"We Are Mineola" night was a success with the former mayors of the village being honored. Chairwoman Teri Ranfone did her usual good job as did Chamber of Commerce President Carmela Bernacchio. The affair is sponsored annually by the chamber and is held at the Chateau Briand. Among those we had a chance to talk to were Bill Henley, Joe Sellitto, Evelyne Smith, Matt Smith and his wife Joanne, Gary Katz, Nancy Black, Robbin Valentine, Dick O'Callaghan, John DaVanzo, Joe Galante, Mike Arens, Eleanor Colbert, Jerry and Muriel Mehlman, Jack Baker, Larry Blessinger and Phil Fortuna.

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We lost one of our Corpus Christi ushers with the death of Alfred (Fred) Calfapietra on Dec. 5, 2003. Fred had an heroic record in the army when he fought against the Japanese in WWII. He was with Merrill's Marauders, MARS TASK FORCE, 475th Infantry CBI campaign. Fifty-five years ago his dad had a newspaper stand at the corner of Jericho Tpke. and Willis Ave. Our condolences to his sister Mary and other members of his family.

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we thank our neighbor Lou Gagliano for snow plowing our walk during the recent storm. The village, by the way, did a great job of keeping the roads plowed.

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Bill VonBlomberg and Mary Danna both of Marcellus Rd. enjoyed dinner at the Villa Margherita.

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Dan Barry of the New York Times had a fine column on the recent death of Sr. Kathleen Toner, IHM. Sister Kathleen, despite a devastating illness, fought for the poor and less fortunate in New York City for most of her life and died too soon at the age of 59. She was a friend of our daughter Sr. Annmarie.

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Out for an early morning Thanksgiving Day walk I met Lou Librandi with his children Nicholas, 3, and Michael, 1. Lou is a member of the Knights and was actually born in Mineola 43 years ago. He and his wife Nancy live on Andrews Rd. Later I met John Vifiadis who lives on White Rd. with his wife Maria and children Steffan and Christina. John owns JV Painting Co.

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There is no business in the village older than Vincenti's Barber Shop on Willis Ave. Vincenti's has been keeping the male population looking trim since 1925.

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Glad to see the 2-year-old NY Sun doing well. They have now added a magazine section. I don't usually agree with the editorials but wish any newspaper well especially as it is a continuation of the old NY Sun started in the 1830s. The oldest paper in America, believe it or not, is the wild NY Post started by Alexander Hamilton in 1801.

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Another fellow-suffering Islander fan is Deacon Brian Mannix who saw the locals lose to the Flyers 5 to 1.

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All those wonderful figures of soldiers, Santas, elves, canes and reindeers on the front lawn of the home of Ron and Kathy Woyciechowski of Beebe Rd. were hand carved by Ron himself.

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Joe Cavanaugh celebrated his 80th birthday in December and a party was held for him at the Davenport Press with 70 people attending. He and Arline live on Albertson Pl.

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Mayor Jack Martins tells me that he is really keen on the village getting its own police force. He says if it's any way financially possible he will do it. The mayor said that this would not affect the jobs of our meter people in any way. He told me that the four light vehicles the village owns which are powered by electricity have been stored in the village garage for the winter.

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Larry Young, owner of Young's Taxi, had lunch at the Jericho Diner.

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I also met Ed and Dorothy Onorato and daughter Lucille enjoying breakfast at the favorite diner.

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I was not happy reading about the "Irish Hunger Memorial" in lower Manhattan being in such a state of neglect. This memorial was erected only a year ago and commemorates the million Irish who died of hunger in 1847 in the face of British indifference.