Bishop William Murphy has selected Father Robert Batule as director of his Pastoral Intervention Team, the group that will try to clean up the terrible scandal that has hit the Catholic Church. He could not have chosen a better man for the job of routing out the pedophiles. Deacon John Reinhart devoted his homily recently to the same subject. While making no excuses for those who have committed the crimes, he reminded the congregation that 98 percent of the priests have been completely faithful to their vows. Those thinking of cutting their contributions are reminded of all the wonderful work the church does in helping the poor, the disadvantaged, the immigrants and their fine educational system.

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Former Chief of Detectives in Nassau County Ed Curran and John DaVanzo sold chances a few weeks ago for St. Francis Hospital in front of Corpus Christi Church. Ed and his wife Ruth live on Croyden Rd. We also saw John's brother William lending a helping hand.

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Always good to chat with Anthony and Carmela DeMarco of Wilson Blvd.

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Joe and Sue Gibbons of Bauer Place are looking forward to enjoying their summer home in Sag Harbor.

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Les and Muriel Teemsma of Andrews Rd. are planning a cruise to Alaska. Les is a retired NYC Police Sgt. His son Bob is a cop with the Third Precinct and his daughter-in-law Kyle is with the village.

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That attractive bartender at O'Donnell's Irish Pub is Laura Blake of Arlington Rd. Laura has been pouring out these giant pints of Guinness for the last four years. Meanwhile, Martin and Mary O'Donnell have been enjoying a couple of trips to, you guess it, Ireland.

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Helen Powers of Jerome Ave. waits for the bus every morning in front of the Jericho Diner. She notes how often the big trucks park in the bus stop which is at Jericho Tpke. and Royal Ave. She wonders why the police don't ticket the drivers.

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Pat and Joe Rudolph of Birchwood Court had breakfast at our favorite diner. Joe is the father of Tom Rudolph, also a cop and a big Mets fan.

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Bob and Dot Ruehs of Garfield Ave. celebrated their 50th anniversary two years ago at which time their street was named Ruehs Rd. for about three months.

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Anthony Woolever of First St. does a lot of work to help Winthrop Hospital.

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Joe and Arline Cavanaugh celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary recently. Joe is active in the K of C and both he and Arline are involved in the affairs of Corpus Christi Church. To celebrate the occasion Joe and Arline were the guests of Perry and Kathryn Crescimanni at a local restaurant. Both couples are long time residents of the village.

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Glad to report that Manny LoSquadro is doing great after his recent heart attack. Manny and his wife Janet own Hy-Grade Fuel and live in Albertson.

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I hardly ever see license plates from Utah. Saw one the other day and the legend on the plate says, "Utah, the greatest snow on earth."

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Tom Bencivenga had breakfast you know where and is a retired Mineola postman. He delivered our mail for many years. A resident of Brown St. he was with the P.O. for 40 years.

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We received word that Trent Donofrio has died in Florida. Trent was president of the Senior Citizens Club and a president of the Italian-American Association.

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Jim Gillick is retired police officer who now works at the Shamrock Station on Herricks Rd. He and his wife Maureen live on Ellsworth Ave. Maureen works at the Village Hall.

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We seem to have difficult facing reality. There are no more "used cars," they are now "pre-owned cars." Older people are now "senior citizens." I even heard a fellow who was broke say he was "financially embarrassed."