_________ Oceanside/island park ________
your HEALTH body / mind / fitness
and NOVEMBER 30, 2023
HERALD
with a focus on:
healthy holidays
VoL. 58 No. 49
Let the games begin in I.P.
A Thanksgiving tradition
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NoVEMBER 30 - DECEMBER 6, 2023
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O’Side native recounts story of his disability By JASMINE SELLARS Intern
Dina Ewashko/Herald
Participants strode around the football field at Oceanside High School’s first Walk to End Alzheimer’s on Nov. 19 to raise awareness of the disorder.
High school hosts its first Walk to End Alzheimer’s By KEPHERD DANIEL & JASMINE SELLARS Of the Oceanside Herald
Oceanside High School held its first Walk to End Alzheimer’s on Nov. 19, to raise awareness, support and funds for those with Alzheimer’s disease. The high school also invited officials from the Alzheimer’s Association to the walk around the school’s football field, and encouraged students, parents, teachers and community members to take part in a raffle for giveaway prizes. The initiative, led by Alex Boller, an OHS junior who is president of the Science Nation-
al Honor Society, was coordinated by several students and school staff. The walk was organized in collaboration with the Alzheimer’s Association, which is headquartered in Chicago, and was intended not only to raise money for Alzheimer’s research, but also to foster understanding and compassion in the community. “This is the first walk and Alzheimer’s event that I’ve organized, and I feel amazing that people really came out and supported us,” Boller said. “My grandmother passed away from Alzheimer’s when I was in second grade, CONtiNuEd ON PAgE 16
Oceanside native Ken Kunken, who suffered a spinal cord injury during a college football game in 1970, has managed to carve out a successful career as a trial attorney in Nassau County. Now, Kunken has recently published his memoir, titled “I Dream of Things That Never Were,” a collection of his life memories that he began compiling 52 years ago. He detailed the story of his life as a quadriplegic trial attorney, his personal experiences with disability, education, law, the American healthcare system, and his struggles and triumphs following an injury that left him almost totally paralyzed. The memoir recounted how Kunken has battled back, earning four college degrees and rising above it all to become a wellrespected assistant district attorney and how he testified for the rights of disabled people in front of a Senate Subcommittee at Hofstra University. “About six months after I was hurt, I had the opportunity to testify before the United States Senate Health Subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Edward Kennedy,” Kunken said. “Eight days
after I testified, Senator Kennedy sent me a glass paperweight in the mail that had an inscription on it that he said his late brother, Robert Kennedy, liked very much. “The inscription wrote: ‘Some men see things as they are, and say why? I dream of things that never were, and say why not?’ And I just love that quotation, and thought that it made so much sense. When I decided to write a memoir, I titled it ‘I Dream of Things That Never Were,’ based on a part of that quotation.” Kunken said the idea for his memoir came from a friend, who suggested that he jot down his feelings on paper and share his story about his rehabilitation experience. In April of 1971, Kunken began dictating his message to family members and friends, who would write down his words. After only adding to his book every few months or years over the last five decades, Kunken said the memoir serves as testament for the adversities that people with disabilities face everyday. One of his greatest struggles early on was the lack of wheelchair accessibility almost everywhere he went. CONtiNuEd ON PAgE 9