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Wantagh celebrates Purim
Nature center unveils program
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Vol. 70 No. 13
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MARCH 24 - 30, 2022
Sláinte! St. Patrick’s Day parade returns By kAte NAlePiNski knalepinski@liherald.com
Karen Millindorf/Herald
MACkeNzie NoRDoN, oF Wantagh, left, and Alexis Disalvo, of Massapequa, enjoyed the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Wantagh on Sunday.
A sea of green –– made up of an estimated scores of thousands of visitors –– lined the sidewalks of Wantagh Avenue on Sunday as leprechaun-shaped balloons, goldtinted cars and first responders paraded down the street. As the Wantagh and Seaford Fire Department’s pipe bands played traditional Celtic tunes, a parader in a leprechaun outfit tossed chocolates into the street and children scampered to g rab them. School district parents
cheered as the Wantagh High School marching band made its way down the street, and a fellow in a faux neon orange beard smiled and took a sip of a brown malt liquor. The Wantagh Chamber of Commerce’s second annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade — originally set for March 2020 — was canceled two years in a row, thwarted by the pandemic. But Sunday’s event seemingly made up for it: a substantial crowd of residents from Wantagh, Seaford and beyond attended the parade at Continued on page 3
Wantagh temple garden is giving back to those in need By MARiA CesteRo mcestero@liherald.com
Birds chirped, and the smell of dirt and garlic filled the warm spring air as about a dozen volunteers worked on a communityservice garden at Temple B’nai Torah, in Wantagh, on March 15. They chatted as they pushed wheelbarrows full of nutrientrich dirt for an upcoming harvest. Once an unused playground, the volunteer-run vegetable garden was created by Rona Kauffman, of East Meadow, and Susan Salem, of Bellmore. In 2020, at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the pair asked the temple
to turn the playground into a garden to help feed local families struggling with food insecurity, Kauffman said, which was spreading across Long Island. “The [food] pantries were overwhelmed, and it was a good opportunity to start,” Kauffman said. “It’s all about creating a welcoming space to encourage people to learn.” And at the time, it gave volunteers a way to help those in need while social distancing. Kauffman had worked with Salem at a vegetable garden outside St. Francis Episcopal Church in Bellmore for over a year, and she invited Salem to “work her magic” on the former
playground, she said. “It was a godsend during Covid,” Salem said, “just being in the company of other humans.” Volunteer started by emptying the playground sandboxes, under which they discovered a layer of asphalt, which indicated that the playground had been built above a parking lot. Unable to remove it, they laid down a layer of shredded leaves before adding soil to promote vegetable growth, and created a gardening infrastructure to hold sections of soil using landscaping fabric and cardboard. Kauffman’s husband, Bob, joined local Boy Scout troops to create what his wife described as
“cardboard lasagna” that could then be filled with soil. “It’s satisfying to do something with your hands and benefit other people,” Bob said. “It’s really a labor of love.” The garden was constructed entirely of materials that volunteers have gathered through donations or built with donated supplies, making it a zero-waste
enterprise. Everything that is grown in it is donated to community members and organizations in need. Volunteers plant and harvest vegetables and herbs including potatoes, peas, squash, heirloom tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, dill, chives, garlic, kale and sunchoke, a root vegetable known as JerusaContinued on page 13