33rd Year, Volume 34 • Issue 18
May 3, 2017
The People’s Newspaper - Covering All of Brookhaven
William Floyd Culinary Arts Takes Third
Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo (left) studies the planned expansion areas of the Long Island Pine Barrens with Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine.
Palumbo To Craft Legislation To Expand Pine Barrens Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo (R,C,I,RefNew Suffolk) expressed his excitement about introducing legislation to expand the Long Island Pine Barrens by approximately 800 acres, which will include the Mastic Woods and the lands surrounding the Old Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant. By crafting this legislation, Palumbo hopes to protect the bucolic nature of the Long Island Pine Barrens, protecting the fauna and wildlife that call these areas their home. “This legislation will preserve hundreds of acres of woodland and ensure that all future development is environmentally conscious,” said Palumbo. “With limited habitats for animals on Long Island and the dire need to preserve the Pine Barrens, securing this land is crucial. I appreciate the support and guidance I have received from Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine,” said Palumbo. “Ed has been in the forefront of every environmental issue facing Suffolk County over the last 30 years covering his career. His knowledge will be instrumental in helping us expand the Pine Barrens for future generations.” “I thank Assemblyman Palumbo and the Brookhaven delegation in the Senate and Assembly for their unanimous support of this state legislation. Expanding the core will assure that these forested areas are preserved as open space and remain accessible to everyone. We cannot allow clear cutting to destroy acres upon acres of woodland that are so important to our environment,” said Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine.
Pictured above are members of the WFHS Culinary Arts team that took third place at the “Cook Around the World” competition with celebrity chef and judge Richard Blais. Below: WFHS senior Zyaire Bias with celebrity chef Richard Blais.
A team of William Floyd High School Culinary Arts students traveled to Disney World from April 21-24 to compete in “Cook Around the World,” a competition of 24 teams from across America and around world including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Honduras and Mexico. Despite having a team half the size of every other team in the competition, William Floyd took third place overall in the Dessert category. The trip and participation in this event was entirely funded through various culinary arts fundraisers held over the past year including pie, cookie, cake pop, and chocolate covered strawberry sales, catering functions for various William Floyd Alumni Association events, a cannoli fundraiser with the Foreign Language Honor Society and more. The team, led by Guinness Book World Record ice carver and culinary arts teacher, Rich Daly, and teaching assistant Wendy Waldron, consisted of senior culinary arts students, Zyaire Bias, Crystal Chen, Robert Napadano, Desmond Scott, Dena Sladky and Matthew Towle. In the competition, William Floyd was assigned foods of Asia and was tasked with creating 20 plates of a main item and 20 plates of a side dish. They also had to decorate 20 Asian-inspired cupcakes, all under very strict time constraints. The competition was judged by celebrity chef
Richard Blais, who according to Mr. Daly, was equally impressed by all members of the William Floyd team and commented that Zyaire has “an amazing skillset and shows promise” in reference to his pastry-piping skills. “I am very proud of their performance on this international stage and hope to return to this event next year to continue the success of the Culinary Arts program,” said Mr. Daly.