Oyster Bay Town Councilwoman Beth Faughnan attended the 19th annual Kips Bay Summer Camp outing, on Aug. 10, where children from the Boys & Girls Clubs in the Bronx and Oyster Bay-East Norwich (570 children) were invited to the home of the Kips Bay club president Fritz Coudert to enjoy a day of activities.

Among the events in which the children participated in were: swimming in the pool, water slides and tours of some boats from the Kings Point Merchant Marine Academy. The youngsters were also given the opportunity to play with a hose off a real fire truck. A special treat for the children was meeting the author of the children's book The Boy of Steel, Ray Negron, who is also the special advisor to New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

"It was heartwarming to see Oyster Bay kids getting together with Kips Bay kids," said Councilwoman Faughnan. "A News 12 helicopter was there as was Yankee Ray Negron, who was a player and now is in administration. He was signing copies of his book The Boy of Steel for people who made a donation to the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club. The children all received copies of the book.

"Ceasar Presbott was also there, wearing his 1996 World Series ring. He was a Yankee ball coach. He let me put on his ring and then I was wearing all the bling! It is so large, it goes up to his knuckle - he has four of them and wears two on each hand, because they're so big.

"Channel 12's Carol Silva was there, as was an East Norwich Fire Department truck. They were hosing down the kids. At the end of the afternoon the "K" Club kids performed a great dance program. They were phenomenal. They were throwing the girls up in the air and pulling them up from between their legs.

"The weather held off. For the past 18 years the weather has been great for the event. Everyone was saying - 'Just watch - the weather will be great. It has been great for Mr. Fritz all these years.' And it was. After I left to drive home to Locust Valley, there was a sun shower at 4:30 p.m. Sometime between 7:30 and 8 p.m. there was a sudden storm - but for the event - it was a perfect day," said the councilwoman.