On Sept. 12 the White Birch/Old Jericho Civic Association held its annual picnic. Adults and children alike enjoyed the fun and games provided by our DJ. Beautiful weather, good food and spending time with neighbors and friends were all the elements needed for yet another successful picnic.

We would like to thank the Jericho Fire Department for stopping by with its fire trucks. The children had a great time. Thank you to Officer Janice Boyd of the 2nd Precinct POP Unit for taking the time to say, "Hello."

In addition, many thanks to Councilman Leonard Symons and to the new principal of the George Jackson Elementary School, Marty Weissman, who stopped by to meet and greet new neighbors and friends and partake in the festivities. Our yearly "Business Person of the Year" award was presented to Jerry Spiegel of Spiegel Associates. Accepting the award on his behalf was Mary Necker. We would like to thank Mr. Spiegel for his continuous generosity to the civic association and for his constant cooperation and support to the community.

Our picnic could never be a success without the help and dedication of certain individuals. We would like to thank all those who worked so hard and the local merchants who generously donated gifts for our raffles. Thank you to Mary Commisso who organized the picnic for us and gathered all the raffle prizes for this year's picnic. She also purchased the food, booked the entertainment and worked hard that day selling raffle tickets. A huge thank you to Beatrice Fuschetto for all of her hard work in printing and distributing flyers for this event, for writing letters to local merchants, for selling raffles and for setting up and cleaning up the day of the picnic. Thank you to Bob Budway, Frank Sammartano, Rich Lasko, Walter Cole and Frank Todero for all their help in cooking, setting up, cleaning up and serving.

Thank you to Ray Kurz and his daughter for making it possible to have a face painting booth. The children had a ball!

We ask that you thank the following merchants for their generous donations to our raffle by patronizing their businesses and/or restaurants:

Sun-Up Pizza, Dano's Pizza & Restaurant, Red Lobster, McDonald's (Broadway/Hicksville), Ben's Deli, McDonald's (Sears' Store), Herr's Super Deli, Yogurt and Such, Starbucks, LaGondola Restaurant, Bagel Boss, Peppercorn's, LaCaravella, Empire Szechuan Gourmet, Herr's Super Deli, Jericho Deli, Ahead Haircutters, Jenny's Nail, Goldman Bros., Inc., B.S.T. Tire, Levittown Lanes, Marcellos Cleaners, Syosset Car Wash, James Bentson, chiropractor; BlackBeard Haircutters, Pathmark Stores, Spencer & Tracis Children's Clothes, Tiger Schulmann's Karate, Plaster Fun Time Plus.

Our civic association will be having a special meeting on Monday, Oct. 19 at 8 p.m. at the Solomon Schecter School. Jericho Superintendent Henry Grishman will make a presentation to the community regarding the proposed $25 million bond issue. We ask all who are interested to please attend this special meeting.

Also look for information on our upcoming Chinese auction.