_____________ ROCKVILLE CENTRE ____________
COMMUNITY UPDATE Infections as of June 22
2,326
Infections as of June 15 2,325
HERALD Pull Out
$1.00
VOL. 32 NO. 26
July 4 fireworks show canceled
A bright evening of light
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JUNE 24 - 30, 2021
South Side wins county baseball title By TONY BELLISSIMO tbellissimo@liherald.com
Christina Daly/Herald
THE CYCLONES CELEBRATED their first Nassau County baseball title since 1982 last Friday after topping Manhasset, 2-0, in the decisive third game of the Conference III finals.
On the bus ride back from Manhasset after South Side dropped the first game of the Nassau Conference III baseball championship series in heartbreaking fashion June 16, coach Tom Smith’s message to the Cyclones was, “Don’t think you’re unable to beat these guys.” Fifth-seeded South Side, which was one out away from elimination in the opening round, responded by blowing out the Indians 13-1 in Game 2 the following afternoon, and then rode the arm of junior Danny Russell to a 2-0 victory in last Friday’s deciding third game for its first county title since 1982. “We came out swinging at Barash [Field] and jumped on them early in CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
RVC St. Patrick’s Day March donates to small businesses By TOM CARROZZA tcarrozza@liherald.com
Not being able to host a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Rockville Centre this year didn’t stop the village parade board from giving back. Instead, it hosted its first March for Small Businesses, and money continues to roll in three months after the holiday. “The parade that shares and cares” lived up to its name and then some by using roughly $40,000 it collected from residents to give back to small businesses struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic. The initial financial goal in March was $25,000.
Jackie Kerr, vice president of the Rockville Centre St. Patrick’s Day Parade Board, said she was blown away by the fundraising efforts. “It was a huge success, even better than we anticipated,” she said. “It’s remarkable.” Advance Formal Wear, Eden Total Skin Care and Brower Avenue Deli were the primary small business recipients, each given $5,000 in donations. Keith Linsalata, owner of Art Flower Shop, on North Village Avenue, nominated his friends at Advance Formal Wear. With large social gatherings impossible to hold over the past year, Advance Formal had very little to do. Art Flower Shop sold
green bows to support the formal wear store, accumulating a few thousand dollars before hearing about the March for Small Business initiative. “Nominating them was really a no-brainer,” Linsalata said of Advance Formal Wear. “They’ve always given back to the community with charities.” Real estate firm Daniel Gale Sotheby’s, in Rockville Centre, was the first to reach out to the parade board to see how it could help other local businesses. Monica Murray, a sales manager at the office, battled Covid-19 while coordinating the contribution effort and spreading the word about the March for Small Busi-
ness. “It made me realize how it can disrupt a business in town,” Murray said of the pandemic. “That was enlightening, and motivated us even more.” Murray and Sotheby’s bought more than $1,000 worth of bows from Art Flower Shop and put them on all the houses they sold in the village. They also gave out gift certificates for Kookaburra
coffee house and for slices of pizza from Gino’s at their open houses. Murray credited her agents, many of whom live in the village, with getting the word out about the need that had arisen among small businesses. As a result of the fundraising efforts, the board awarded funds to even more people than it set CONTINUED ON PAGE 3