A smash hit is the only way to describe the Chamber of Commerce's "Taste of Mineola." Almost 400 people were in on the fun sampling the food of Arditos, Eleanor Rigby's, Churrasqueira, the Cornerstone, Piccola Bussola, Caio Baby, the Jericho Terrace, L.I., Gourmet, Massaros, MoJo Coffee House, Plum Tomatoes and Uncle Bacala's. Among those enjoying the fine cuisine were Joanne DeKanchuk, Bob Rosenthal, Dorothy Campbell and Bill Greene. Sal Cataldo of the American Legion and Manny Grilo of the VFW were in charge of the part of the program honoring our armed forces. Proceeds from the evening were sent to aid our men and women in Iraq.

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Speaking of Bill Greene, Long Island's only Irish furrier, he is the owner of Tsontos Furs on Jericho Turnpike. The business was started by Mike Tsontos of Bruce Terrace. In WWII Mike was wounded in the Italian Campaign and taken prisoner by the Germans. Mike spent three years in a German prison camp. He said he was not physically mistreated, but as the war ran on and Germany began to lose, rations for the prisoners were continuously cut until they were down to a single potato and a bowl of soup for the entire day. When he was finally liberated, he was down to a weight of 110 lbs. Bill Greene bought the business nine years ago. He was named Chamber Member of the Year in 2007. At present, he is the administrative secretary of the Chamber and is also a member of the Lions Club. He and his wife, Lynn, live on Jerome Avenue.

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A huge crowd attending Easter Mass at Corpus Christi Church heard an inspiring homily by Msgr. Edward Tarrant. I was unable to attend, but Jim Agnew took my place in the center aisle. Everybody said it was a huge improvement.

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Retired NYC Police Sgt. Gavin Duffy and his sons, Cody and Tyge, attended a recent Islander game and actually saw them win. Mom Irene is a public school teacher.

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The morning women's coffee klatch having lost their "home" at the Jericho Diner now try different places like "Kiss the Chef," the Williston Town House, the Mineola Diner and the Seacrest.

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Jim and Gina DeGennaro live on Harding Street. Jim has worked for Con Ed for 10 years. His dad, also Jim, works for Mr. Jay.

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Bill Urianek is a retired electrician who served in the Marines during the Korean War. He and his wife, Justine, live on Emory Road. Attending village board meetings, he found former Mayor John Colbert "stubborn, unfair and rude." Mayor Colbert says that he always did all he could to accommodate Mr. Urianek, but nothing seemed to ever be enough. Bill decided to start the Mineola Civic Association along with Sal Cataldo. At first they were denied the use of the village hall and met in Urianek's basement. The weight of public opinion led to Mayor Colbert allowing the civic to use the village hall. Urianek's main thrust is to see the police issue revisited. Mayor Martins says that is not going to happen after the public voted 70 percent against Mineola having its own force.

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Josephine Daly, the optician of Wardwell Road, is a customer of Franwin Pharmacy.

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Secretary's Week is coming up, but is now known as "Administrative Professional's. Week" Bosses always wanted to help their secretaries, but honoring your administrative professional doesn't seem to have the same ring to it. These days everybody has to have fancy titles. Department store clerks are now "Sales Associates," salesmen are now Account Executives, some people want prisoners to be called the Involuntarily Confined. Janitors are now stationary Engineers.

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"To Hop on the Bandwagon." This expression comes from PT Barnum, who in the 19th century would tour his colorful crew of clowns, freaks, giants, bearded ladies and dwarfs on the back of his wagon with music blaring. Small boys would hop on the wagon to ride with the troop. Hence, today any politician who supports a popular cause is said, "To hop on the bandwagon."

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Corpus Christi Pastor James Bowman and Father Tomaz Gomide visited Italy. In September, they plan a trip to Sweden, Norway and Denmark.