The Farmingdale Community Summit Council unveiled a much-anticipated monument during a memorial ceremony on Sept. 11 to commemorate the events of September 11, 2001. Dozens of residents, school district personnel, families of victims lost during the tragedy and friends gathered on the lawn outside the Farmingdale Public Library to honor those lost. FULL STORY

Roughly 50 new faculty members were formally welcomed to the district on Sept. 10, at the first board of education meeting of the new school year, but the board spent the majority of the two-hour meeting addressing an issue that is, on the contrary, not so new. FULL STORY

On Sept. 9, the Over the Hill League began their annual Charity Tournament. The league establishes 3 brackets of 4 teams; each bracket is based on the final combined standings of both divisions. Each team plays every other team in their bracket once, with the bracket winner and 1 overall wildcard team advancing on to the semi-finals. This week's games had J-2 opening up against Moby, and it must have been the Moby of old as they crushed J-2, evoking the mercy run rule after 7. Synergy continued to roll as they beat Bethpage PT 20-7 with some remarkable happenings occurring in Synergy's win. First was that Bob Joyce allowed 7 runs in the first 2 innings, then completely shut down Bethpage's offense for the next seven innings, great job by Bobby J. Then there was veteran Frank Ortolani who kept several innings alive by going 4-4 at the plate. But most of all was Larry Lembo, while recovering from hernia surgery just 10 days ago, smacked out 3 triples. Also powering the offense were Dennis Oehl and Tom "Terrific" Vanasco with HRs, and Mike Maier with 2 hits even though he also was hobbled with injuries. In games involving another bracket, M&T overcame Bar Boy 23-11 after exploding for 12 runs in the 7th of a time-shortened game. The M&T offense was led by Rich McClory and Tom Gomez, who each had 4-4 nights. Tom Lacorte, Sal Ditroia, Mark Lubowsky and Bill Kelly added 3 hits each. The game between Mers & Singletons started out slowly with Mers holding a 6-4 advantage after 6 1/2 but then Singleton's bats came alive, scoring 13 unanswered runs over the next 2 innings enroute to a 17-6 victory. Defense was again solid and the offensive stars were Paul Canalattos and John Gannon with 3 hits apiece. Contributing as well were Dennis Passaretti, Rich Smindak, Steve Buchter, Tom "Satch" Camarda and Gary Saccaro, all adding 2 more. On the small field, Darien Press rallied for 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th to edge out a 10-9 victory over O'Sheas. Clutch 9th inning hits came from Albino Reverberi and Pete Mendleson, with Tom Baily pushing across the game winning RBI. Second baseman Pete Mendelson was the defensive star for Darien along with Bino Reverberi, whose outfield assist in the 9th helped keep the game close. Darien's offense was led by the now one good arm & leg Tom "T" Ball, who went 2-3 and Rich D'Amico who had a solo HR. Brian Tinney was 2-3 with a bases clearing triple and Jerry Mazz who was 2-3 w/ 2 RBIs also had good games. The last game had Barco thumping Changing Times 23-4, also evoking the mercy run rule after 7. Barco started off strong with a 9 run 1st and a 6 run 2nd for a 15-0 lead after 2, putting Changing Times in a big hole. There were many hitting stars for Barco, as the entire lineup all had hits and 11 of 14 had RBIs, but especially hot were Terry McPartland (4-4, 3 RBI, HR) and Dave Ringer (4-4, 5 RBIs, HR & triple). Also with big nights with 3 hits each were Steve Schwind, Bill White and Tony Falcone. Barco's team defense was again very solid which was boosted by the terrific play of 2nd baseman Steve Jacobson who returned after missing 2 games due to an injury. FULL STORY

A new twist on charitable fund raising was created today with the announcement of Long Island's Fight for Charity, an unprecedented event that will combine an evening of corporate networking with live boxing. Among the seven scheduled bouts, three will feature several Long Island business leaders putting on their gloves and stepping into the ring, including Jeff Cohen, co-owner of the Weeping Willow catering facility in Farmingdale and creator/coordinator of the event. Cohen promises to have the fight of his life against a tough amateur boxer. The other four matches will be real amateur fights sanctioned by USA Boxing. Long Island's Fight for Charity will be held on Thursday, Nov. 13 beginning at 6 p.m. at the Hilton Huntington. FULL STORY