Letter: Reflections

Anton Community Newspapers • 132 East 2nd Street • Mineola, NY 11501 • Phone: 516-747-8282 • FAX: 516-742-5867

Letter: Reflections

Friday, 12 October 2012 00:00

On Wednesday I will close the sale of my childhood home at 221 McKinley Parkway, Mineola. My parents Joseph and Gilda Jansen moved to Mineola in June of 1953 and raised four siblings and myself in the village. My father died in 2008 and my mother passed away in December of 2011. This simple real estate transaction severs my physical connection to Mineola.

However, I have only the fondest and warmest memories of my childhood there in the 1950s and 1960s. There was something very different about that now bygone era.

My parents and our neighbors on McKinley Parkway were urban pioneers. For the most part they left various boroughs of New York City and attached themselves to their piece of the American dream on small lots in Mineola. Those pioneers shared the common psychic scar of the Great Depression and elation at having fought and vanquished totalitarianism in World War II.

They brought that common experience to Mineola and it was the foundation and the cornerstone of a cohesive community, which struggled and scraped for a better life for its children. These were people with a strong work ethic and willingness to sacrifice for the betterment of their families. I think that those humble people succeeded at that task far more than they ever dreamed possible.

I salute my loving parents and the Hutters, and Flinns and Lupinaccis and Fitzpatricks and so many others on McKinley Parkway for indeed they were risk-taking pioneers who formed and crafted a piece of the American Dream for those who followed them.

I may have severed my physical ties to Mineola with the sale of a house but the memories of that time and place will remain deep in my memory as long as I shall live.

John J. Jansen
Mineola resident

News

Night On The Town May 22

Saturday, 18 May 2013 00:00

Dinner and dancing benefits Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Night on the Town began about eight years ago, when the Church of St. Aidan in Williston Park was looking to raise money. Mineola resident Harry Zapiti stepped in.

He brought the idea to St. Aidan’s board. All Zapiti wanted was the support.

One ReFill At A Time

Friday, 17 May 2013 00:00

East Williston resident stumping for greener future

The future is green and Wheatley School student Graham Turk is making it a point to remind you, one less plastic bottle at a time.

Turk’s environment-friendly initiative, the ReFill Project, which started in 2011 at the Wheatley School, seeks to reduce the use of disposable plastic water bottles in schools. Last year, the East Williston resident headed the installation of two water refill stations in the Old Westbury school’s halls.

Sports

MAA Travel Soccer News

Friday, 17 May 2013 00:00

Travel Soccer Tryout Dates Announced

The Mineola Athletic Association’s soccer program will be holding its annual tryouts for their travel soccer teams in early June. Boys and girls in the U10, U11, and U12 age groups are invited to tryouts on Monday, June 3 and Thursday, June 6.

All interested athletes are encouraged to attend both try-out sessions, which will be held at Wilson Park on Field 3 (behind the pool and at the end of Liberty Avenue). For more information on practice times, age qualification, commitment, etc. please visit the MAA Web site at www.mineolaaa.org

Athlete Of The Week

Friday, 17 May 2013 00:00

Ashley Stavish, 17

MHS Girls Lacrosse

Ashley Stavish is a member of the Mineola Girl’s Lacrosse team. Ashley has been a four-year member of the varsity team and is a co-captain. In 2012 she was voted by Nassau County Girls Lacrosse Association to be an All Conference player.