_________ Oceanside/island park ________
Miss l.I. winner announced
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Vol. 57 No. 49
DECEMBER 1 - 7, 2022
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Friends meet on the field again
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HERALD $1.00
Giving a hand to those in need Robert Schulman’s nonprofit helps people with limb differences By KARINA KoVAC kkovac@liherald.com
Karina Kovac/Herald
StuDENtS FRoM oCEANSIDE Elementary School No. 3 had a thoughtful discussion about how differences don’t define an individual with Sadie McGill, 8. She was joined by members of the Limb Kind Foundation, with Jill Smith and founder Robert Schulman.
Imagine trying to comb your hair or tie your shoes without arms. Ride a bicycle or swim with no legs. That’s the daily battle of some 2 million people in this country who have had an amputation or were born with a limb difference. And it’s a battle Oceanside prosthetist Robert Schulman has endeavored to resolve by giving a hand — quite literally — to those in need with his nonprofit Limb Kind Foundation.
And he’s getting help from a group of gifted students at Oceanside Elementary School No. 3 known as Project Extra. In fact, the students have raised enough money for 8-year-old Sadie McGill — who has a limb difference — to participate in this year’s “Show Your Shine” competition, hosted by Limb Kind. The competition features participants from all walks of life with limb differences strutting their stuff on the runway. Schulman started his nonprofit some five years ago after Continued on page 8
F.D. welcomes 1947 Mack fire truck back to Oceanside By KARINA KoVAC kkovac@liherald.com
It was a symbol of strength, power and durability. The 1947 Mack Model 45S was a pioneering apparatus at the time, and was heavily used in efforts by fire stations across the country to fight blazes — including right here in Oceanside. But this particular Mack truck has returned to the Columbia Engine Company No. 1 after crossing many miles of America and undergoing years of restoration. It was a journey that started simply enough 16 years ago with senior members of the fire
department — Bill Lynch, Paul Facella and Fredrick Robinson — reminiscing about fire engines of yesteryear. The 1947 Mack was quite high-tech for its time because of a booster reel used to easily drench the many grass fires in the salt marshes of Oceanside. It was then they came up with an idea: Let’s track down that old truck the Oceanside fire department replaced in the late 1950s that had, up until that moment, been lost to obscurity. It was the kind of investigation that would make even Sherlock Holmes proud. Forming a historical committee, the three followed clues that led them
through fire departments not only Bohemia an hour away, all the way to central Florida with the Highlands Volunteer Fire Department. “We found out they had decommissioned this truck in Florida, and it was sitting idle, they didn’t know what to do with it,” Facella said. When some history-minded firefighters from Long Island came knocking, however, the Citrus County firefighters knew exactly what to do: Offer the deal of a lifetime. “Got it for a dollar,” Facella said — something Lynch added they haven’t even paid yet. Their investigation produced
a fascinating journey for the Mack truck that spanned more than four decades of active service. “It was ordered in ‘46 right after the war, and built in ’47,” Facella said. The engine “served 12 years here in Oceanside, and then went to Bohemia.” There, the engine lasted another 14 years before making
its way to Florida around 1973. “It served, in total, about 40 years of service in the fire service,” Facella said. “Which is a long time for a truck.” None of the historical committee ever used the truck, but Karl Thuge was more than familiar with it. In fact, there was a time when Continued on page 4