Just this past weekend I was at the high school's graduation ceremony at Farmingdale University and I happened to bump into someone I had known from my previous job at a deli on Park Blvd.

We talked for a little while and he told me that he and his family have enjoyed reading the Observer over the past few years. And, as it turned out, his family were old friends with mine, who lived near my old home on Ocean Ave. in Massapequa Park. This made me think...

For all the hundred of miles of roads in Massapequa, for all the tens of thousands of people who live in the community, and for all the numerous businesses that thrive on our local economy, Massapequa really is a small town.

Over the past two and a half years with the Massapequan Observer, I've been able to meet and know so many people in this small town. And the more people I meet, the more I learn that so many local residents have a link to someone else in Massapequa.

In other words, we all know each other.

But, as much as I've enjoyed spending time talking and learning from my neighbors, my career plans are taking me away from Massapequa and on to higher education. This is my last week as editor of this newspaper, and next week I begin preparing myself for a study abroad at Lancaster University in England.

And so I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the people who have assisted me in the past two years, including Assemblyman Steve Labriola, School Board President Robert Thompson, Rich Conway, Tricia Caputo, Madeline Rosenberg, Scott and Christine Wiss, School Trustees Ric Sorvillo and Mike DiDonato, Nancy Fishetti and Troy Diaz from Nassau BOCES, Superintendent James Brucia, Supervisor John Venditto, TOB Commissioner of Youth Services Bruce Foley, Legislator Peter Schmitt, Ginny Brown, Mayor George Nussbaum, Joan Ott, Dawn Homatos, Dr. Janis Holdridge, John H. Meyer, Helen St. Nicholas, Elma Corpus-Vinas, Arlene Goodenough, Alice Mateos, the Massapequa Elks Lodge and the Massapequa Kiwanis Club.

Next week Jennifer Alexis-Woods will take over as editor of the Observer and I am certain she will do an excellent job. Jennifer holds a degree in journalism from SUNY New Paltz and has written for several publications. She has struck me as a conscientious and focused individual who will work well with the community and continue to maintain the Observer as the number one source for local information in the Massapequas.

Eric Usinger