The recent death of Tony Palmer made me think of the glory days of Hofstra football teams when Tony was guard and John DaVanzo was their star quarterback. Tony and John were also teammates at Mineola High when again John was quarterback and Tony was on the line.

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Hurrah for the village for having the courage to turn down the proposal to allow a developer to buy Clarissa Road. They planned to build a large shopping center. We surely have enough stores, enough noise and enough congestion in Mineola.

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Maryann Langone is that attractive new saleslady at Radiant Realty. She and her husband Michael live on Elderberry Road. Emilia D'Urso owns Radiant.

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Good to hear from Nancy Chardt, formerly of Mineola, who graduated from Mineola Middle School with our daughter Sr. Annmarie Sanders. Nancy lives in San Diego.

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Tom and Marie Kelly live on Jerome Ave. Tom is an usher at Corpus Christi Church. They have just recently returned to the village after living four years in Sheepshead Bay. The lived near the spot where the racetrack called Sheepshead Bay existed at the end of the19th century. In that time of Lillian Russell and Diamond Jim Brady there were also tracks at Gravesend and Brighton Beach.

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Jack Cooke of Columbus Parkway passed away two years ago. His son, Tom, runs their shop TK Gifts and is ably assisted by Phyllis Alfiere. Jack's widow, Dolores, used to be on the village pool board.

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Speaking of the pool, it was decided to have only intramural meets from now on with Mineola teams competing against other Mineola teams. In the past we participated in meets against Floral Park and Williston Park. The continuous bickering between the parents of the swimmers forced us to cancel this type of competition. Don't forget that the pool will be open daily from 8 to 9:45 a.m. for adult swimming.

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Bob Graf is the custodian at the village hall. He used to own a pizza store in the village called "Poppy Joe's."

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Frank and Maryann Iaquinto of Dow Ave. do a wonderful job as Eucharistic ministers at Corpus Christi Church.

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Josephine and Robert Liebl live on Arlington St. Josephine is one of the few people around who was actually born in Mineola. She remembers when Msgr. Edmund Fitzgerald was the pastor of Corpus Christi. She graduated from the church's school.

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Father Tomaz Gomide of the same church is planning to lead a trip to Australia and New Zealand in the fall.

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Recently met Lisa and Kenny Cotroneo and daughter Marissa of Beebe Road. Lisa is active in village affairs.

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Tony Kaider and his wife Barbara used to live on Elm Place. Tony worked for the village for many years. He and his wife now live in Freeport and are planning a trip to New Orleans.

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Stride-Rite shoes in Williston Park is still going strong after 41 years. We were sorry to see his next door neighbor Trunz close.

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John Rainone of Watkins Drive tells us that he worked for the highway department for 22 years.

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The Mineola American will be 50 yeas old in September. It hardly seems that a half a century has passed since Grace and I decided to start a newspaper in Mineola. A big commemorative issue is planned for September.

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If I may be permitted a personal note. One of our granddaughters, Kim Sanders of New Hyde Park, who is an honor student at Kellenberg Memorial HS studies Latin. On a National Exam she was rated as the third highest Latin student in the US.

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Our meter people continue to do a fine job keeping traffic moving. They are Lori McCarron, Florence Peterson, Frank Syracuse, Stan Stone, Stuart Goldstein and Ron Rentel.

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