The reason Mineola's schools are in good shape is largely due to the fact that we have always kept politics out of our system. Perhaps the reason the city schools are such a mess is the political interference. Mayor Giuliani appoints three of the seven members and he is now seeking more control. School and politicians don't mix.

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Good to talk to Harold and Loretta Klarman of White Rd., their daughter Maureen Duncan and grandson Kenneth recently. Loretta was baptized and confirmed in Corpus Christi Church and attended parochial school. She is a life long Mineola resident.

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John and Marie Hehman of Mineola enjoyed breakfast at the Jericho Diner. John is the president of the Mineola Historical Society and a train buff. He works for the LIRR. They spent the new year visiting relatives in Pennsylvania.

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During the Christmas season it was good to see Tom Flynn bring up the gifts during Mass accompanied by his parents, Dan and Ann. They live on Kenilworth Rd.

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Karen and Gene Goulet of Andrews Rd. announce the birth of a son, Campbell, on Dec. 11, 1999. They also have a 3-year-old boy, Drew.

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Father Tomaz Gomide, along with two Brazilian priests, enjoyed lunch at Churrasqueira.

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The KFC has not opened because the village is demanding a top-level air purifier called the Fog Hog to be installed to take care of any smoke problems.

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When the Mineola Fair is held in May, the library will still be a work in progress. The village will tidy up the area to make the fair a success. A lot of the debris will be carted away. The village will also lend the fair their hot dog wagon which is on wheels and has a striped umbrella.

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Arlindo Gomes of Lincoln Ave. had coffee the other day at our favorite diner. He is the former owner of the Portuguese restaurant Arlindo's and owns the building that houses the new Heart of Portugal restaurant. Arlindo also owns quite a bit of property in the village.

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Mike and Fay Chiusano of Evelyn Rd. often have lunch at the Jericho.

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The first person to give us a hearty Merry Christmas this season was Joe Wood of Jackson Ave.

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Diane and Peter Haller always arrange for the Mineola Choral Society to render holiday songs for the chamber of commerce's Christmas dinner meeting. For years they have been faithful members of the chamber.

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We had dinner at the Garden City Hotel. Seated a few tables away was the beautiful Susan Lucci.

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I'm reading Ulysses by James Joyce. The story takes place in Dublin in 1912 and although the book is 800 pages long all the action takes place in a single day. The story is that of Leopold Bloom a newspaper advertising salesman for an Irish weekly. They say Ulysses is a book often quoted but that few have actually read. I don't know why - it's an easy read.

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The day after Christmas Father Tom Murphy read part of a column by Bill Reel in Newsday which was a tribute to the Holy Virgin. From here he led into his theme that "God's will be done." Later he quoted Shakespeare's Julius Caesar when he said "The fault dear Brutus lays not in the stars but in ourselves." Father Tom first came to Mineola's Corpus Christi Church 30 years ago. He later left and after an absence of 17 years returned a few years ago serving as the hospital chaplain with Msgr. Eugene Murphy.

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Some of those towns in Western Canada have some great names like Medicine Hat, Swift Current, Moose Jaw, Red Deer and the provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba.

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Found out that Vermont means green mountain. Not too different than the Spanish words Monte Verde with its easy to see Latin origin.