On the morning of April 24, 1790 two lone horsemen approached the home of Hendrick Onderdonk. One was the president of the United States, George Washington and the other his aide. The family was seated at the breakfast table and had no idea that President Washington was coming. They rushed to the door and greeted the president and invited him to share breakfast with them. The Onderdonk home is now the George Washington Manor in Roslyn. It's hard to imagine the president traveling almost alone and coming unannounced, but things were way different 200 years ago.

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Those ladies who have breakfast at the Jericho Diner almost every morning after the 9 a.m. Mass at Corpus Christi Church are Vera Barrick, Eileen Leone, Mary Jane Deignan, Marty Becker, Teddy McCormack and Alice Grodtzke.

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Recently saw the Islanders defeat the Canadiens 3 to 1. At the hockey game we met Bruce and Maryann Byrnes and Joe Tartaglia. The Byrnes are season ticket holders and Joe has a half season ticket. The Isles have lost 20 percent of their season ticket holders and attendance is way down. The Islanders have priced their tickets so high that fewer and fewer of us can afford to go.

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The woman lay reader at Corpus Christi Church with the classy English accent is Christina Barcos who lives with her husband Claude on Emory Road.

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Louise Zobrist lives on White Road. Some may remember her father-in-law who owned Zobrist's Tailor Shop on Main Street some 50 years ago. When he died Louise and her husband Ed took over the shop. Ed was a member of the Mineola Fire Department and died in a tragic accident at the firehouse when he fell down a flight of steps. The shop is long gone now. It was located near where Fox's is today. Louise and her dad Larry Rucker were members of our old Mineola Tennis Club. Louise is still in the cleaning business and works for a shop in Roslyn Heights. She is also an active member of the First Presbyterian Church.

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Vinnie Lupinacci spent 33 years in the NY City Police Department. The last 12 years he was a detective and he tells us that he still misses the force in his retirement. Vinnie, who lives on McKinley Parkway often attends and speaks at village board meetings and at Mineola Civic Association meetings.

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Good to see former Mineola Mayor Stanley Krause still works in his yard at the age of 92.

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Father Tomaz Gomide of Corpus Christi Church will soon be traveling to Italy. Father Gomide who has served the parish for the past 25 years is beginning to rival the pope himself in the number of countries he has visited. You name the country and our traveling priest has most likely been there.

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Having served four years in the combat engineers in WWII, I have watched the memorial in the park with some interest. The village recently implanted eight stars in each of the eight sides of the monument. Legion commander Sal Cataldo, tells us that he was very disappointed in the way it came out. Sal said the problem was a lack of communication between the Legion, the VFW and the village. He said that the fault lays with the village. I thought it looked pretty good but you can be the judge.

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John Jackson, assistant superintendent of schools, lunched at the Jericho.

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It was a sad end for La Cisterna restaurant which after 35 years is gone. The building was seized by the state for non-payment of taxes. The Chamber of Commerce which met there for many years now goes to Piccola Bussola at 159 Jericho Tpke. The next meeting will be Dec. 16, the holiday party with singing by the Mineola Choral Society. The Chamber plans to have Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy as guest speaker in January and County Executive Tom Suozzi in February. On Dec. 1, the Chamber held its annual "We Are Mineola" night at the Chateau Briand. Outstanding members of the community were honored.

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Donna Coulon of Latham Road works as a special education teacher at Hampton St. School and she also works at Mid Island Dental Center in Williston Park. She and her husband Robert have four daughters.

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Good luck to the new Ladies Workout Center of Gail Stevens at 142B Jericho Turnpike, next door to Churrasqueira, the wonderful Portuguese restaurant.

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When Robert Durst was found "not guilty" after admitting he killed his neighbor and cut up his body, the NY Post had a great headline: "Run for Your Life."