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Wantagh Herald 07-25-2024

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_________________ WANTAGH ________________

HERALD Becoming an Eagle Scout

A blast from the automotive past

lunches for those in need

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Vol. 72 No. 31

JUlY 25 - 31, 2024

$1.00

Hundreds pay their respects to Chris Carini By JoRDAN VAlloNE & CHARlES SHAW of the Wantagh/Seaford Herald

Tim Baker/Herald

Dozens of police officers paid their respects to Hempstead Town Councilman Chris Carini at a Mass on Monday. The 49-yearold retired Port Authority police officer died unexpectedly on July 14, while visiting family in Florida.

If any message was clear at Hempstead Town Councilman Chris Carini’s funeral Mass on Monday, it was the one conveyed in the words of the Rev. Steven Camp, who said simply, “He was there.” Carini, a champion of quality-oflife initiatives in Hempstead and the 5th Councilmanic District, was laid to rest following a service at St. William the Abbot Roman Catholic Church in Seaford. The 5th District includes Seaford, Wantagh, and parts of Bellmore, Merrick, Freeport, Point Lookout and Lido Beach. Hundreds of family members, ConTinueD on PAge 10

As always, Miss Wantagh pageant gives back to the community By lARA MURRAY-STERZEl Inter

Evelyn Caputo, who was crowned Miss Wantagh 2024 during the Wantagh Independence Day Parade on July 4, is poised to inspire another generation of girls in the community. The Wantagh community continually seeks ways to promote and encourage public service, and Miss Wantagh breaks the beauty norm by focusing on service projects carried out by its participants. The pageant of fers girls a platfor m to explore and implement their ideas about improving the community.

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t’s important to the community because it shows the youth can do things in the community and make it a better place.

EllA STEVENS Executive Director, Miss Wantagh Organization The origins for Miss Wantagh first took shape in 1956 when it was called ‘‘Sunny Day Pageant,’’ and was still a part

of the Fourth of July parade ceremony. Girls from Wantagh High School were asked if they wanted to participate, and about 30 girls would apply. Along the way, Miss Wantagh became a pageant, but never a beauty pageant. “That’s probably why it’s survived over these years,” Ella Stevens, executive director of the Miss Wantagh Organization, said. “It was always a community pageant, giving back to the community. That’s where the beauty lies.” Pageant contestants are made up of sophomore and junior girls who live in Wantagh. After they apply to enter

the pageant, the girls are offered training from the organization beginning in January and ending in May. But the pageant never became a competition, and in 2012, the organization tasked the girls with creating a service project for the community as part of their range during the course of the year. The first service project

involved anti-bullying, which became popular in the community. Stevens then wanted to explore more avenues along the same lines, and her organization has since created different themes around anti-bullying, with this year’s theme being “Choose Respect.” This has become a 12-year tradition performed every October, when ConTinueD on PAge 5


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