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Local barber stars in ad with LeBron By StephaNie BaNat newsroom@liherald.com
Courtesy Jamie Lee Rodriguez
jaMie roDriGuez, oF Merrick, acted in her first commercial last October, cutting a man’s hair in the bathroom of a Los Angeles home. The Wantagh barber starred in the Ruffles “Own Your Ridges” campaign, which premiered on Christmas Day.
Barber Jamie Lee Rodriguez, of Merrick, landed a spot on national television on Christmas Day, starring in a new Ruffles potato chip commercial with NBA superstar LeBron James. The commercial is the first in a series called “Own Your Ridges,” a Ruffles campaign aimed at encouraging viewers to embrace their challenges — their “ridges” — by showcasing five people who overcame major obstacles in their lives. The spot is set to “DNA,” by
Kendrick Lamar. Rodriguez, 30, who often goes by Jay and works at Hair Magicians, in Wantagh, was discovered by the ad’s casting director, Anissa Williams, on Instagram, where Rodriguez showcases her hair styling skills as @jayleebladez. Williams was searching for a woman barber, and sent Rodriguez a direct message about the opportunity. At first, Rodriguez questioned the authenticity of the message and thought it might be spam, she recalled in an interview with the Herald. “I was scrolling through my Continued on page 4
Student-founded animal club benefits Last Hope shelter By Mallory WilSoN mwilson@liherald.com
Christmas came early for Last Hope Animal Rescue, in Wantagh, last month thanks to students from W.T. Clarke High School. Teens in the high school’s Dog Rescue Club collected supplies for Last Hope for two weeks before dropping them off on Dec. 15. Hundreds of dog toys, leashes, collars, blankets, beds, treats and cleaning supplies were delivered to the center, on Beltagh Avenue, by Clarke senior and club founder Ella Noonan, her twin sister, Brooke, and their mother Maura.
“It’s a great club,” Joanne Anderson, the shelter’s outreach coordinator, said. “We couldn’t be more thankful. It’s just so nice to see young people involved.” Noonan founded the club in February 2020, when she was a sophomore. “I started this club because I felt like we didn’t have an animal-based club for the community,” she said. “Most people here have dogs and like dogs, and I thought it would be a great thing to educate high school students about.” More than 50 students showed up for the club’s first meeting two years ago, and shared ideas about what the club should do and where they could help ani-
mals in need. Less than a month later, the high school shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic. These days, the club is booming, with more than 100 members. Some middle-school students have even expressed an interested in joining, Noonan said. Throughout the pandemic, members held virtual meetings on Zoom. Now there are in-person meetings once a month. Donation boxes were set up in Clarke’s traffic circle from Nov. 29 to Dec. 13. Within days they were overflowing with supplies. “The box had wrapping paper and bows on it,” Brooke Noonan
explained. “Teachers, students and parents of kids who weren’t in the high school dropped stuff off, too.” Anderson said that it took a long time to put away the supplies they received, simply because of the sheer volume of the donations. Ella Noonan said the organization was “in shock” over how many items the club
donated. “They were overwhelmed in a good way,” she said. When the sisters dropped off the supplies, they were given a tour of the center, and met some of the dogs. This wasn’t the first time that the club has worked with Last Hope. Last year, despite the panContinued on page 5