Smithtown was swarming with history on Saturday in honor of the town’s 350th anniversary.
The Sesquarcentennial Parade marched down Main Street, starting at 11:30 a.m. and continuing into the afternoon. Residents new and old came together in tribute of the town’s founding 350 years ago and groups from throughout Smithtown marched down the parade route. Town officials and community leaders also participated in the festivities by donning colonial garb more commonly found 350 years ago.
By Joe Galotti
On Saturday afternoon, the Smithtown West football team found the end zone a half dozen times before halftime, and put an exclamation mark on the school’s homecoming weekend festivities with a 48-28 victory over Centereach. The Bulls improved to 3-0 on the season, and were able to celebrate Smithtown’s 350th anniversary in style.
“This was just another step in the right direction,” Smithtown West head coach Pete Cerullo said. “The offense and defense executed the way they were supposed to. It was a great win, and I’m proud of our team.”
Senior quarterback Daniel Caroussos led the Bulls’ offensive assault in the game, doing plenty of damage with both his arm and his legs. The senior threw for a touchdowns and 163 yards, and ran for 74 yards and three touchdowns.
“This week of practice we prepared well,” Caroussos said. “The scout team gave us a great look. We knew what they were going to come out with.”
Centereach senior quarterback Nick Juvelier also put together a memorable day. He completed 24 of 40 passes, and threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns.
“I got to give credit to my receivers, really,” Juvelier said. “I just got a lot of playmakers around me.”
Centereach senior wide receivers Justin Eck and Mark Pirollo, and junior wide receiver Rob Montgomery all finished with touchdown receptions for Cougars on the day. Even though the team found success through the air, it was Smithtown West that was in control, from nearly start to finish.
Junior running back James Caddigan Jr. opened the scoring for the Bulls with a 7-yard touchdown run just 3:53 into the game. With 1:40 remaining in the opening quarter, Caddigan Jr. struck again, this time, with a 12-yard rushing touchdown.
Before the end of the first, Caroussos broke the game open for Smithtown West with a 25-yard rushing touchdown on a keeper play, which gave the Bulls a 21-0 advantage.
In the second quarter, Caroussos threw and ran for a touchdown. Smithtown West also scored on an interception by senior linebacker Daniel Varello, which he returned 25 yards to the end zone. The Bulls took a healthy 34-point lead into halftime.
The Cougars did manage to show signs of life in the second half, outscoring their opponent 21-7 in the game’s final 24 minutes. Despite the final score, Centereach head coach Adam Barrett still has of faith in his team moving forward.
“We were 2-0 before we came into this game, and we know what it takes to win,” Barrett said. “Now we got to get back on track.”
The Cougars will look for a bounce-back performance, when they host Half Hollows Hill East this Saturday at 2 p.m. Meanwhile, red-hot Smithtown West will be back at Robert W. Pratt Field this Friday night, when they welcome No. 2-seeded Riverhead. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m., and Caroussos said his team will be ready for the challenge.
“This game was a huge confidence booster for us, especially going into next week,” he said. “That’s going to be a great competition for us. We’re expecting that to be a great game.”
It was such a well-kept secret, it took more than 200 years to come to light.
Port Jefferson Village officials unveiled the newest historic addition to the Drowned Meadow Cottage museum last week: a letter that links Port Jefferson’s Roe brothers to then-Gen. George Washington’s Culper Spy Ring, which covertly worked to advance the rebel cause during the Revolutionary War.
Loyalist soldier Nehemiah Marks wrote the letter on Dec. 21, 1780, to inform his comrades that Phillips and Nathaniel Roe, among others, helped supply Setauket-based spy Caleb Brewster with information to pass on to the Patriots.
According to Mayor Margot Garant, a former Port Jefferson high school student found the letter two years ago while researching the Revolutionary spy ring at the University of Michigan and contacted the mayor. The next step was getting the letter authenticated.
“The authentication for this letter is so critical,” Garant said in an interview before last week’s event at the cottage, the former home of Phillips Roe. Villagers had long had suspicions that he and his brother were important “not only to village history but to the history of the Revolutionary War, and instrumental in the spy ring. That was kicked around as a rumor for many years and never authenticated.”
The Roe brothers came from modest means, according to Georgette Grier-Key, a historical consultant who authenticated the letter and designed its exhibit at the cottage. Their father, John Roe, was a shoemaker, but Phillips was more successful: He owned a wood business, as well as a ship. He used those resources to help to discreetly pass along information in the Culper Spy Ring.
But before the letter, some people doubted the area’s extensive involvement.
“There was some … organizations that didn’t really believe Port Jefferson had a claim to being part of the spy ring,” Grier-Key said. “Now we have [a] primary document source that says otherwise from a Loyalist perspective.”
The letter also links another North Shore neighborhood to the spy ring: Mount Sinai. Old Man’s Road is among the locations listed in the message, after a Patriot informant named James Smith was spotted receiving information there.
During a ribbon cutting and open house ceremony at the museum last week, Grier-Key said it is possible that towns farther east of Port Jefferson and Mount Sinai could have been a part of the ring too. For now, Garant said, the letter officially puts Port Jefferson and hamlets like Mount Sinai “on the map” for their involvement in the ring and their contribution to the war.
That recognition is reaching across Long Island — Michael Goudket, a program instructor from Raynham Hall Museum in Oyster Bay attended the event to show his support for the Drowned Meadow Cottage museum, saying there is a new sense of appreciation for the Island’s involvement in the Revolutionary War.
“People are starting to appreciate that even though Long Island doesn’t make the history books with big battles … we have the most interesting spy stories,” Goudket said.
The historic letter is on display at the museum alongside other documents, like Phillips Roe’s last will and testament and a list of individuals who still owed him money upon his death in 1792.
Those who were involved in the letter’s discovery and authentication hope to uncover more information about the spy ring.
This version corrects the exact date of Nehemiah Marks’ letter.
The Ward Melville football team got on the scoreboard first Saturday in a battle on the gridiron against visiting Northport, but the Tigers ultimately spoiled the Patriots’ homecoming celebration, winning 35-21.
Ward Melville (1-2) opened the scoring with an impressive 16-play, 82-yard drive, capped by senior running back Nick Cervone’s 7-yard touchdown run and junior kicker Joe LaRosa’s point after, to give the Patriots a 7-0 lead.
But Northport responded with a touchdown run of its own to tie it up.
With 1:57 left in the quarter, Ryan Elliot punctuated a nine-play, 65-yard march with a 13-yard touchdown run. With the point-after attempt successful by Ryan Tromblee, the game was tied, 7-7.
On the next possession, Northport intercepted senior quarterback Matthew O’Hea’s pass over the middle. The pass, which was intercepted by Northport safety Dan Preston, was returned 70 yards for the tiebreaking score.
Northport continued to light up the scoreboard, and took advantage of two turnovers, scoring three touchdowns to end the first half leading 35-7.
The Tigers didn’t score after the halftime break, while Ward Melville capitalized on two opportunities in the fourth to close the gap, 35-21.
First, junior wide receiver John Corpac scored on a 15-yard pass from O’Hea, who finished the game going 10-for-16 with 101 yards and two interceptions, and after, senior wide receiver Vincent Negri scored off a 1-yard pass from junior quarterback Wesley Manning.
Ward Melville looks to bounce back from the loss when the Patriots travel to Sachem North Friday, with the hopes of spoiling their opponent’s homecoming festivities. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
By Ellen Barcel
Well, it’s fall. You’re doing your autumn cleanup before the garden goes to sleep for the winter. One thing you can do that will be very helpful is to remove any invasive vines you have now, while they’re small.
I’ve mentioned a number of times that plants can grow roots in the fall, even into December if there is no hard freeze. That means that if you leave invasive vines in the garden now, they will be getting a good start on next year’s growth, making it harder to remove.
So, what invasive vines should you be removing now? And, are there any native, but pesky, vines you may want to remove now?
Wineberries
One of the most prolific and nasty vines that volunteer in the garden is the wineberry. Wineberries were introduced into the country from Asia to possibly be crossed with raspberries. But, wineberries (Rubus phoenicolasius) are extremely invasive, taking the place of native plants. They pop up all over. I’ve even pulled them out of planters. Make sure you are wearing gardening gloves when you pull this nasty one since the stems are filled with thorns. I found this out the hard way many years ago.
While you might like the idea of eating wineberries — they are edible — they’re only okay and are not as flavorful as raspberries. So, if you want raspberries, plant them and pull out the wineberries. Due to their extremely invasive nature, they are on Suffolk County’s Do Not Sell List.
Oriental bittersweet
Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) is a woody vine that volunteers easily in the garden. It was introduced into the United States in the late 1800s and has spread extensively. It seems to like virtually any environment — climate, soil conditions, fertilizer or lack thereof — meaning that it easily competes with native plants. Birds and small mammals eat the berries and spread the seeds, as happens with the wineberries. One vine I didn’t notice grew up in my garden behind some other plants and actually broke my wooden fence. It’s on the Do Not Sell List for good reason.
Creeping Jenny
Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia) is a low-growing vine with roundish chartreuse leaves. It spreads rapidly, even into grass. It does well in zones 3 to 8. An evergreen perennial that favors wet ground, it is native to Europe but was introduced into the United States where it has spread far and wide. It roots wherever a node touches the soil. It will resprout from the roots if pulled out. Yes, this one too, is on the Do Not Sell List.
Other vines on the list include kudzu, sweet autumn clematis, some varieties of honeysuckle and mile-a-minute weed. Pull all of these out whenever you see them.
Management List
There are a number of vines that can be legally propagated and sold in Suffolk County but are invasive as well. The county suggests that they not be planted (Management List). They include chocolate vine, Asian wisteria (I personally think this one should be banned), morning glory, English ivy (another one that wants to take over the world), periwinkle, silver lace (or fleece vine) and ground ivy.
For a detailed list of invasive plants of the United States go to www.invasiveplantsatlas.og.
Native vines
Wild grapes (Vitis) are native to North America. Remember that the Vikings called North America Vinland. But, while they are native, they can be a real nuisance. A gardening friend of mine has wild grapes growing up a number of her shade trees and have really taken over. There are a number of species, but most bear grapes that are not suitable for making wine. She notes, however, that the birds seem to enjoy them.
False buckwheat (Polygonum scandens) is also a native of North America and, as the wild grapes, can be a real nuisance to the home gardener. It grows wild from Canada in the north to Florida in the south and as far west as Wyoming and Colorado.
If you can, remove wild grapes and false buckwheat whenever possible. Although native, they do take over.
Ellen Barcel is a freelance writer and master gardener. Send your gardening questions to [email protected]. To reach Cornell Cooperative Extension and its Master Gardener program, call 631-727-7850.
The gorgeous weather last Sunday drew hundreds of people to the 26th annual Long Island Apple Festival in Setauket. The Sherwood-Jayne Farm on Old Post Road, which has its own apple orchard dating back over 100 years, was the perfect backdrop for the event. The festivities were hosted by the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities, Homestead Arts and the Three Village Historical Society.
Children enjoyed the festivities by taking a pony ride and hay ride, making an apple-themed craft, getting their faces painted and watching sheep get sheared. Many took part in potato sack races and good old-fashioned games like Red Light Green Light and bobbing for apples. Storytelling by the staff at Emma S. Clark Library was held throughout the day.
Jean Benner, a member of Homestead Arts, was at her usual spot helping the children make apple head dolls. “This has always been such a joyful time because it is three organizations working together with volunteers … I’ve always looked forward to the Apple Festival for that spirit of community,” she said. Volunteers included members of the Ward Melville Key Club and Art Honor Society, the East Setauket Fire Department and Seatuck Environmental Association.
The adults had fun too, enjoying traditional music by Home Grown String Band and Larry & Mary, sampling apple cider and apple fritters, touring the Sherwood-Jayne farmhouse and barn, visiting various vendors and taking a guided hike through the farm’s new nature trails.
The highlight of the day was the apple pie contest with a total of eight pies vying for the top prize. This year’s panel of judges included last year’s first place winner Kevin Henry. Top honors for best tasting pie went to James Goddard of Middle Island, followed by second-place winner Rosemary Ullrich of South Setauket and third-place winner Alyssa Turano of Setauket. The winner of the best looking pie, which was voted for by the festivalgoers, was Michelle Miller of Setauket.
The pies were then auctioned off one by one for between $25 and $50. Along with the pie, the winning bidders also received prizes including gift certificates to Theatre Three in Port Jefferson, CM Performing Arts Center in Oakdale and Bone Fish Grill in Lake Grove.
Bob Benner of Homestead Arts, who organized the games along with his son Sam and auctioned off the pies, summed it all up perfectly, “Beautiful weather, people had a really good time and that’s what we’re here for.”
By Nancy Burner, Esq.
Making end-of-life decisions is a crucial component of any estate plan. As Elder Law attorneys, we deal with these issues every day. Some advance directives are signed in an attorney’s office and some are executed with a health care provider. A short review of each document will help clarify the issues surrounding the Living Will, Do Not Resuscitate and/or Do Not Intubate, Health Care Proxy and Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment form.
The Living Will is a document which evidences an individual’s wishes regarding medical care or life support to be administered in the event their condition is terminal. There is no question that an individual has the absolute right to accept or refuse medical treatment on their own behalf.
The problem arises when the individual is incapacitated and cannot communicate their wishes. The Living Will is written evidence of the patient’s wishes. Some of the treatments that could be accepted or refused on the individual’s behalf include cardiac resuscitation, mechanical respiration, artificial nutrition and hydration, antibiotics, blood or blood products, kidney dialysis and surgery or invasive diagnostic tests. This document is always prepared for our estate planning clients, but need not be prepared by a lawyer.
Unlike the Living Will, the DNR form and procedures are governed by New York State law, and these orders are signed in a hospital, nursing home or mental health facility. (New York law also permits “out-of-hospital” DNRs in specific situations, but this is outside the scope of this article). DNR orders are only applicable to incidents of cardiac respiratory arrest and direct that no chest compression, ventilation, defibrillation, endotracheal intubation or medications be administered. A patient may express his wishes, or, if he is unable to do so, a family member, agent or friend can sign the DNR. The DNR is issued by a physician and must be on a NYS Department of Health form.
Another important directive is the Health Care Proxy. This document allows an individual to designate an agent to make health care decisions if he is unable to make these decisions for himself. The health care proxy need not be executed in an institution and it can be used anywhere. Typically, we prepare a comprehensive health care proxy for all our elder law and estate planning clients. The health care proxy applies to all medical care except artificial hydration and feeding. Therefore, the proxy should indicate if the agent is permitted to refuse hydration or feeding.
In June 2010, the state legislature passed the Family Health Care Decisions Act which permits surrogate decision-making for patients that lack capacity and have not previously signed a health care proxy and living will. However, I urge clients not to rely upon this legislation. The Act only applies to decisions in institutional settings. Advance directives will ensure that your wishes are followed in — and out — of an institution.
The MOLST form is a document executed with a physician regarding the patient’s wishes with respect to life-sustaining treatment plans. The purpose of this New York State Department of Health form is to create a dialogue between a patient with a chronic or terminal illness and their physician that will transcend the DNR and Living Will. Unlike a DNR, the MOLST form follows the patient from one health care setting to another.
For example, if an individual were transferred from a hospital to a nursing home, the MOLST form would follow them; thus ensuring that their medical wishes would be conveyed and respected consistently across care settings.
In addition to documents that permit agents to withdraw or withhold treatment, there is also a document that makes it clear that you want every treatment available. The Protective Medical Decision Document (PMDD) is a protective Durable Power of Attorney for health care decisions that specifically limits the agent’s authority to approve the direct and intentional ending of the principal’s life.
Making directives in advance is smart. It allows you to make your own decisions based upon your own beliefs and wishes. But this planning should not occur in a vacuum. Once you’ve made your decisions, beyond signing documents, you must discuss these issues with your family and health care agents. Let them understand your directions and put them in a better position to make reasonable decisions based upon your expressed wishes.
The more difficult situations arise with individuals who are disabled from birth or become disabled before they can form an intent as to their end-of-life treatments.
New York courts continue to struggle with the question, attempting to balance the rights of the patient with the state’s interest in preserving life. In a recent upstate case, the Appellate Court reversed a lower Court decision and directed that a feeding tube be inserted for a 55-year-old man, over the objection of his parents.
The subject of the case, Joseph, suffers from profound mental retardation, cerebral palsy, spastic quadriplegia, curvature of the spine and dysphagia, or the inability to swallow liquids or solids. Without the feeding tube, he would not survive. The question is whether the feeding tube should be inserted, inasmuch as Joseph was never competent to express his wishes.
The parents argued that the feeding tube would be an unreasonable burden on Joseph, as he would have to live in a new facility, leaving the group home where he resided for 27 years. He would have to be restrained to prevent him from removing the tube, which could cause medical complications.
On the other hand, there was testimony from the medical director of the group home that until his hospitalization, Joseph was alert and communicative, appeared to be without pain, was social and could live many years with the feeding tube.
In directing that the feeding tube be inserted, the court held that “the burdens of prolonged life are not so great as to outweigh any pleasure, emotional enjoyment or other satisfaction that (he) may yet be able to derive from life.”
Whether you agree or disagree with the court, the importance of this case is that it promotes discussion amongst individuals that could one day face the same or similar circumstances. Take the time and discuss this with your loved ones. Make it easier for them to make these hard decisions should the situation arise. ,
Nancy Burner, Esq. has practiced
elder law and estate planning for 25 years. The opinions of columnists are their own. They do not speak for the paper.
By Elof Carlson
Social traits include ethnic or racial identification, religious beliefs, patriotism and class or family status. We recognize that one can be a sports fan and one’s team may be self-chosen the way my father was a Brooklyn Dodger fan, my brother Roland was a New York Giants fan, and I was a Yankee fan. Fan loyalty can be deeply felt, as watching fans at a game often reveals.
We also recognize that children are usually raised in a religion chosen by their parents, which they may later reject or accept. Ethnic identity is more difficult to assess because immigrants frequently keep a lot of the “old country” values and traditions going in their children. But by the time grandchildren or great-grandchildren are born in the United States the melting pot is the norm.
I used to have students in some of my classes prepare genetic pedigrees of their family from grandparents to grandchildren, including uncles and aunts and cousins. What I learned in these exercises was that some Irish married Italians, some Jews married non-Jews, some Catholics married Protestants, some blacks married whites, and it was rare to see three generations in the United States where all members were of one descent (e.g., all Irish or all Methodists).
The farther back one goes in a family’s genealogy, the more these mixtures occur. This tells me it is not innate to marry one’s own kind. “Birds of a feather may flock together” as a species, but as anyone who has observed dogs will know, any breed of dog can and will breed with other breeds of dogs.
Despite these evidences of cultural mixing and the uncertain religious identification our descendants will have, much of society likes to believe that social traits are inherited. If a family has several generations of physicians, they may believe being a doctor is “bred in the bone” (for those who grew up before World War II) or that it’s in the family DNA (for those who grew up after 1970 when DNA was entering crossword puzzles and rock music — “Hey hey hey hey, it’s DNA that made me that way”).
Most school teachers will experience parents taking credit for their good genes when their children excel in school but the parents may blame the teacher (or the school board) when their children do poorly in their classes. I have never heard a parent say, “It’s my crummy genes that made my child flunk your course.”
The danger of assigning genes to social behavior is that they lead to racist thinking, ethnic stereotyping and beliefs in social class inferiority. The eugenics movement of the first half of the 20th century was filled with these attempts to assign social failure with defective genes (or before the term gene existed to defective protoplasm).
I much prefer evidence based on experimentation or carefully controlled studies. But wishful thinking is easy to do and widely shared, making the world of politics, popular culture and taboo topics seem more real than the science that shatters these illusions.
Elof Axel Carlson is a distinguished teaching professor emeritus in the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Stony Brook University.
Osteoarthritis is widespread. The more common joints affected are the knees, hips and hands. There are three types of treatment for this disease: surgery, involving joint replacements of the hips or knees; medications; and nonpharmacologic approaches. The most commonly used first-line medications are acetaminophen and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen. Unfortunately, medications mostly treat the symptoms of pain and inflammation.
However, the primary objectives in treating osteoarthritis should also include improving quality of life, slowing progression of the disease process and reducing its disabling effects (1).
Dairy and milk
When we think of dairy, specifically milk, there are two distinct camps: one believes in the benefits, and the other thinks it may contribute to disease. In this case they both may be at least partly correct. In the Osteoarthritis Initiative study, an observational study of over 2,100 patients, results showed that low-fat (1 percent) and nonfat milk may slow the progression of osteoarthritis (2).
The researchers looked specifically at joint space narrowing that occurs in those with affected knee joints. Radiographic imaging changes were used at baseline and then to follow the patients for up to 12 to 48 months for changes. Compared to those who did not drink milk, patients who did saw significantly less narrowing of knee joint space.
Was it a dose-dependent response? Not necessarily. Specifically, those who drank less than three glasses/week and those who drank four to six glasses/week both saw slower progression of joint space narrowing of 0.09 mm. Seven to 10 glasses/week resulted in a 0.12 mm preservation. However, those who drank more than 10 glasses/week saw less beneficial effect, 0.06 mm preservation compared to those who did not drink milk. Interestingly, there was no benefit seen in men or with the consumption of cheese or yogurt.
However, there are significant flaws with this study. First, patients were only asked about their dietary intake of milk at baseline; therefore their consumption could have changed during the study. Second, there was a recall bias; patients were asked to recall their weekly milk consumption for the previous 12 months before the study began. I don’t know about you, but I can’t recall my intake of specific foods for the last week, let alone for the past year. Third, there could have been confounding factors, such as orange juice consumption.
Oddly, this was not a dose-response curve, since the most milk consumption had less beneficial effect than lower amounts. Also, why were these effects only seen in women? Finally, researchers could not explain why low-fat or nonfat milk had this potential benefit, but cheese was detrimental and yogurt did not show benefit. We are left with more questions than answers.
Would I recommend consuming low-fat or nonfat milk? Not necessarily, but I may not dissuade osteoarthritis patients from drinking it. There are very few approaches that slow the progression of joint space narrowing.
Vitamin D
Over the last five years or so, the medical community has gone from believing that vitamin D was potentially the solution to many diseases to wondering whether, in some cases, low levels were indicative of disease, but repletion was not a change-maker. Well, in a recent randomized controlled trial (RCT), the gold standard of studies, vitamin D had no beneficial symptom relief nor any disease-modifying effects (3). This two-year study of almost 150 men and women raised blood levels of vitamin D on average to 36 ng/ml, which is considered respectable. Researchers used MRI and X-rays to track their results.
Glucosamine
There is raging debate about whether glucosamine is an effective treatment for osteoarthritis. In the latest installment, there was an RCT, the results of which showed that glucosamine hydrochloride was not effective in treating osteoarthritis (4). In the trial, 201 patients with either mild or moderate knee pain drank diet lemonade with or without 1500 mg of glucosamine hydrochloride.
There was no difference in cartilage changes in the knee nor in pain relief in those in the placebo or treatment groups over a six-month duration. Bone marrow lesions also did not improve with the glucosamine group. The researchers used 3T MRI scans (an advanced radiologic imaging technique) to follow the patients’ disease progression. This does not mean that glucosamine does not work for some patients. Different formulations, such as glucosamine sulfate, were not used in this study.
Weight
This could not be an article on osteoarthritis if I did not talk about weight. Do you remember analogies from the SATs? Well here is one for you: Weight loss, weight loss, weight loss is to osteoarthritis as location, location, location is to real estate. In a recent study involving 112 obese patients, there was not only a reduction of knee symptoms in those who lost weight, but there was also disease modification, with reduction in the loss of cartilage volume around the medial tibia (5). On the other hand, those who gained weight saw the inverse effect. A reduction of tibial cartilage is potentially associated with the need for knee replacement. The relationship was almost one-to-one; for every 1 percent of weight lost, there was a 1.2 mm3 preservation of medial tibial cartilage volume, while the exact opposite was true with weight gain.
Exercise and diet
In a recent study, diet AND exercise trumped the effects of diet OR exercise alone (6). Patients with osteoarthritis of the knee who lost at least 10 percent of their body weight experienced significant improvements in function and a 50 percent reduction in pain, as well as reduction in inflammation, compared to those who lost 5 to 10 percent and those who lost less than 5 percent. This study was a well-designed, randomized controlled single-blinded study with a duration of 18 months.
Researchers used a biomarker — IL6 — to measure inflammation. The diet and exercise group and the diet-only group lost significantly more weight than the exercise-only group, 23.3 pounds and 19.6 pounds versus 4 pounds. The diet portion consisted of a meal replacement shake for breakfast and lunch and then a vegetable-rich, low-fat dinner. Low-calorie meals replaced the shakes after six months. The exercise regimen included one hour of a combination of weight training and walking with alacrity three times per week.
Therefore, concentrate on lifestyle modifications if you want to see potentially disease-modifying effects. These include both exercise and diet. In terms of low-fat or nonfat milk, while the study had numerous flaws, if you drink milk, you might continue for the sake of osteoarthritis, but stay on the low end of consumption. And remember, the best potential effects shown are with weight loss and with a vegetable-rich diet.
References:
(1) uptodate.com. (2) Arthritis Care Res online. 2014 April 6. (3) JAMA. 2013;309:155-162. (4) Arthritis Rheum online. 2014 March 10. (5) Ann Rheum Dis online. 2014 Feb. 11. (6) JAMA. 2013;310:1263-1273.
Dr. Dunaief is a speaker, author and local lifestyle medicine physician focusing on the integration of medicine, nutrition, fitness and stress management. For further information, go to the website www.medicalcompassmd.com or consult your personal physician.
By Clayton Collier
Coming off a year in which they boasted a 32-2-5 record and took home a Long Island Championship, the Kings Park girls’ volleyball program has kicked off their 2015 season with a number of new faces.
The most recent addition to the Kingsmen family came on Sept. 7 — Labor Day — when head coach Lizz Manly gave birth to her second son, Braden. Manly’s husband and the team’s assistant coach, Ed, has taken over the head coaching duties for this season in her absence.
Though she said the team misses Lizz, senior middle/right side Lauren Kehoe said she and her teammates have not had to adjust to Ed, who in addition to being an assistant, is also the junior varsity coach.
“We really haven’t had to adjust much at all,” she said. “We know what he expects from us, which is just giving it everything we have at all times on the court. He pushes us to be better athletes and people; always asking us how our days are and making sure we’re staying on top of our school work.”
Lizz Manly said it isn’t easy not to be coaching this season, but has full confidence in her husband’s abilities.
“It is sad for me not to be there,” she said. “Luckily, my husband took over for me, so I can still feel a little involved, and he is doing a great job so far. I think with confidence and determination, they will continue the Kings Park volleyball tradition.”
Ed Manly said his players and their families have helped make for an easy transition.
“It’s been a bit crazy, but the team and families have actually been very supportive — sending food home and stuff, asking to babysit my older guy,” he said. “It’s been crazy, but so much fun, too.”
In addition to their coach, Kings Park is also without several of their key cogs from last season, including Amanda Gannon, the program’s all-time kills leader and reigning Long Island Player of the Year.
“Any time you graduate a player like Amanda, there is an adjustment period,” Ed Manly said. “We also lost another All Long Island player in Kat Benson, who is now at Pace, and Emily Stephens, who was a four-year starter and a Second-Team All-Long Island player.”
Seven of the 16 on this year’s squad are first-year members, while another seven are seniors.
Leading this transitional time for the Kingsmen will be senior captains Kehoe, Jaclyn Wilton and Steph Cornwell. Manly said each of his captains will play a vital role in all aspects of the game.
“Steph will be the leader on the court,” he said of the setter. “As a senior setter and two-year starter, she knows the expectations and the way we want to run things offensively.”
He believes Wilton will be key in his team’s success this year.
“She steps into the role as one of our main hitters, alongside junior Lauren Kloos,” Manly said. “Kehoe in the middle and junior Tara Carlin on the right side will anchor our front line.”
Wilton, an outside hitter, said while there is still room for improvement, she is pleased by the progress that has been made thus far.
“This season is definitely an adjustment, because we have a lot of young and new faces on the team,” she said. “Luckily, we all get along very well and are starting to understand better how to play with each other. It’s still early in the season and we still need a lot of work, but I definitely see us going far.”
Other key contributors include senior libero Lauren Baxter, sophomore defensive specialist Meagan Murphy and sophomore middle Erika Benson.
Kings Park lost its opening match to Westhampton Beach, but have since responded with four straight wins against Comsewogue, Sayville, Islip and Rocky Point.
While there is plenty of turnover from last season, Manly said the expectations remain high for his squad.
“We are confident that we have a great group of girls that will continue to get better and do great things,” he said. “There is a great sense of team chemistry already and the play on the court will only continue to get better.”
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