Living in Five Towns

Look what’s happening

May

Christina Daly/Herald The Cedarhurst-Lawrence Memorial Day Parade returned after a one-year hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Jeffrey Bessen/Herald Tony Nave cooked the hamburgers at Inwood Day.

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Eric Dunetz/Herald Isaac Ross, 7, won the kids Fun Run that was part of the Beit Halochem International 5 Town 5K in North Woodmere Park.

Jeffrey Bessen/Herald The Woodmere Fire Department held its traditional chometz (non-kosher food for Passover) burning one day before the eight-day Jewish holiday began.

LIVING IN the Five towns

With the release of the Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines, life was slowly moving back to “normal” as mask mandates and social distancing guidelines were lifted. Then, just as fast as activities returned and businesses reopened with a pre-Covid flourish, the delta variant struck and coronavirus cases began rising again. For the Five Towns, which consists of Cedarhurst, Hewlett, Inwood, Lawrence and Woodmere, and the area that includes with Atlantic Beach, Hewlett Bay Park, Hewlett Harbor, Hewlett Neck, Meadowmere Park, North Woodmere and Woodsburgh, life was a mixture of getting vaccinated, seeing the children off to summer camp and then being worried if the spike in infections would affect your family and friends. The 2020-21 school year blended in-person and remote learning; however, the end of the school year was a touch more normal, as graduations were held and there were many less of the drive-through celebrations that marked 2020. The 2021-22 school year began in much more typical fashion, with in-person instruction and fewer safety protocols, but masking indoors was required to keep children younger than 12, who cannot yet receive the vaccines, along with others who are medically compromised, safe. Desk shields were mostly gone, but social distancing was recommended. Sports were back and so were the traditional homecomings during the football season. The Five Towns Community Center in Lawrence continued its unrelenting quest to help its surrounding communities as Gammy’s Pantry, run by Inwood resident Sasha Young, offered food, clothing and other universally needed items.

Jeffrey Bessen/Herald The Five Towns Community Center playground was the site for the 2- to-4-year-olds mad dash for eggs during the Easter ‘Egggggstravaganza.’ Continued from previous page The Community Center and the entire Five Towns suffered a terrible loss when longtime Inwood businessman and center advocate Pete Sobol died. Inwood Day in August was dedicated to his memory. The Marion & Aaron Gural JCC also continued to distribute or deliver food to those in need through its Rina Shkolnik Kosher Food Pantry. The Leon Mayer Fund, in association with Kosher Response, opened the Mark Ramer Chessed Center at its Hewlett building, and held had a back-to-school event, at which backpacks and school supplies were given out, and a separate a shirt and shoe giveaway was held. Vaccinations appeared to divide people as anti-vaxxers made their opposition known; however, many local officials advocated for vaccination. The Gural JCC hosted an inoculation event for seniors in partnership with the UJA Federation of New York and the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway, and the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach collaborated with the UJA to vaccinate adolescents and teens ages 12 and 15. Community Chest South Shore and the Kiwanis of the Five Towns and Peninsula Kiwanis remained critical parts of the charitable landscape in the Five Towns. Community Chest held its 5K Run and Family Walk. Lawrence-based Achiezer was part of a project that had 13 local rabbis join forces for a video that strongly advocated for vaccination. The summer was different than last, as camps were open, but the annual Santa Marina Festival in Inwood was not held, though the church service at Our Lady of Good Counsel and procession were. Beach clubs, village beaches and county- and town-run swimming pools were open, with safety protocols in place. A lifeguard shortage remained an issue because of the coronavirus pandemic, and wages increased for those who were certified. Hewlett resident Isabella Santos got creative and established a babysitting service, the Baby Sitters Club of the Five Towns, taking the idea from the “Baby-Sitter Club” book series. The 2021 Hewlett High School graduate said she planned to growi the business as she attends Davidson College in North Carolina. As in 2020, it was unclear precisely how the pandemic would play out in the rest of 2021. Would the outdoor fall fairs be held? Could all the Christmas tree and Hanukkah menorah lightings take place? Living in the Five Towns has become somewhat different, but no less interesting.