When you think of it we have a pretty great village. A volunteer fire department and a volunteer ambulance corps both of which do a wonderful job at no cost to the taxpayer. We have a brand new community swimming pool whose use is restricted to village residents. We have a beautiful new village hall with meeting and recreational facilities and ample parking. The hall is used, free of charge, by the Leisure and Golden Age Clubs. We have a free public library soon to be completely renovated. We have rear door garbage collection, prompt street cleaning and snow removal. Mayor Colbert and company are doing a good job. If this seems like an endorsement of the ruling Village Party, it is not. All these things were brought about because we have a good two-party system and many of these initiatives were supported by the opposition Hometown Party.

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It's always a pleasure meeting Tilly McPartland of Wellington Road who has such a lilting Irish accent.

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Another friendly lady we had a chance to talk to the other day is Kay Dwyer of Evelyn Road who I often meet at T.K.'s Gifts.

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Mike Chiusano of Evelyn Road is a good friend of Joe and Catherine Mannix of Royal Avenue. Mike often visits Joe at the rehabilitation center in Hempstead. Joe, by the way, is doing very well. Another member of the Mannix family we had a chance to talk to was their daughter Kathleen who like her parents has a spirited uplifting look on life.

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Scott Fairgrieve was in the office last week with a copy of the old Mineola Home News dated June 1934. That venerable paper ceased publication in 1943. Grace and I started the Mineola American in 1952. For the preceding nine years there was no newspaper in the village. The Home News edition was in perfect condition with no torn pages. It will be donated to the Historical Society.

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Joe and Bridie Kirby of Wilson Boulevard celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary with dinner at Glenerin (where else?). Joe hails from County Kerry and Brigid from Meath.

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Redundancies are unnecessary repeating of words. Like every ad says, "We have free gifts." The word gift means it's free. Whoever heard of a "paid gift?" Another example is "This point in time." Our friend William Safire in The NY Times comes up with a few others like "revert back," "general consensus," "safe haven" and "sworn affidavit."

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It was good meeting Cheryl Williams and her children Christopher, 11 and Stephanie 8. Cheryl and her husband Ken live on Pennsylvania Avenue.

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New York City cop Gavin Duffy of Beebe Road has been promoted to sergeant. He and his wife Irene have a 2-year-old son Cody.

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Bonnie Price, formerly of Mineola, was up from Florida. Some may remember her husband who owned Price's Hardware.

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Joe Pimenta of Clemens Road now works for Laffey Century 21.

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There was a splendid wedding of Elizabeth Cardoso and Roy Carvalho at Corpus Christi Church on June 14. Roy and his parents Manuel and Luisa Carvalho own Churrasqueira Bairrada Rodisio Restaurant on Jericho Turnpike (best Portuguese restaurant on LI). The reception was at Jericho Terrace.

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As many of you know I speak Spanish and I now have an ardent pupil in Kristin Bonfanti, our vivacious receptionist at Anton Newspapers. Kris learns very fast and is a pleasure to help.

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Lou Santosus was noting how many Mineola homes are getting new roofs these days. There have been five in our neighborhood alone.

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Peter Golobin lunched at Jericho Diner last week with a business acquaintance Matt Stewart of Manchester, England.

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Those determined raccoons are back in action again turning over garbage cans and ripping open garbage bags. Even bungee cords do not stop them from prying open lids.