The Breeders' Cup Benefit for the Community Fund's Garden City Family Relief Fund is scheduled for Friday evening, Oct. 26. Residents are encouraged to join their neighbors in what I am sure will be a most enjoyable and memorable community event. The evening will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will feature a sampling of food and beverages from our Garden City restaurants and live entertainment. The $100 donation per person is tax deductible with all proceeds going directly to the Garden City Family Relief Fund to benefit families affected by the Sept. 11 tragedy. Call 747-4603 for more information.

Saturday, Oct. 27 will be a very festive day in our village, marked by the Chamber of Commerce's 23rd annual Fall Festival Street Fair, combined with the annual high school Homecoming Day Parade. Bring your family and enjoy the community spirit and fun.

The Chamber's street fair on Seventh Street and Franklin Avenue is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. and will run through midafternoon. Seventh Street, between Franklin and Hilton Avenues, will be closed to all traffic between 7 a.m. - 3 p.m. For your convenience, please use the Hilton and Franklin Avenue entrance to Parking Field 7S and the Stewart Avenue entrance to Parking Field 7N.

The high school's Homecoming Parade will step off promptly at 12:15 p.m. from the most easterly end of Seventh Street and proceed west along Seventh Street to Cathedral Avenue, north onto Stewart Avenue, west to Oxford Boulevard and north to the high school parking field. Homecoming festivities and football game will follow the parade at the Warren King Field.

Last Thursday, Deputy Mayor Miller represented the Village Board of Trustees at the Village Employee Recognition Program. This is an annual event where employees who have marked the 20th, 25th, 30th, 35th and 40th plus years of service with the Village of Garden City are recognized and presented with service pins and certificates. The cumulative years of service among the 21 employees honored were 540! We are both pleased and proud that these employees have chosen to spend their careers in Garden City and we recognize that our village is a better place because they are here and provide vital municipal services to our residents.

The program also recognizes those employees who have demonstrated that extra effort to come to work each day or tour and in doing so achieved 100 percent attendance in the past year. I am pleased to report that 92 employees achieved this mark - representing 31 percent of the workforce. My compliments and thanks to all.

This week has been designated School Board Recognition Week in New York State. On behalf of the residents of Garden City, I commend and thank the members of our school board for their dedicated service to the youth of our village.

An excellent public education system is vital to the quality of life for any community. The Garden City Public School District has received the extraordinary recognition by both the federal and state governments on having had each of its schools designated as a "School of Excellence." Clearly, the ladies and gentlemen who serve on our school board deserve our recognition for these achievements as well as our appreciation for the countless hours of service to public education.