Jewel is indeed the appropriate word for the John S. DaVanzo Community Pool. It is often called the jewel in Mineola's crown. The all too-short season is over after a banner year with record attendance. On a recent visit with Kristofer Seibt, Denis Clark, Kerri O'Connell, Joan DiFranco, Maureen Padovano, Rhonda and Colin Kaletsky, Nathan and Laura Wenger, Kevin Clifford, Bill and Barbara Grant and grandson, Michael, Hilda Nagler, Joe McCarthy, Christine Stalzer, Joanne Paradiso-Awadallah, Victoria Awadallah, Pam McWeeney, Dinetta Garcia, Dawn Cox and children, Jenna, Kristen and TJ, Gina Buongiovanni and children, Alexa and Zachary, Linda, Mathew and Nicholas Ramos, Michael, Noele, Henry and Charlie Villa, Matt, Nancy, Aileen, Erin and Colleen Miller, Lina, Anabella and Anthony Agosto, Gabriel, Natalia and Christian Suarez, George Papadimatos, Gloria and Megan Corrao, Peter Picone, Pat and Christine Echausse, Lindsay, Matt and Laura Echausse, Pat Strauss, Kathy McKillop, Heinz Neumann, lifeguard Patricia Roth, Dorothy Lynch and a man who comes every day, Joe DiGiorgio. Joe, with his late wife, Louise, was the founder of the Mineola Ambulance Corps.

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Catholic Home Care does a great job providing some very professional and dedicated women like Judith Paulsen, Donna McLaughlin and Juliette Mahoney. Ms. Paulsen is an RN from East Williston, Ms. McLaughlin is a therapist and Juliette Mahoney is a health aide living on Westbury Avenue with her husband, Tom and daughters. They have five daughters, Denise, Corine, Eileen, Liz and Susan.

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Bill and Barbara Grant of Mineola just returned from a trip to Rome, Florence and Venice.

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Corpus Christi Church is seeking adult altar servers, no experience is necessary, just a love for the Eucharist.

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Msgr. Edward Tarrant of Corpus Christi talked about the Catechism in his homily. "The Church," he said, "is Holy, Catholic and Apostolic." He stated that "Catholic" means universal and thus the hope that all Christians would one day be one and not divided into Roman Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox.

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That church's fundraiser has some top-notch prizes: No. 1 is all expenses paid, three days in Miami or Orlando; second prize is a sport bike from Mineola Bicycle and the third is a $200 gift certificate to Churrasqueria, courtesy of Manny Carvalito. Chances are just $5 and the drawing is Sept. 13. You don't have to be present to win.

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John Kennedy of Clinton Avenue, has written an unusual kind of book and has mentioned our village in it a couple of times. He is seeking a literary agent and hopes to publish the book shortly. He and his wife, Judith , have lived here for 18 years. John is retired from Con Ed.

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Maryann Langone is a good member of the pool board, in fact, she and her husband, Mike, came just about every day.

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I did a dumb thing, yet again, when I failed to check my voice mail and went to the pool for the public meeting, only to learn that it was cancelled. I had received the message but failed to check. More serious was the fact that members of the general public had no way of knowing about the cancellation. Several people showed up and were not happy about not being informed. In fact, one woman was really furious. If we are going to cancel these public meetings, we need a way to tell the public at large.

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Joe Smith stopped into Franwin Pharmacy. It was the first time in 25 years since he left Mineola. He remembers Irv and Fran Slotkin. Joe is an accountant.

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Paul Kazdan covered the Olympics for AP where he has worked for 25 years. Paul lives in Washington with his wife, Mona. His mother is Ruth Kazdan, who was a reporter for this newspaper for more than 30 years, covering school and village board meetings. His dad was the late Lenny and the family lived on Colonial Avenue.

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John Macedo and son, John Paul, along with Maria and August Pereira, dined at the Churrasqueria. John is the code enforcer for the Town of North Hempstead and chairman of the Planning Board.

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Mary O'Donnell is doing very well in spite of her illness. She and Martin own the pub by the same name. The are parishioners of St. Aidan's. Martin visits his best pal, Branden Campbell, every day at Sunharbor.

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Sandy Pusey is so helpful at Kuck's Deli. Sandy was part of the Centennial Committee and was in charge of the successful fashion show. Her dad, Bill Heinricks, owns Kuck's.