_________________ WANTAGH ________________
HERALD Taking to the skies
Musicians shine at All-County fest
Wrestling for a triumphant win
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Vol. 72 No. 5
JANUARY 25 - 31, 2024
$1.00
Officials offer tips on steering clear of scams are crucial in today’s digital age to equip individuals with the knowledge and skills to protect As scammers develop newer themselves from falling victim and more advanced methods of to scams,” Rhoads said. “It also stealing from the vulnerable, provides a platform for individelected officials are urging com- uals to ask questions, build a munity members to learn how network of support, and educate others about to identify scams. the importance of The Levittown s c a m aw a re n e s s Public Library hostand prevention.” ed a Scam PrevenSeveral elected tion Seminar on officials spoke to Jan. 18, which the attendees about included experts the importance of from the Nassau identifying scams. County Police Assemblyman De par tment and David McDonough representatives of showed just how victim services common they are, organizations. They displaying a flyer spoke to attendees he had received in about how to identi- MANdA KRISTAl the mail, claiming fy and re por t a Program coordinator, that he had won a scam, as well as Family and Children’s $100 reward. The how to recover from Association flyer directed him one. Several state to call a number on and county representatives sponsored the event, the back, but McDonough including Sen. Steve Rhoads, warned that scammers on the who said that as technology has other end would try to trick callg rown more sophisticated, ers into sharing personal inforscammers have found new ways mation. “Once you give them your to deceive people into giving them their personal informa- Social Security number, forget tion, and making off with their it,” McDonough said. “Your identity is gone.” money. “Scam-prevention seminars Continued on page 15
By CHARlES SHAW
cshaw@liherald.com
I
Courtesy Levittown School District
Hitting the stage Performers from Wisdom Lane Middle School brought the story of an unexpected lawyer to life on the stage in their production of ‘Legally Blonde Jr.’ Story, more photos, Page 10.
Inspiring kids at Wantagh High to serve their community By CHARlES SHAW cshaw@liherald.com
For more than a decade, Heidi Felix has been guiding kids to give back to their communities. Felix, 56, has been volunteering with the Key Club at Wantagh High School for over 13 years, and is currently the club’s adviser. The club is one of many service leadership programs in Kiwanis International, a volunteer organization that helps children with causes in health, education and youth leadership. Wantagh’s Key Club, according to Felix, is full of kids who are eager to make a difference in their community. “We’re a family who likes to give back,” Felix said.
When Felix joined the club, she said, only five children were active members, but she helped it grow over the years. In 2022, with the help of teacher and advisor Deanna Pepe, they were able to recruit more than 100 children to be active members of the club. With their commitment to the club, Felix said, she and Pepe managed to maintain all of their community service projects throughout the pandemic-impacted year of 2022. Today, the Key Club, according to Felix, and is one of the largest clubs at the high school. “If it wasn’t for my Key Club, I don’t think my Kiwanis club would have had any service projects, but my kids are the ones that kept us motiContinued on page 5
f you’re going to give any kind of personal information, or any money . . . verify the information.