wind 2 and with the petroleum company BP as a partner, would include 147 turbines, each 886 feet tall, 15 to 30 miles offshore. Cables would be routed beneath both Island Park and Long Beach, with Island Park hosting an electrical substation as well. According to Equinor, the energy produced would power nearly a million homes, and help the state achieve its goals for reducing the Continued on page 11

Andrew Scerbo made Major League dreams come true By KARINA KoVAC kkovac@liherald.com

Andrew Scerbo, Oceanside High School’s baseball coach for 32 years, was among the winningest coaches in Nassau County history, winning 12 league titles and finishing with 454 wins. His 1988 team was ranked among the top 10 in the country by USA Today. Scerbo died March 6, at age 86, surrounded by loved ones at his home in Delray Beach, Florida. “Andy didn’t die, he lived ... with class, grace, dignity and laughter, and he shared that life with all of us,” Andy Morris —

who was at Scerbo’s side for many of his coaching years — said at his funeral service. Many students Scerbo coached became professionals, and three of them — Dennis Leonard, John Frascatore and John Costello — made it to the major leagues. Writing on Scerbo’s online tribute wall, Costello described him as an inspiration to hundreds of young athletes and thanked him for helping him make his childhood dream come true. “You not only taught us the proper way to play the game of baseball but you taught us how to be young men,” Costello

wrote. “I still remember you (in) 1979 introducing me to Dennis Leonard who pitched for Whitey Herzog with the Royals. At the time I was very impressed by meeting him. I eventually made it to the Major Leagues and also, ironically, ended up pitching for Whitey Herzog with the St. Louis Cardinals.” Costello also shared one of his favorite memories, of invited Scerbo to Shea Stadium to watch him pitch against the Mets. Born in Brooklyn, Scerbo grew up in Bellmore, where he attended Mepham High School. He played football, basketball and baseball, but he fell in love with the art of baseball. After

high school, he turned down a contract to play for the Brooklyn Dodg ers org anization and attended Ithaca College on a baseball scholarship. While there he played in the College World Series, and his success led him to be drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals. He once confided in another coach and friend at Oceanside

High School, Richard Woods, that his competition to make the big club was Dal Maxvil. They both made it to the Cardinals’ spring training camp in the early 1960s, when Maxvil started his career. Woods recalled, “Scerbo told me, ‘We both could field, we both were not great hitters, but Maxvil was a little better hitContinued on page 16


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