Bayville has great spirit. This month the community is volunteering to create their annual Haunted House is the Bayville Firehouse. It is a fund raiser for the volunteer fire department.

Last Month they took part in the The Cooking Light Healthy Kids Challenge sponsored by the magazine Cooking Light (circulation six million). The magazine included the Bayville Elementary Schools in their new school food and fitness program.

Word has really gotten around about the annual Bayville Haunted House. The day it opened this year, on Friday, Oct. 15, three ladies gave it a great review. Traci Allen of Queens called it "Cool." Elizabeth Fox of Manhattan called it "Very well done." Ellen Fox of Hastings-on-Hudson said "I love the floor and the walls. You can tell they put in the time and effort. It's definitely worth the money.

"We were in Canada and this beats their haunted house!"

Back for the third year, Gail Murtagh of Middle Village brought her friend Sandra Colombi to see the haunted house. People coming out of the house said, "So cool!" "Cool!" "Oh, my God." It just took their breath away.

"Oh, man. I never laughed so hard," said a guy.

"It has everything. You don't know what to expect," said Shari Caso.

Making it the success it is took a lot of work.

"We're not ready yet," said Rae Natale, talking on the phone of Sunday evening Oct. 9, with five days to go. She is the chairperson, along with Alan Tebaldi, for the annual Bayville Haunted House. "But we'll get it all together in time. We always do." They did!

On Friday, Oct. 15, in the front of the firehouse guests were on line waiting to go through the haunted house created in the basement by the volunteers. The crowd has a long wait since visitors go inside in small groups so that they can experience all the fun - part of which is being surprised - a lot.

The Haunted House is open next weekend: Oct. 22, 23, 24, and for their final performances of the year: Oct. 29, 30, 31.

Volunteers worked for months preparing the annual fire house benefit. This past month that meant working every night. Before that is was two or three or four nights a week.

"Last November we said, this is pretty good. We don't have to make any changes - but we did. We've changed over half of it," said Ms. Natale.

"We start to change things and it dominoes. I don't know how it happens." The workers were there the last week from 7 p.m. to midnight.

"About five rooms are different this year and there are a few more automated things which save on manpower but this year it takes 42 people pushing the hydraulics or jumping out in costume. It's a lot of work, but we have a great group that works together to make things happen," she said.

It's not just adults - "The kids came to help in setting things up, but the real work doesn't happen until later when we can think," she said.

There are lots of people involved. They include: the two chairs, Alan Tebaldi and Rae Natale; construction - Bill Toney and Henry Encarnacion; Artie Winckler, pneumatics; Dave Rapelje -everything; costumes and schedules - Marie Barry and Joyce Ammirata; sound - Peter Meringolo; JoAnne Saroka and Leo Mortin did all the artwork. "It's a great crew," said Alan Tebaldi.

That doesn't name all the people involved. There are adults and children dressed in costume; the firemen pitch in and do the security. Grandmothers and mothers sell T-shirts, Halloween items, pastries and coffee. The village has hired Anchor Security of Hempstead. On Friday, two of the guards were on duty at the new Bayville Parklet, to see that everything went well.

Rae Natale said she thought the concept of the haunted house was started by Joe Noto. Alan Tebaldi who was the local florist at the time was the chairman of the event, and he asked Rae to join him. "He dragged me right into it in the first five minutes. I guess I have a good eye for things and I have an eye for what's scary. My phobias are all in there!"

She said in the beginning, "Alan and I used to make it of cardboard and glue and now it's plywood and cement. It was 'fly by night' but now its really professional."

The haunted house began in 1991. She remembered the 1992 Nor'easter, after the flood: "There were 'body parts' floating around" in the basement of the firehouse.

The television media has been good to the Bayville Haunted House, she said. "Channel 5 is going to see if they can broadcast here. Channel 12 is a regular. Mr. G, the weather man for Channel 7 broadcasts from our Phantom of the Opera location. We are very lucky with that," she said.

Pat Natale, Rae's husband is very proud of what his wife has been doing. "It's been very successful and original and it's all done by volunteers. I just go down and she tells me what to do." He is a member of the firehouse board of trustees. His regular job, is managing commercial real estate.

"A few years ago we researched and found that Nassau County has the largest volunteer fire corps in the world. There are 73 departments or companies," he said.

"The Haunted House has been extremely successful for us. People love to visit it. About 13,000 people went through the Bayville Haunted House last year. Some go through more than once. They stand for hours and they don't seem to mind it. The truth is we try to keep them happy. There are little characters running around. The Bat Bar is open offering soda, burgers and fries and pretzels.

"All the workers are volunteers. All the money goes to the fire company to purchase equipment and make improvements. We recently enlarged the building, adding a garage. It was finished 1-1/2 years ago. There is also a new truck. Both projects were helped with the Haunted House money."

He said, "There will be one night- a community night - when all Bayville residents can come and see the Haunted House. We try to make it 'not a four-hour line' to stand on." It is just for neighbors and the date is announced by word of mouth, which spreads like wildfire through the village, both the Natales said.

Mr. Natale said there are 96 members in the Bayville Fire Department. "As a matter of fact, Bayville is one of the few fire companies not having a problem with enrollment. We have plenty of volunteers trying to get in. There is no waiting list.

"We open our books every three months." People get an application, fill it in and get voted on. People often change their minds during the process and sometimes come back another time.

"Sometimes they look at the criteria and decide to wait." There is no special number of calls rookies have to make. All the department has to make a combination of fires and ambulance calls, parades and drills - everyone. They need a combination of 50 points from all those events.

The firemen are trained at the Fire Academy in Bethpage. "Even guys who have been in for years go there every three years," he said.

There are always new tools and new equipment coming out, he said. The firehouse has a defibrilator and has ordered two more. There will be one in the ambulance, a portable one in the chief's car and another defilbrilator for the truck.

This intergenerational event is a great asset for the entire community.

The hours are: Friday nights from 7 to 11; Saturdays from 6 to 11 p.m.; Sundays from 6 to 10 p.m. and on Halloween from 6 to 11 p.m.

The cost of admission is $6 per person and it is not recommended for children under 8. There will be food, souvenirs, novelties and ghoulie pictures available.

Come if you dare; it just gets better every year!

It all began when Bayville resident Susan Hubert Brennan called the editor of her favorite magazine Cooking Light (circulation six million) and suggested that the magazine include the Bayville Elementary Schools in their new school food and fitness program, called The Cooking Light Healthy Kids Challenge. The magazine sent an investigative team to our village to discuss the plan with Principal Nora Friedman, Mayor Vicki Siegel and others.

Says Managing Editor Billy Sims: "Once we got to know the mayor, the school and people of Bayville, we realized we could work with them on a larger project. We were impressed by their deeply rooted sense of community and commitment to preserving a high quality of life." A whole series of events evolved from this initial contract, providing a theme for our village's millennial celebration "Healthy Bayville 2000".

Cooking Light, the glossy monthly magazine devoted to healthy life styles, did something they had never done before: dedicating the entire October issue to one location (Bayville) and its residents, their particular ways of beating stress and leading health-oriented lives. Susan Brennan, the mayor, with the help of a special committee "Celebration 2000," worked for several months to set up a schedule of events reaching into the year 2000. The Crescent Club became a major partner in the planning. Without their matchless cooperation in making their beautiful facilities and staff available (without charge to the village), the celebrations would have to be scaled down to a much more modest level.

The first major event occurred on Sept. 23, the Fun Bike-A-Thon followed by cooking demonstrations and food tasting at the Crescent Club. The weather had been abominable prior to this date (remember tropical storm Floyd?), and some pessimists predicted that we would be lucky if 10 to 20 kids showed up for the bike race. It turned out to be a glorious day, not too warm, not too cool, and 214 kids registered for the ride at the community center (the starting point), with additional grown-ups accompanying the children. A total of 312 cyclists streamed out of the community center onto Bayville Avenue, with Nick Salerno admonishing them to stay in line. Police cars were leading and following the cyclists, traffic followed slowly behind. The swarm turned into Ludlam Avenue, down West Harbor Road, entering the Crescent Club from Bayville Avenue. Registration fee was $10 per person; all proceeds are being given to the Ronald McDonald House.

The large parking area of the Crescent Club was filled with kids, bicycles, and parents. The children received certificates of participation. Everybody then moved indoors into the vestibule of the Crescent Club, packing it to the last inch. No one had anticipated such a crowd! Two days before the event, only 40 kids had registered.

Nick Salerno, who supervised the last-minute mass registration, had nothing but praise for the good behavior of the children. Once indoors, the excited children drowned out the voice of Jeff Davis (known for super strong vocal cords) and the mayor (who also has a healthy voice) as they distributed trophies to the winners. The mayor singled out elementary student Colin Murray, who had originally suggested the idea of a Bike-A-Thon to the mayor. The mayor also thanked Principal Nora Friedman for her role in the event. Unfortunately Nora Friedman is leaving our district on Oct. 1 to become principal in the Syosset school district. She will be greatly missed by Bayville's children and their parents.

During all these ceremonies, members of Locust Valley High School's Interact Club were painting milk mustaches on children's mouths and taking Polaroid pictures as souvenirs for the mustachioed children. This was done to promote the drinking of milk instead of sugary sodas.

Interact club members shepherded the younger children into the downstairs game room, while all others moved into the large ballroom, where tables were beautifully set for the next act.

Managing Editor Billy Sims, a relaxed, gracious southerner, introduced his staff members: Kathleen Kanen (chef for the cooking demonstration), Carol Noe (coordinator), and Vickie James (program director). Kathleen called a few children from the audience to act as assistants. "Involve children as much as you can in your cooking," she advised parents.

As she was preparing the delicious menu (fusilli with creamy pancetta-and-pea sauce, shrimp with peppers), and two desserts (mint fudge tart and oatmeal cookies), Carol and Vickie gave a running commentary on the ingredients and proceedings. At the same time the Crescent Club kitchen staff was preparing the same dishes in large quantities and served them at all the tables. The spicy shrimp blended magnificently with the creamy pasta. There were no leftovers, and the desserts were consumed in record speed.

All these recipes (and lots more) can be found in the Cooking Light October issue.

While the cooking was going on in front of the audience, the three charming staff members gave helpful hints, such as: if you want your vegetable peeler and kitchen knives to remain sharp, don't put them into the dishwasher, it dulls them. Keep chopped ingredients in your freezer (onions, peppers, herbs, cheese etc) to have them handy next time. Use cheese with strong flavor (parmesan, sharp cheddar) because you need less for the same effect. You don't need the extra calories. Don't sacrifice flavor by using exclusively no-fat dairy products. One percent milk has better flavor than skim milk and still reduces fat content. Use low-fat yogurt and cream cheese rather than the no-fat version; it works better in most recipes. Margarine is not necessarily healthier than butter. Butter used sparingly has superior flavor.

As if all this were not enough, Cooking Light still had another surprise in store for us. Based on the TV program Ready, Set, Cook, Carol and Vickie organized three teams, each consisting of a woman, a man, and a junior assistant, headed by a professional chef: team #1 had James Dunn (executive chef of Pine Island Grill), team #2 Tom Harris (chef at Wall's Wharf), team #3 Paul Paolicelli (chef at On The Waterfront). Each team was handed a large grocery bag filled with ingredients for a main dish. The first team had to prepare an oriental dish, the second team had to create a Mediterranean specialty, and the third team had to demonstrate southern cuisine. It had to be completed within 45 minutes.

A panel of judges, selected from the audience, was waiting in the wings, sharpening their taste buds in anticipation of the tasting. A feverish activity broke out, much consultation between professionals and lay cooks, with the three chefs staying calm while demonstrating their skills in handling frying pans and blending flavors.

Colin Murray was junior assistant on James Dunn's team and was promoted to a higher rank because of his expert chopping technique. "The kid is a champ", declared Chef Dunn. The judges took their time tasting the luscious results (who wouldn't?) and were reluctant to single out a winner among so much talent. After long deliberations the second team with Tom Harris was declared the winner for a mouthwatering Mediterranean concoction. One of his assistants was Vicky Siegel, and she certainly knows her Italian cuisine!

It was almost eight o'clock by the time this eventful day had ended, and nothing was left but the inevitable clean-up. Cooking Light has done something wonderful for our village, and our residents and mayor have more than risen to the occasion. It had been a perfect day, and a perfect event.