What a beautiful voice Christina Errico has. She was one of the soloists at Midnight Mass at Corpus Christi. Christine is the daughter of Vito and Rose, owners of Vito's Bakery on Main Street.

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The opening of the renovated library made us think of the little house which served as our library when we first came to Mineola. It was a little one-room building located at the corner of Mineola Boulevard and Banbury Road. The librarian was Charlotte Schmidt and she had a staff of one.

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If you see a fellow with cowboy boots, sombrero, white beard and mustache and with a western look about him, that's "Blackie" the country western caller who performs at the Knights of Columbus weekly. He often stops at La Cisterna for a drink before the dance.

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Ed and Lillian Barnola enjoyed lunch at Mahoney's.

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To get a look at our future, see the sketch at Station Plaza North and Third Street opposite Astoria Bank. It's a rendition tying our historical past to the future. Storefronts are upgraded, there's increased parking, paved sidewalks, new trees, lampposts and benches. It looks something like Seventh Street in Garden City.

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Carol Mahoney, real estate saleswoman for Century 21 Laffey, lives on Andrews Road. Her husband, Bill, a former fire chief, is the nephew of the late Tom Mahoney. Tom used to write the fire department news column for the Mineola American. He was a great photographer and the organizer of the annual Williston Fire Department Breakfast.

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Tony Aragona of Lincoln Avenue is that friendly fellow with the white beard who always gases up at the Shamrock Station on Herricks Road.

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We are sorry to see Chapter II Bookstore go out of business. We always thought the village could support a bookstore.

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Former owners George and Louie often stop in at the Jericho Diner. As most will remember, it was then called the Dorian Diner. The original eatery was the Dixie Diner, which opened in 1952 and was like an old-fashioned railroad car establishment. Jim Trucks was the owner and he was one of the founders of the Mineola Lions Club. Jim's widow, Mary, was a longtime employee of the village and recently passed away.

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Sal Lombardo has just recently moved to Mineola and has already proved himself to be a good neighbor. During the recent snowstorm, he plowed all of his neighbors' sidewalks doing about half of Beebe Road. Cheers for him and his wife Michele. Other good Samaritans who helped their elderly neighbors on Beebe Road were Lou Gagliano, Gavin Duffy and Nugent Cantileno Jr. Lou is also well-known as a jogger who runs vigorously, carrying weights.

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Tony Donnelly of Marcellus Road has a good sense of humor. When you call his number his voice comes on "If you want Beverly (his wife) press 1, if you want Tony press 2, and if you are selling something, hang up." Tony is head usher at Corpus Christi Church.

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Corpus Christi, which is celebrating its 100th Anniversary, has some hardy parishioners. The Sunday that kicked off the year-long celebration found Mineola decked with heavy snow. In spite of the weather, 240 people attended the luncheon at the New Hyde Park Inn. Just 10 people who had reservations failed to appear. A concelebrated Mass was held at the church, before the lunch, with Bishop John Dunne the celebrant. It was wonderful to see Father Kenneth Winkler there for the great occasion. Father Winkler, the pastor, is suffering a grave illness. After Mass, he stayed in the lobby to receive the good wishes of hundreds of parishioners.

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Memorial Park looks great this time of year with, as an old song goes, The snow laying all about crisp white and even.

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That lady with the delightful Irish brogue is Tilly McPartland. She tells us that she and Noel are moving from Wellington Road to Williston Park.

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Mineola Justice John O'Shea reports that his court disposed of 112 moving violation cases, plus 22 other kinds of violations and collected for 4,163 parking tickets during December. Judge O'Shea reports that one trial was held and two warrants for arrest were issued.