The Garden City Volunteer Fire Department is collecting donations for "Operation Wounded Warrior." They will form a "Long Red Line" of fire trucks and travel 1,200 miles round-trip to deliver Christmas care package items to members of the United States military who have been wounded in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and are recovering from these wounds in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and the United States Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.

Items needed are letters/Christmas cards from home, quilts, blankets, T-shirts, towels, shaving gel, plastic razors, deodorant, toothpaste, baby wipes, Kool-Aid, calling cards, Christmas ornaments with the American flag, chocolate, candy, cookies, popcorn, pretzels, chips, etc. They will also accept monetary donations (used to offset their travel expenses). Donations can be dropped off at 347 Stewart Avenue. The Fire Department volunteers are traveling the weekend of Dec. 8 to deliver these items to the two bases.

The Garden City Police Department and the Garden City Fire Department are accepting donations for "Toys for Tots." Any new toy donation should be unwrapped and dropped off at either the Garden City Police or Fire Department. The deadline for donations is Dec. 22. The Marines will be picking up the donations at that time. I thank you for your generosity and ask that you give in the spirit of the holiday season to those who are less fortunate than we are.

Our village is blessed with many traditions, which warm the hearts and memories of all who live and have lived here. One of these is the Annual Tree Lighting at The Garden City Hotel held Monday, Nov. 27. It was a pleasure to bring congratulations to the guest of honor, John Kominicki, president and publisher of Long Island Business News.

I would also like to thank Garden City Hotel President Cathy Nelkin Miller and Executive Vice President and Managing Director Patrick Smalley for their continued leadership in our community especially in continuing to host this annual Christmas Tree Lighting tradition that has a special impact on the children -is what makes Garden City such a special place.

I encourage residents to stop in and visit the hotel; it is particularly beautiful during the holiday season.

The Department of Public Works continued the leaf collection process and has completed its third pass through the entire village. The fourth pass starting in the Western section of the village began, weather conditions permitting, last Friday or Saturday. Collections will then continue in the Estates section finishing up in the Central and Eastern sections on a street-by-street basis.

We ask that residents observe the following guidelines:

Place only leaves in the street; other items may damage machinery and slow down the operation. Do not place leaves on medians and malls as this will kill or damage the grass. For safety reasons, our streets are cleaned of leaves on a more frequent schedule than are the medians. If you have a gardener, instruct them to place your leaves in the street, and not on the medians. Some gardeners find it convenient to bring leaves in from other communities in which they work for disposal by the village. This practice is prohibited and the Police Department will be issuing summonses. Avoid parking cars over leaves as this slows our operation considerably, and is also a fire hazard. Each year a number of cars are seriously damaged or destroyed by fire as result of their being parked on dry leaves. Please do not obscure fire hydrants by piling leaves around them.

Last fall the Street Department along with the Parks Department removed 20,000 cubic yards of leaves. These leaves were then turned into mulch and were made available cost free for use by residents and landscapers. This recycling of leaves saves the village thousands of dollars annually in disposal costs. Our combined efforts will keep our village beautiful and reduce waste. If you have any questions concerning our leaf collection schedule, call the Department of Public Works at 465-4003.

Once again, homes in Garden City are decorated with wreaths and garlands reflecting the holiday season. Our Police and Fire Departments are urging homeowners to take particular care in their decorating so as not to impair the visibility of their house numbers. A properly displayed house numeral will save precious minutes when our emergency services are responding to your home. Please cooperate and help us to help you. Residents in the Village of Garden City are very fortunate in having a vital business community comprised of merchants who are committed to serve us from their shops along Franklin Avenue, Seventh Street and New Hyde Park Road. I urge each of you to continue to patronize these local businesses during the holiday and throughout the year. Our business community wants to know how they are doing, so take a minute the next time you are shopping and let them know what you think about the quality of their products attention to customer service. The Mayor's Committee on St. Paul's has conducted interviews with several of the responders to the Request for Proposals and continues to gather additional information from the responders on these proposals. Interviews will be conducted in mid-December with two of the other responders. Accordingly, there will be no further update on this subject at the Dec. 7 board of trustees meeting.