The Farmingdale Community Summit Council held its Third Annual Summit Expo and Health Fair at Farmingdale High School on Thursday, April 21. There were 70 tables comprised of the who's who of our community; service organizations, youth sports groups, local businesses, charitable organizations, health agencies and private individuals. The village is proud to be a charter member of the Summit and we were pleased to have our own table and take part in this wonderful event.

When you review the roster of exhibitors you see the backbone of our community. The organizations and individuals that give so much of themselves to make our community a better place to live. The Expo provided attendees the ability to talk face to face with the organizations' leaders, to see what they are really about, what their organization does and answer any questions they might have had. It was also refreshing to see some of our local business from Main Street at their tables. In this day of mega corporations and out of state ownership, it certainly was unique to see the owner of Stuff-A-Bagel personally giving out their delicious samples. Some of our local chiropractors and dentists were also on hand to personally discuss their services and the various health needs of the attendees. Free blood pressure and other screenings were also provided (two years ago one of these screenings was actually credited with saving an attendee's life -by identifying a serious health condition).

I hope everyone will think carefully about choosing one of our local businesses who support our community when deciding what bank, insurance company or restaurant to go to. For those of you who attended, I am preaching to the choir. For those of you who did not - you missed a tremendous opportunity to see what makes our small community very special. I urge all of you to look at the Community Summit Council list of members and see how you can become involved in one of the many organizations. In addition to the Annual Expo and Health Fair, the Summit is responsible for other great community events, including Farmingdale Reads, Farmingdale Remembers, Farmingdale Families, and Farmingdale Jumps. They could always use new blood and would welcome the assistance. The Summit meets the second Thursday of each month at the Farmingdale Public Library at 7 p.m. Come to a meeting and get involved.