President Bush and Laura sent me a birthday card. I got to be acquainted with Mr. Bush when I tried to get him to come here for our 100th year celebration. He was unable to come, but sent me a Centennial greeting which we used on the first page of our journal. I thank the president for remembering my 84h birthday, July 22.

Alex Arellano is on a month's tour of Australia and New Zealand with the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra. He plays the cello and will be a senior at MHS. Alex has also performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Tilles Center. The family lives on Wellington Road.

Joe Keane of Lewis Place had a hole in one at the Executive Course at Harbor Links, Port Washington. He accomplished the feat using a five wood at a 150-yard hole. It was attested to by a neighbor, John O'Sullivan.

Always good to see Tom Raad around town. He is a financial planner and the man chiefly responsible for our handsome Centennial Journal, along with John Young and Margaret Ann Farmer. He and Mrs. Raad live on Latham Road.

Doesn't Troy Gordon, the leader of the Corpus Christi Choir, have a great voice? I also like the inspiring homilies given by Deacon Brian Mannix.

Great news for Yopp's Station on Mineola Blvd. They now have the franchise for Gulf. Fred Yopp and his dad bought the station from John and Bill DiVans, who owned it many years ago. At that time it was an Esso station.

Some of the thieves get out early. Maryann Ferron had all of her newspapers stolen the other morning about six o'clock. All Times, News, Newsdays and Posts were picked up by someone. Speaking of papers, I read that in 1911, the city and the Island had 21 daily papers. When I went to college, it was down to nine and today we have just four.

Contractor Sean Burke, wife Donna and son Ryan enjoyed a great holiday at Lake George.

Chris and Patty Connelly and kids, Chloe, 5 and Caroline, 3 of Wardwell Road had fun exploring our 1906 Caboose in Memorial Park. Chris works as a salesman.

Elbes and Maria DaSilva of Lincoln Avenue also really like the park and visit it often. Elbes is an auto mechanic.

Michael Sanders of the Mineola Post Office doesn't live here, but really loves our village. He has delivered to five different routes and likes all the people he meets. Michael and I have the same surname, but are not related.

Joe and Cynthia Main and daughter, Gabriela, were enjoying the slide in the park. They live on Marcellus Road.

A man asked me the other day what happened to my old Caddy, which I drove for 25 years. It was a great old classic, but got too expensive to keep. It was 20 feet long, weighed 6,000 lbs. and had a 30-gallon tank. Over the years, I had to replace the gaskets, the alternator, the carburetor, the muffler, the generator and many times the brakes. I still had the original transmission. Imagine if I drove it today, it got five-and-a-half miles on a gallon. I would have gone broke a long time ago.

Jim Howard and wife enjoyed breakfast at the Jericho on July 4th.

Bob Small is a great walker. Five times he has walked from the northern part of Scotland to the English border. Bob has worked for Mr. Jay for 22 years. He and his wife, Elaine, live on Foch Boulevard.

Walter Weismantel, formerly of Mineola and now of Florida, is recovering from an illness. Walter and Grace are two of our closest friends.

Good to hear that Ann Calaci is going to stay in our village. She lost her husband, Dominick a couple of years ago, so many widows move away; It's good to hear that Ann is staying.

The Phillies recently lost their 10,000th game. They were the first team to reach that mark. The Phillies have played for 125 years. The Philadelphia Inquirer had a stock head "Phils Lose, Klein Hits One." Referring to Chuck Klein, who hit 300 homers for them, but is denied the Hall of Fame because the Phillie's ballpark, Baker Field, was so small.

John Conrad was born in Mineola, but now lives in Williston Park. He is a member of the Legion and the Fire Department. For many years he was with the Water Department.

Mike Hofgren is the CEO of Ultra Rail. His plans include several new rail connections, which would benefit commuters and tourists.

Jack Whelan, that popular Irishman who lives with wife, May, on Wardwell Road, gets around with a walker. I see him all over the West End. A couple of years ago Jack was Grand Marshal of the local St. Patrick's Day Parade and did a grand job.