_________ Oceanside/island park ________
HERALD Raising money for lyme disease
Millennials say they’re the future
From seed to sensory garden
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Vol. 58 No. 23
JUNE 1 - 7, 2023
$1.00
‘He never slowed down’ The late Jay Fagin’s spirit remains on the tennis courts he frequented By KARINA KoVAC kkovac@liherald.com
Daniel Tommasino/Herald
Honoring those who paid the ultimate price Island Park hosted their Memorial Day parade on Saturday for all those who have perished in war. More photos to follow in the June 8 edition of the Oceanside/Island Park Herald.
Dozens of local tennis players gathered on May 21 in Oceanside Park to remember their friend Jay Fagin, from Long Beach. Fagin died on Jan. 18, 2022, just shy of his 87th birthday, and was known by many in the community, always seen around town wearing a cowboy hat and humming a tune. The players shared emotional stories about Fagin before unveiling a bench that they donated to the park in his honor. He would be out on any available court — mostly at the park — seven days a week, playing only
on the deuce court, because he had only one working eye. The other was plastic, and for comic relief he’d tap on it. Despite his age, “He was a very good tennis player, very strong,” said Judy Roth, one of his closest friends. other players wo u l d g o e a s i e r o n h i m , “because he looked older — he looked like an old man. But … he was a very strong player and a very kind player.” Roth added, “He never slowed down. He was always ready to go.” About eight years ago, Fagin saved a friend’s life on a tennis court. They were playing at Point Set in East Rockaway, and Continued on page 7
Where are all of South Shore’s ‘pandemic pets’ now? Most found homes, others surrendered, or still awaiting welcoming families By NIColE FoRMISANo nformisano@liherald.com
Nearly one in five — or 23 million — U.S. households got a new furry friend during the Covid pandemic, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. While most of these pets remain full-fledged family members, some found their “forever home” to be far from forever. “We’ve seen an increase of animals getting surrendered,” said Johanna Baeyens, the founder and owner of the animal rescue agency Lend-A-Paw, now based in Oceanside, citing behav-
ioral issues or separation anxiety as people have resumed working outside of the home. “A lot of people just don’t know how to deal with that. They just resort to surrendering their animal,” Baeyens said. Lend-A-Paw cares for many animals returned by previous owners. More than half of those returns are pets who were adopted during the pandemic, Baeyens said. “I think a lot of people didn’t find other ways of keeping themselves active or fixing the boredom,” she said. “Instead they just went and thought of a quick fix, to get an animal, and now
they’re seeing the consequences.” Baeyens said that pandemic pets continue to be returned — just last Saturday, someone gave back the two cats they adopted during lockdown because their living situation has changed now that the pandemic is fading. Elyse Jordan, the shelter manager at Bobbi and the Strays in Freeport, says the animal rescue ended up caring for several pets that were given back as people’s lives started to return to normal. “We did get what we ended up calling pandemic puppies,” Jordan said. “Where people bought
puppies while they were home all that time, and then once they went back to work, they didn’t have time.” She and her colleagues were pleasantly surprised to find those “pandemic puppies” to be fairly few, though: The vast majority of animals adopted from Bobbi and the Strays have stayed with their families.
The adoption rate for adult cats in particular saw a spike, nearly doubling during the pandemic. Jordan noted that postpandemic cat adoptions have remained high because many people felt bad for the animals that were being returned and wanted to give them the homes Continued on page 8