_________________ WANTAGH ________________
HERALD $1.00
MacArthur wins big at Homecoming
School spirit at car wash
church fair sees success
Page 3
Page 4
Page 12
Vol. 69 No. 40
SEPTEMBER 30 - ocToBER 6, 2021
‘Sea of pink’ makes its return Annual breast cancer awareness walk is back at Jones Beach park By STEPHANiE BANAT newsroom@liherald.com
Kate Nalepinski/Herald
Workin’ at the car wash Mandalay Elementary School students and parents washed cars last Saturday morning at the school’s annual fundraiser to benefit the fifth-grade class. The event, organized by the PTA, ran from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Similar car wash fundraisers also took place at Forest Lake and Wantagh Elementary Schools.
When Wantagh resident Lauren Baron was in fifth grade, she received difficult news: her mother, Lisa Baron, had been diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer at age 37. Though she was too young to fully understand the severity of cancer — as were her twin sister, Megan, and their older sister, Kaitlin — Lauren said she understood the importance of finding a cure. “Our mom was very brave, raising all three of us young girls as a single mother while also battling breast cancer for nine
years,” Lauren, 25, said. “She passed in 2015.” Every year since then, the Baron sisters have joined the American Cancer Society’s annual Making Strides Against Cancer Walk at Jones Beach State Park to honor their mother. The October date is significant, Lauren said: Her mother died on Oct. 15, which is always close to the date of the walk. “We’re celebrating our mom’s extraordinary courage, but also fighting for us and all those impacted by breast cancer on Long Island,” Lauren said. This year, the walk will return Oct. 17. The Barons, along with Continued on page 11
Wantagh H.S. alumna wins national baking competition By MAlloRy WilSoN mwilson@liherald.com
Wantagh High School alumna Amanda Gray has baked her way to success: In June, Gray, 20, earned a collegiate-division firstplace win at SkillsUSA’s 2021 National Leadership and Skills Conference, where she competed in commercial baking. Gray, who graduated from Wantagh in 2019, is a junior at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island, where she majors in baking and pastry arts and food and beverage industry management. She has taken part in SkillsUSA competitions since her senior
year of high school. As a student, she also attended culinary classes at Nassau BOCES Barry Tech in Westbury. She had previously competed in SkillsUSA’s local and state competitions. SkillsUSA serves middle school, high school and college students enrolled in training programs in trade, technical and service occupations. To qualify for the nationals, Gray had to win the state competition in Rhode Island earlier this year, where she baked cookies. In the national commercial baking competition, the contestants had to make seven different treats — cakes, breads, muffins, cookies, pastry cream and a
cream puff — while being filmed by two cameras from different angles. The competitors also had to photograph their desserts and complete a written baking exam online. “We had to film ourselves making the products at every step, such as scaling the ingredients, mixing, putting them in the oven, rotating them and more,” Gray explained. “We had to show the proper sanitations, like washing your hands and cleaning the table.” This year, the competitions were held virtually. To prepare, Gray and her family spent three days at JWU in June, working with chefs Christina and Mark
Harvey, both teachers at the college. The Harveys specialize in training students for the competition. Christina, who has taught baking and pastry at JWU for 22 years, has been involved with SkillsUSA for nearly two decades as well. “The judges were very happy, from what I heard,” Christina said of Gray and her baking abil-
ity “One of the judges said, ‘Oh my gosh, your student was dynamite this year.’” Gray said she found the virtual competition easier than facing off in person. “Instead of being in a big room with a bunch of people, I was doing it on my own, which I felt like was less pressure,” she said. “It was easier to Continued on page 14