I recently had the pleasure of joining the Concerned Citizens Association of Farmingdale (CCAF) here in Farmingdale. I came across the CCAF through their website while surfing Farmingdale sites. After initial contact with the board, I found a group of people who shared my concerns, since they are residents also, and only asked for an annual $15 membership fee to join.

My need to become involved in this beautiful town stemmed from a recent open house at the South Farmingdale Fire Department. At that point I felt that I should be involved somehow. Volunteering as a fireman was a thought but realistically impossible. And I asked myself instead, 'what can I do to help my community?'

Although I have lived here since 1997, I have seen in a very short time, quality of life changes in Farmingdale that I am not happy with. From the larger and noisier jet planes at Republic Airport, an abandoned and finally torn down strip club on Route109, a growing gang violence problem, and most recently the controversy over an 84,000 square foot supermarket landing at the Liberty Site on Motor Avenue, I took the first step in protecting the community that I am to live in for the next 30 years.

That step, joining the CCAF required only an email. When I mailed my membership fee, I felt successful in the first step to protect my children, my home, and Farmingdale; my town.

Since I have joined, I have attended three meetings with hundreds of fellow residents. Two meetings were at the Allan Park Community Center meeting hall located on Motor Avenue

My first meeting was the Town of Oyster Bay hearing held at Howitt Middle School regarding the proposed supermarket on Motor Avenue. The auditorium was filled with concerned Farmingdale residents who attended to voice their opinion to the Town Board. Also present were people strategically placed by the Stop & Shop corporation with banners and buttons. The Stop & Shop corporation also invited people as far away as Massapequa to a dinner two hours preceding the meeting. At this point I felt elated that I was present to defend my feelings as a true resident of Farmingdale, un-fed, without buttons, hats or Stop & Shop gift certificates.

Many people spoke that evening, and not only with passion but with facts and logic. And it was the work of the CCAF that had the most to say about how this supermarket project would not help Farmingdale residents. I couldn't begin to summarize the extensive research done by the CCAF and orated by its president at the podium but in the end, I concluded, that the only people to benefit from this project would be Netherlands-based Ahold, or as we have come to know them: Stop & Shop.

Through the CCAF, I have met many of the people who make the final decisions for Farmingdale. My involvement was a necessary eye opener. I was very impressed with the vast knowledge that the CCAF board has accumulated about this town and the progress that they have already made for the residents of this town.

The CCAF is our civic association and I would like to personally thank them for welcoming my family and myself.

All your concerns, negative or otherwise can be brought up at the open floor meetings held monthly by the CCAF. Rumors move rapidly in a town this size, and there are times when we all feel like we are helpless to change anything in our own community. I can tell you firsthand that this civic association is here for us. They listen, they act and they get things done.

Through emails, phone calls and attendance at the meetings, the CCAF has listened to me and answered my concerns. They are the people representing so many residents, and they work hard to get things done for all of us.

I am looking forward to contributing in any way possible to secure the quality of life in this town. My wife and I searched many towns from Queens, Bronx, Suffolk, and Nassau to find this community, and I won't stand by helplessly when I know that there is help out there for all of us.

Phil Badome