With the air crisp and the skies cloudless despite forecasts of rain it was a good night for a softball game. The teams had come together to inaugurate the Bobby Getschel Tournament in memoriam to a young man who had touched hearts and inspired lives by his unwavering enthusiasm and unflinching commitment to help others. It was a public celebration of a life whose years were few but whose good deeds were many.

After the ceremonial pitch thrown by Bobby's brother I watched our team limber up for the big game. They were tagged the "Village People" since they all worked in village hall. I thought they looked pretty good and what they lacked in skill they made up in spirit. Susan Walsh embodied that old Tug McGraw "Ya gotta believe" attitude that was abetted by a strong supporting cast that included Ginny Appel, Lucille Langone from our building department and our new library director, Carolyn Voegler. Even our legal eagle, Village Attorney John Ryan, donned cap and glove to play. You could feel on that field of dreams the enthusiasm - the esprit de corps.

We had a few ringers in there also. Watching Kathleen Mack take a few practice swings at home plate told you she was no stranger to the bat and ball. Likewise, Detective Bill Lauria from our police department looked as comfortable out on the ball field as he does sleuthing for clues at a crime scene. Joining him was Officer Jim Sebber who had played some college ball and in batting practice hit one eye-popping Ruthian blast that took off here in Eastern Standard Time and landed somewhere in Central Standard Time. Meanwhile, at the hot corner on third Trustee Tom Tweedy, a long-time baseball man, was seen scooping up screaming ground balls as if he were Brooks Robinson himself. I'm just kidding about that last part.

Unhappily, for the "Village People" victory was not in the cards; in fact it wasn't anywhere to be seen as they lost the first game 8-1. Wee Willie Keeler's formula for baseball success was to hit them where they ain't - the Village People's tack was to seemingly hit them where they were - that is when they were hitting them at all.

In the second game, with Deputy Mayor Kevin Greene joining Trustee Tweedy on the field, the "Village People" lost in a 34-8 squeaker. Yes, you read that right: 34-8! But hey, what does runs scored for or against mean when you're playing for such a good cause. In that light, everyone who came up to bat hit a grand slam. Congratulations to the organizers of the first Bobby Getschel Memorial fundraiser and to all who participated and contributed to this wonderful event.

This past Saturday Trustee Tom Tweedy and I attended the grand opening of Chase Bank on 15 Verbena Avenue. In an event that was festive and celebratory, the ribbon cutting ushered in another groundbreaking business event in our community. Chase is among the most reputable and respected names in the banking industry throughout the United States. The good people at Chase really care about their patrons, about Floral Park and want dearly to be part of life in our community. They are a wonderful and welcomed addition to our family and we wish them success and a long and happy tenure with our village and its residents.

I was delighted to learn that my meeting with gubernatorial candidate John Faso (Elliot Spitzer would not meet with me) has borne fruit. At that meeting I planted seeds for him to oppose the third track. Since then those seeds, watered and cultivated by others, have now ripened into a firm opposition. Thank you Mr. Faso for your support - perhaps this is an indication that the blowing of the wind has changed direction.

While the battle lines have been drawn, the die cast and the Rubicon crossed, it is still uncertain whether the MTA will show up at the DEIS Third Track hearing bearing alms or ammunition. While I've always said, and still say that the battle for the third track is an uphill fight, I've never taken the position, (like some have) that containing the MTA is like trying to bottle the ocean. The MTA is not a natural phenomenon with immutable physical laws, it is a Frankenstein - a manmade monstrosity that can be made, if enough pressure is applied, to alter its course. Some of this pressure is evident to the public eye, while pressure points being exerted elsewhere are less conspicuous.

But trust me, constant and unrelenting pressure has been exerted against the MTA-LIRR and their plans to test their transportation theories by their mad experiments on our community. But we won't be anyone's test tube nor will Floral Park serve as a petri dish for them - we're a village, not a laboratory.

At first the odds were overwhelmingly stacked against us arrayed as we were against a huge bureaucracy, billions of dollars and powerful interest groups. But I'm of the philosophy that when things are looking desperate the only thing to do is to blow the bugle and charge. And so we did riding to the sound of the guns with flags waving and bombs bursting in air.

Have we turned the tide? It is much too early to even speculate. But if we had done what some wanted us to do and sat around the campfire and smoked the peace pipe, the all important Capital Review Board would have never heard the tocsin of public alarm being sounded throughout the land and we would never have been afforded a second bite of the apple. If we had chosen to make a parody of John Paul Jones' war cry and instead of boldly proclaiming, "We have not yet begun to fight," but meekly whispered, "We shall not fight at all," Floral Park would have ended up buying itself a one way ticket on a reverse commute and the scythe of the MTA-LIRR locomotive would have rampaged through our village leaving us hemorrhaging and scarred for life.

But because we stoked the fires of defiance, anchored our resolve and marshaled the rhetorical solemnities about preserving our homes, our community, our way of life, the elements of recalculation are at work. Exactly what this entails is still unknown, but that the forces that would irrevocably undo our life's work here know that we stand at the breastworks of our village ever alert, ever watchful and ever on guard can only help our cause.