Mill Neck Hosts Successful 50th Annual Apple Festival

Event features vendors and all things fall on Long Island

The Mill Neck Family Organizations, who operate a facility at 501 South Broadway in Hicksville to assist deaf adults in communicating, hosted its 50th annual Apple Festival at Mill Neck School for the Deaf on Saturday, Oct. 8 and Sunday, Oct. 9, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Throughout the two unseasonably warm fall days, vendors from all over Long Island, including Karl Ehmer meats and cheese, offered jellies, jams, honeys, baked goods to patrons in attendance. Hundreds of supporters were already at the festival at 10:45 a.m. and ranged from infants in strollers to elderly in wheelchairs, and everybody else in between.

Companies Overcharged Taxpayers for School Lunches

Hicksville among 30 school districts and education providers to be reimbursed

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced on Oct. 5 a $1.6 million settlement with a food service provider for illegally overcharging school districts and other education providers. The Suffolk County-based Whitsons Culinary Group received savings from food vendors it worked with, but did not pass on those savings to customer schools, resulting in more than $800,000 in illegal charges, Schneiderman stated. Whitsons must now pay $1.6 million to the state and affected school districts, and comply with a series of reforms to improve transparency in its contracting and service.

Sarah Grace Foundation Announces 2011 Holiday Extravaganza

Month-long raffle offers 30 days to win prizes

The Sarah Grace Foundation For Children With Cancer, Inc., based in Hicksville, recently announced that a limited number of tickets are currently on sale for the 2011 Holiday Extravaganza, a month-long raffle for various prizes.

Throughout the month of November, the foundation will be holding a raffle-a-day and each $20 ticket purchased will be entered into the month-long raffle for such prizes as movie and restaurant gift certificates with the grand prize, a $150 Visa gift card, drawn on Thanksgiving Day.

Touring the Mill Neck Manor House

A taste of history, a glimpse of the future

The doors to the Mill Neck Manor House are ancient. Open them and leave the past behind.

Walk inside and you enter the place where a vision to educate deaf children in a loving, family environment grew into The Mill Neck Family of Organizations that includes award-winning schools for deaf children and adults and children with speech and language delays and autism spectrum disorders, innovative teacher training, job-seeking and creating programs, ground-breaking technology and research and so much more. The forward thinking and concrete action that flourished behind these doors thrives to this day and promises a future as rich as its past.

Senate Hearing Calls Out LIPA’s ‘Failure’ After Irene

LI Senators Say Investigation Needed Before LIPA Renews National Grid Contract

Senator Carl Marcellino questioned LIPA and National Grid representatives last week, introducing a State Senate hearing with wording that many on the island might use at this point: “What the hell happened?”

After Tropical Storm Irene left many Long Island residents, municipal facilities and even emergency responders without power for days, and some for over a week, New York state senators held a hearing, first, to determine what went wrong in LIPA and National Grid’s storm preparedness plans and, second, to call for a delay in the renewal of the contract between LIPA and National Grid until an independent review can be done to see if Long Island could be better served by a different arrangement.

BOE Prez Edelman Discusses Upcoming Year

Hicksville resident says district ‘maintaining strong fiscal management’

Recently elected Board of Education President Anthony Edelman took some time to discuss his new post and what’s in store for the board and the district for the 2011-2012 school year.

Q: Describe your road to becoming the Hicksville Board of Education president.

Since 2006, I have served as a trustee of the Hicksville Union Free School District Board of Education and am Board President for the 2011-2012 school year. I also serve as an elected member on the Nassau Suffolk School Board Association Executive Committee and Legislative Sub-Committee, and remain very active in community, church, and other professional and charitable organizations. I am a graduate of the University of Phoenix with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and an Assistant Vice President at Bethpage Federal Credit Union, a community-based, full-service financial institution, committed to providing their members with extraordinary value and service, anytime, anywhere. I am married to Theresa Edelman; we have lived in Hicksville for 22 years, and our daughter Margaret graduated from Hicksville High School in 2010.

New Exhibit Pays Homage to Fallen Nassau County Firefighters

“Lives of Service; Celebrating the Heroes of September 11” unveiled in Garden City

An ice hockey jersey, a set of Irish bagpipes, a beloved pair of Timberland boots are just some of the personal mementos that once belonged to the 18 active Nassau County firefighters who perished on Sept. 11 and are now part of a new exhibit held in Garden City.

Last week, the Nassau County Firefighter’s Museum opened its new 5,000-square-foot exhibition, entitled “Lives of Service; Celebrating the Heroes of September 11.” While many 9/11 exhibits are taking place throughout New York this month, Museum Director Alana Petrocelli explained that the Nassau County Firefighter Museum’s exhibit focuses on the personal lives and stories of the local residents who died on that tragic day. A year in the making, the monumental project was the brainchild of Firefighter Museum President Angelo Catalano.

Hicksville Fire Department, Community Remembers 9/11

More than 130 firefighters, 150 residents in attendance at Station 3 ceremony

On Sunday, Sept. 11, Hicksville firefighters, families and residents gathered at the department’s memorial site at Station 3 on West John St. to remember the events of a decade ago and honor department members Ex-Captain/PAPD officer George Howard and Ex-Chief Terry Farrell, FDNY/HFD/DHFD and nine victims who lived in Hicksville at that time or resided here or at one time came from here.

The ceremony chairman, Ex-Chief/Water District Commissioner Karl Schweitzer welcomed all who came to honor the memory of those lost. Brenden McLoughlin sang the National Anthem and a brief address was given by Chief of Department Edward Korona Jr. followed by Ex-Chief / Chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners William Thunell. Chief Thunell was Chief of Department during 9/11. He spoke briefly about the departments operations at ground zero right after the towers collapsed and for weeks after.

Sarah Grace Foundation Named Official LI Regional Chemo Duck Sponsor

September is childhood cancer awareness month

Each year, approximately 12,000 children are diagnosed with cancer, an average of 36 children each and every day. While tremendous advances in treatments have been made, childhood cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease among children ages 1 to 14 with approximately 4,000 innocent lives lost each year. This number is so alarming that September is designated as National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

To recognize this tragic number and raise awareness of childhood cancer, the Hicksville-based Sarah Grace Foundation for Children With Cancer, Inc. is asking the community to observe Childhood Cancer Awareness Month with Gold Ribbon Days. Gold Ribbons, the official ribbon for childhood cancer worldwide, are worn to honor and remember children with cancer and those who lost their battle.

Hicksville FD Announces September 11th Memorial Services

Hicksville Volunteer Fire Department Chief Edward Korona recently announced the final plans to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Sept. 11. The Hicksville Fire Department will commemorate the somber anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 11 starting at 11 a.m. at the Strong Street Fire Station memorial. The memorial was erected in memory of Ex-Chief Terrence Farrell and Honorary Chief George Howard, who lost their lives while performing rescue efforts on Sept. 11, 2001.

Ex-Chief Farrell was a member of Citizens Engine Company 3 and elite member of the New York City Fire Department, Rescue 4, and Honorary Chief Howard was an ex-captain of Emergency Company 5 and member of the Port Authority Police Department working out of JFK Airport in the Emergency Services Bureau.