Upcoming events at the Williston Park Library

From the Director

Summer Reading 2023 is fast approaching. The kickoff celebration will be on Saturday, June 24 in the parking lot. There will be a DJ and ice cream truck for everyone to enjoy. Registration for all programs will begin on this day.

Are you new to Williston Park? Don’t forget to apply for a library card. Just bring proof of residence in the village such as an updated driver’s license, credit card statement or any bill sent by the Village. Staff will be happy to help you.

Just a friendly reminder for parents/caregivers—please supervise the children in your care, and don’t allow them to climb on library furniture and/or shelving. It poses a safety hazard, and we don’t want to see anyone getting hurt. Thank you for your cooperation.

If you’ve borrowed a museum pass, we ask that it be returned in the library by 10 a.m. on the due date to ensure timely pick up for the next patron on the waiting list. If you wish to return the pass prior to the due date and the library is closed, please put in the book drop. We appreciate your cooperation.

New titles added to the collection:

Fever in the Heartland: The KKK’s Plot to Take Over America & the Woman Who Stopped Them—Timothy Egan

Dark Angel—John Sandford

Only the Beautiful—Susan Meissner

Seaside Library—Brenda Novak

Golden Doves—Martha Hall Kelly

Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire & the Redstone Family Legacy—James B. Stewart

Commitment—Mona Simpson

Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny & Murder—David Grann

Things I Wish I Told My Mother—Susan Patterson

Above Ground: Poems—Clint Smith

Last Heir to Blackwood Library—Hester Fox

Adult Programs

Patriotic Mason Jar Craft—Tuesday—May 23—6 p.m. in the library. $15 material fee. Call the library (742-1820) or email willistonparkprograms@gmail.com to register.

Book Discussion—Wednesday—June 14—7 p.m. in the Assembly Room of Village Hall and via Zoom. Copies of Fifty Words for Rain will be available at the Circulation Desk. https://adelphiuniversity.zoom.us/j/96885670102?pwd=VGt SYnkyUW9acVJyV0tyNUtUZnMyZz09 Meeting ID: 968 8567 0102 Passcode: WPBookClub or just call1-929-205-6099 on your phone and it will ask for the meeting id and password above.

Children’s Programs

Story Time for Tots—Tuesdays—May 23 & 30—11-11:45 a.m. in the library for children ages 1-4 with a parent or caregiver. Call the library (742-1820), email willistonparkprograms@gmail.com or ask at the Circulation Desk to register. Maximum of 15 children. No walk-ins!

Father’s Day Mug—Friday—June 9—4-5 p.m. in the Library for children ages 5+. Per the vendor, limited to 20 participants. Call the library (742-1820) or email willistonparkprograms@ gmail.com to register.

Port Washington’s Anthony Iurio perfecting baseball rarity

BY MICHAEL J. LEWIS

It is the most audacious play on the baseball feld. One no one ever sees coming.

The runner dances of third base, shaking his legs and arms and watching the pitcher like a meteorologist studying the Doppler radar. The batter stands waiting for the pitch, as the catcher thinks about what to call.

Then, suddenly, the runner is of as soon as the pitcher goes into his windup, and a few seconds later, he slides across home just before the catcher can apply the tag.

Everyone in the stadium roars. Both benches are stunned. And a steal of home, that rarity in the sport, has just happened.

Only a few great baserunners in the history of the game have been good at stealing home. Jackie Robinson, Ty Cobb, players who were legends in their time.

Anthony Iurio wants to be like those guys one day. In at least one respect, he’s getting there.

The Port Washington Schreiber High School junior outfelder has recorded two swipes of home this season, his breakout year as he became a star and led the Vikings to a terrifc spring.

The 5-foot-10 junior batted .473 and powered the Schreiber ofense, but what really gets his eyes twinkling and his mouth moving as fast as his feet is talking about baserunning. And stealing home.

“It’s just the most exciting thing that can happen out there,” said Iurio (pronounced I-OREO). “Nobody is expecting it, and when it works and you get back to the dugout, everyone is so pumped up.”

Now to be totally truthful, Iurio hasn’t accomplished a “straight” steal of home in 2023, when he takes of at the pitcher’s frst motion and gets there before the catcher can tag him out. One of his steals, against Herricks, occurred when Iurio noticed the catcher was tossing it back to the pitcher very slowly, and on one lazy throw he raced down the third base line and scored before the pitcher could get it back to the plate.

His other theft of home occurred against East Meadow, on a slow pickof throw by the pitcher to the frst baseman. Iurio took of immediately and slid in safely.

“He’s one of the best baserunners I’ve ever seen, anywhere,” Schreiber coach Matt Holzer said. “He’s fast, but it’s more his instincts and baseball IQ are so good. He knows exactly when to take the risk and when not to. He’s got a green light from us all the time.”

“I’ll try to steal on anyone,” Iurio said. “I have no fear of making an out. I feel like if I get caught stealing, it’s something wrong that I did.”

It’s not just Iurio’s wheels that powered Schreiber to a 15-7 season, a campaign that ended on May 17 when the Vikes lost their playof series to Oceanside.

In addition to the .473 batting average, Iurio smacked six doubles, with one homer and 19 RBIs. He drove in six runs in an early-season game against Herricks, a performance that gave him confdence he could succeed on the varsity level after Iurio hit .182 as a sophomore.

“Before the game Coach Holzer took me aside and just said, “stay back, and look for the away pitch,'” and I did and had a great game,” Iurio said.

Both Holzer and Iurio say the junior’s confdence took of after that series. Iurio stopped trying to pull everything and started spraying liners to all felds. A lot of that success came with experience, but also Iurio knew that to hit good varsity pitching, he had to change his approach a bit.

He also has learned to use his instincts from another sport while patrolling center feld. Iurio was a top wide receiver for the Vikings football squad last fall.

“I’m reading where the ball is going as a wide receiver, same thing as baseball,” Iurio said. “You have to have good hands and good instincts in both.”

Iurio comes from an athletic family, as dad Edward Iurio played hockey at the University of Rhode Island. Iurio said he asked his parents re- peatedly as a kid to put him in travel baseball, but “my Mom thought I had too much going on, so I should wait a little.”After starring with the Port Washington Legends as a kid, he now plays for Level Up travel squad and is hoping a strong summer will get him looks from college coaches.

“There’s not many holes in his game,” Holzer said. “He just has to keep working hard, maybe get a little stronger, and he’ll be even better.”