_________ Oceanside/island park ________
Christel heads to West Point
It’s all Greek — and fun — to them
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VoL. 58 No. 35
AUGUST 24 - 30, 2023
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HERALD $1.00
‘Anthem Girl’ Ali Berke looks to make MLB history By KEPHERD DANIEL kdaniel@liherald.com
Courtesy Ali Berke
Ali Berke, also known as ‘Ali the Anthem Girl,’ is set to perform the national anthem at Fenway Park on Saturday.
Oceanside High School alumna Ali Berke is determined to enter the Major League Baseball record books. The 22-year-old pop singer has her heart set on performing the national anthem at all 30 MLB ballparks across the United States and Canada — a feat that no one else has accomplished. Berke is next scheduled to sing “The StarSpangled Banner” at Fenway Park in Boston on Saturday, before the 4:10 p.m. game between the Red Sox and the Dodgers. Fenway will be the fourth ballpark in which she has sung the anthem. She has also performed at Citizens Bank Park, in Philadelphia, Continued on PAGe 4
Mark Sebesta uses faith, fitness as Friedberg JCC trainer By KEPHERD DANIEL kdaniel@liherald.com
Mark Sebesta, a personal trainer and exercise specialist at the Friedberg JCC in Oceanside, has dedicated most of his life to three things: fitness, faith and helping others. Sebesta, 53, works mostly with the special-needs population at the JCC. He moved from Astoria, Queens, to Oceanside in 2014, and found a second home at the JCC. He was hired as a personal trainer in January, after being a member and avid attendee for nine years. Sebesta is a certified personal trainer, a kickboxing instructor and a black belt in karate.
He is also a rabbi, having received his ordination in 2012. He hosts Torah classes and spiritual counseling, and says he prides himself on being able to help people not only physically but also spiritually, which adds to the communal atmosphere at the JCC. “A lot of places have fitness facilities and training, and the world tends to be so focused on the exter nal, but I think so much of what happens here affects the inside as well, and that’s precisely what (Mark) is doing,” Myra Ripley, the JCC’s director of communications and development, said. Sebesta grew up in Newburgh, in Orange County. When
he was growing up, he wanted to be a cook to help those less fortunate. When he was 11 he worked in a Senior Center kitchen in New Windsor, New York where he washed dishes and prepared food for World War II vets and Vietnam War ve t e r a n s. H i s f a m i ly w a s involved in law enforcement and the Marines, and at age 21, he took up law enforcement, too, serving as a police officer in Essex County, New York, and later in the 114th Precinct in Astoria. He left the force with heart issues at age 38, but the experience led him to the realization that he wanted to help people by other means.
“I did what I had to do, and there was another path for me,” he said. “It was like a seesaw to the full path I wanted to lead. Most of the time when something like that happens, there’s a better thing for you out there. Most of the time when I would intervene, I was able to save a person by speaking to them — telling them that the path they’re on isn’t the right path.”
After retiring from the police force, Sebesta had a stint in the pizzeria business, harking back to his time in the kitchen helping veterans, and also trained people in martial arts. He had clients with special needs in Astoria. His compassion for people with disabilities is due in large part to his experience as a Continued on PAGe 12