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Monthly Archives: November 2015

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Sept. 1, 1919 — Celebration, Parade & Memorial Service on Labor Day. The soldiers who posed for a picture on the Setauket Village Green included: Ernest West, second from right, front row; George West, second from right, fourth row; Harvey West is third from left, third row. Photo from Beverly Tyler

By Beverly C. Tyler

Yesterday, Nov. 11, was Veterans Day, a day to honor all the men and women who served our country. However, Veterans Day began to mark the anniversary of the end of World War I (The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 — the Armistice with Germany). President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Armistice Day on Nov. 11, 1919.

“To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations.”

In 1954, Armistice Day was amended to honor all veteran and the name was changed to Veterans Day.

On Sept. 1, 1919, a celebration, parade and memorial services were conducted at the new East Setauket Memorial and then, at the conclusion of the parade, on the Setauket Village Green.

Muriel Hawkins of East Setauket, 18 years old at the parade, remembered how her uncle Ernest West, who was a ship’s carpenter in the Navy, made seven trips across the Atlantic and back during the war. Ernest was one of four brothers who served during the war. The other three, George, Harvey and Percy, were in the Army. All four were the sons of Setauket blacksmith Samuel West and all four returned.

Two who did not return were memorialized at a ceremony on the Village Green at the end of the parade as reported by the Port Jefferson Times.

“With the service men in uniform standing stiffly at attention and the civilians with bared heads, the entire assemblage united in singing ‘America’… The Rev. T.J. Elms then dedicated a rock to the memory of the Setauket boys who died in the war — Raymond Wishart and Harry Golden… Mrs. Wishart received a medal for her son and Mr. Golden for his boy.”

The massive boulder and south-facing bronze tablet were erected on the Setauket Village Green in their memory. The boulder was brought from Strong’s Neck and the plaque was designed by the well-known artist William DeLeftwich Dodge who painted the murals on New York history that are in the state capital in Albany.

Private Raymond Wishart, son of Postmaster and Mrs. Andrew Wishart, was born Sept. 10, 1893, and he died in France on Aug. 23, 1918. His remains were returned to this country and were buried in the Caroline Church of Brookhaven graveyard on a Sunday in July of 1921.

Harry Golden is remembered by his nephew Sam Golden.

“He was a Sergeant in charge of the mules,” Sam recalled. “His unit was attacked and he was killed. He was 28 years old when he died and he’s buried there in France.”

On the opposite side of the rock is a plaque that was placed there after World War II. It reads, “1941-1945 – In memory of Clifford J. Darling, Henry P. Eichacker, Francis S. Hawkins, David Douglas Hunter, Orlando B. Lyons, Anthony R. Matusky, Edward A. Pfeiffer, (and) William E. Weston of the United States Armed Forces who gave their lives in World War II.”

To be continued.

Beverly Tyler is the Three Village Historical Society historian.

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By Charles L. Robbins

Stony Brook University has long been devoted to fostering diversity and equality. To further our commitment to equality for all people, we recently joined the United Nations Women’s HeForShe solidarity movement as an IMPACT 10x10x10 Champion.

Stony Brook is one of 10 universities around the world — and only two in the United States — that are committing to take bold, game-changing action to achieve gender equality within and beyond their institutions. This work will be done in partnership with UN Women, the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women.

We will serve as a leader and advocate within the SUNY system and are championing three core areas to drive progress on gender equality:

• Close the gap between men and women — from matriculation to graduation.

• Use Stony Brook University’s Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities to build global understanding of the role of men in achieving gender equality.

• Integrate gender equality into the academic and social experience of Stony Brook University.

As an IMPACT school, we are also committed to developing and implementing a gender sensitization curriculum for students, faculty and staff, including a mandatory orientation for all new students, along with programs that will address gender-based violence. We have agreed to meet frequently with other Impact leaders to measure and report on progress, share best practices and engage other universities to champion this cause.

To that end, we are proud to be hosting the first face-to-face meeting of all 10 IMPACT University Champions, on November 30 and December 1. Representatives from the other nine universities will fly in from across the globe to discuss best practices and ways they can collaborate to drive this movement. President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD, will help showcase what Stony Brook has been able to accomplish during the past few months and what we will be doing going forward.

Stony Brook and Georgetown University are the only two American universities selected to be IMPACT schools. The other eight university champions are The University of Hong Kong, University of Leicester, Nagoya University, University of Oxford, Sciences Po, University of São Paulo, University of Waterloo and University of the Witwatersrand. We look forward to welcoming these leading universities to Stony Brook and to working with them to better our communities and ultimately the world.

In 2016, Stony Brook will host two major gender equality events. First, working closely with the Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities, we are planning a conference to take place on our campus with representatives from all 64 SUNY campuses.

This conference will focus on gender equality as well as the Affirmative Consent. Second, we will host Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka as she discusses equality with President Stanley during a public talk. The HeForShe tour bus will make a stop on campus at that time as well.

Throughout the academic year, Stony Brook will look for ways to champion gender equality on campus and beyond. Learn more about HeForShe and how you can participate in this initiative by visiting www.stonybrook.edu/heforshe.

Charles L. Robbins is the vice provost for undergraduate education and dean of the undergraduate colleges at Stony Brook University.

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A scene from the street renaming ceremonies held at the beginning of this month in Town of Smithtown. The signs now sport the names of late firefighters Richard Weisse and Ross Huffer. Photo by Ron Monteleone

Smithtown’s streets have a little bit more valor, thanks to a recent dedication in honor of two firefighters who served the North Shore and the state.

Ex-Captain Richard Weisse Sr., a 42-year member of the St. James Fire Department, was honored on Nov. 1 with the renaming of Fifth Street in St. James to Richard D. Weisse. The ceremony took place with family and friends, Town of Smithtown Councilmen Bob Creighton (R) and Ed Wehrheim (R), and Town Clerk Vincent Puleo. Weisse served as a member of various response groups, including the St. James F.D., the Fire/Rescue/Ambulance Company, Engine Company One and more as a third-generation fireman. His two children have continued the tradition.

On the morning of Nov. 15, 2014, he was conducting a food drive for a local pantry with junior fire department members when he was summoned for an alarm at the local high school. Subsequently, after adjudication of the alarm and completion of the food drive, he collapsed. The St James F.D. was summoned, members initiated lifesaving efforts and then transported him to Stony Brook University Hospital. Lengthy resuscitative efforts at the hospital were performed, but Weisse passed away.

Ex-Chief Ross Huffer, who was a 48-year member of the Nesconset Fire Department, was also honored with the renaming of Mildred Court in Nesconset to Ross E. Huffer. The ceremony took place with Smithtown officials, family and friends, and with members of the department. He was the Nesconset chief of department from 1982-84. He received the Medal of Valor for saving a resident from a house fire in December, 1981. He also received the Smithtown Fire Chiefs Council’s Unit Citation in 1992 and 1994.

Huffer was directly responsible for restoring the department’s 1937 American LaFrance pumper. His restoration of the pumper resulted in the department winning numerous awards. He died from an apparent heart attack when he returned from an alarm.

Huffer’s name was added to the New York State Fallen Firefighters Memorial at the Empire State Plaza in downtown Albany.

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Uerda Zena and mom Barbara are all smiles while in the U.S. to repair the girl's heart defect Photo from Joe DeVincent

Simple but necessary medical procedures we receive in the United States are often something we take for granted, but they are miracles to many people around the globe.

Take, for instance, the case of 4-year-old Uerda Zena, a girl born in Kosovo with a heart defect. Rotary volunteers across Suffolk County and the North Shore recently brought her to this country through their Gift of Life program so she could receive a lifesaving heart operation. Uerda had a hole in her heart the size of a nickel, but the procedure to repair it was not available in her home country because the hospitals there do not have the resources to train their staff.

Uerda’s case is not an isolated one. Young children from developing and disadvantaged nations around the world, including in Eastern Europe, much of Africa and South America, do not have access in their home countries to medicine and surgical procedures they desperately need.

Several global organizations have made it their mission to provide procedures like the one performed on Uerda, but Americans tend to forget that those organizations are necessary at all. If an American child is born with a cleft lip or a detectable heart defect, it is fixed as soon as possible and without the child needing to trek hundreds of miles — or thousands, in the case of Uerda.

We should be grateful for all the lifesaving procedures we have at our fingertips. And maybe instead of spending some of our money on a discounted plasma screen television on Black Friday, we should donate to causes like Gift of Life.

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Miller Place senior Allison Turturro sends the ball through midfield. Photo by Desirée Keegan

After going undefeated in League III with a 14-0 record, the Miller Place Panthers field hockey team continued to pounce on its opponents.

First, the No. 1-seeded team topped Comsewogue, 4-0, before beating out No. 2 Rocky Point, 1-0, for the Suffolk County Class B crown.

Following the matchup, the Panthers took on Class C’s No.1-ranked and Suffolk County champion Pierson/Bridgehampton, and edged out the opposition, 1-0, for the Small School champion title.

On Sunday, Miller Place traveled to Dowling College’s athletic complex in Shirley to take on Garden City in Long Island Class B championship.

Both goals were scored off of penalty strokes, despite sophomore goalkeeper Ally Tarantino making nine saves in goal.

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Developer Parviz Farahzad proposes constructing a shopping center near Stony Brook University after a year of planning. Rendering from Stony Brook Square plan

By Giselle Barkley

Residents and members of the Civic Association of the Setaukets and Stony Brook want more walking and less driving, at least when it comes to the new Stony Brook Shopping Center proposal.

On Monday, Nov. 2, the association met with residents to discuss developer Parviz Farahzad’s proposal of the Stony Brook Square shopping center. His proposal aims to improve the Route 25A corridor across from Stony Brook’s Long Island Rail Road station, which was once known as the old Gustafson property. Farahzad’s Stony Brook Square will include restaurants, a bank and a coffee shop, among other small businesses.

Shawn Nuzzo, president of The Civic Association of the Setaukets and Stony Brook, voiced concerns of residents and civic members, saying the civic had met and discussed the proposal and were contemplating long-term impacts with help from the Three Village Chamber of Commerce and Stony Brook Fire Department.

“For years, the Three Village community has been advocating for a Route 25A corridor study, with hopes of improving the area near the train station,” he said. “Without a comprehensive plan, which examines how an area functions as a whole, we end up with ad hoc planning and dysfunctional neighborhoods.”

Nuzzo said that after meeting with various neighborhood stakeholders over next few weeks, he and the civic plan on submitting comments to the town and developer.

According to Farahzad, creating the plan was a yearlong process. As a Three Village resident he said the center is something that’s “needed for [Stony Brook University … and the community]. He added that he wanted to do something that was attractive for the area.

The proposal falls under the J Business district zone, which means that the developer is allowed to build his desired plan as per a zoning change that took place in the 1990s.

Although he did not attend the meeting and is not fully aware of residents’ concerns regarding the proposal, Farahzad said he might alter the proposal to accommodate various suggestions if necessary. He also admitted that the proposal doesn’t meet the required number of 197 parking stalls. Currently the proposal caters for 139 parking spaces.

According to Nuzzo, no one did anything with the property for years until Farahzad purchased the land. The association was pushing for a plan for several years to get a sense of what that area could look like in the future.

Tullio Bertoli, commissioner of Planning, Environment and Land Management for the Town of Brookhaven didn’t respond to messages when asked to comment on Farahzad’s shopping center plan.

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Darryl St. George at a RAP Week press conference earlier this month. File photo by Victoria Espinoza

Since returning home from serving overseas, a homegrown Northport High School teacher has devoted his free time to inspiring students, zeroing in on two specific issues.

Darryl St. George, a Centerport resident and United States Navy veteran who served in Afghanistan, is the co-advisor of the Northport High School branch of Students Against Destructive Decisions and the advisor of Project Vets, a club that works to improve the lives of veterans once they return home.

“I love working with young people,” St. George said. “I find what I do in these clubs an extension of what I do in the classroom.”

St. George graduated from Northport High School in 2000 and earned his teaching degree from Marymount Manhattan College. He was in Manhattan when the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 occurred, and said the day instilled a passion in him to help his country.

“I had this sense that I really wanted to serve,” St. George said. Personal reasons held him back until 2009, when he enlisted in the United States Navy.

His first deployment to Afghanistan was in 2011. When he came home nine months later, he said he discovered that one of his former students from Northport High School had died of a heroin overdose, and his own brother Corey had started abusing opioid drugs.

A few months later, he lost his brother to an overdose from prescription medication, which “changed everything.”

St. George was honorably discharged from the navy after three years and returned to his job at Northport High School, where he became a co-advisor of SADD with Tammy Walsh, another Northport High School teacher.

“One of my colleagues asked me to run the club with her, and together, the club really expanded from three kids at a meeting to more than 50.”

St. George said he was able to get the club to take a more active role in Recovery, Awareness and Prevention Week.

“We felt that the drug epidemic was such a crisis that this club would be the perfect vehicle to help combat the issue,” St. George said. “Tammy and I are open and candid with the kids about our own history with this problem, and I think the kids are receptive to that kind of honesty.”

St. George said he finds working with SADD very fulfilling, and sees it as necessary. “Ultimately, my drive for getting involved is to do everything I can so that no family has to go through what my family did,” St. George said.

St. George and Walsh have been working on a SADD Summit, which they hope will help bring RAP Week-like programs to other schools on Long Island. He wants to change the culture in every school.

Aside from working with SADD, St. George is involved in another club in Northport High School called Project Vets.

He said this club has a two-pronged mission statement — to work with veterans and help them with the transition period once they come home.

“I am a vet, and I personally know many of my friends that have had difficulty transitioning back home,” St. George said. “But they are not looking for any handouts. This club explores how we can improve their transition period.”

Project Vets is only in its second year, and St. George said at the first meeting there was more than 60 students wanting to join.

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Father Francis Pizzarelli of the Hope House Ministries speaks at the Miller Place Teachers Association 5K walk to promote drug awareness. Photo by Caperna-Korsen Photography

After Miller Place lost two more students last summer to drug overdoses, members of the Miller Place Teachers Association said it was time to take their community back.

“Many [people] in our area have felt helpless as a result of the growing drug problem in our community,” Nancy Sanders, president of the Miller Place Teachers Association, said in an email.

In light of recent events, the teachers association sponsored a 5K walk fundraiser to promote drug awareness in the community. The walk began at noon on Sunday at the Miller Place High School track. According to Sanders, the association raised over $14,000. All proceeds went to Hope House Ministries in Port Jefferson and a family who lost their son to a heroin overdose just before school started this year. The family wished to remain anonymous. Sanders added that Hope House has helped many students in the Miller Place school district.

Father Francis Pizzarelli from Hope House spoke at the event, alongside several former Miller Place students who are recovering addicts. Pizzarelli was impressed with the event and commended the teachers for their effort.

“Finally after more than 25 years of ranting and raving about the serious drug problem we have … finally someone’s listening,” Pizzarelli said.

He added that other school districts should use the teachers association effort as an example.

“Until we educate parents with signs and symptoms and until we really yell and scream, this problem is going to continue to senselessly take lives,” Pizzarelli added.

The idea for the fundraiser came about during a Miller Place Teachers Association meeting. The fundraiser’s theme #BeSmartDONTStart was supposed to encourage Miller Place students to make the right choices “and to know that they have a tremendous support system that they can count on to always be there for them,” Sanders said.

BJ’s, Stop&Shop, Utz, Party Hardy and That Meatball Place are some of many businesses that donated goods to sell at the fundraiser. Additional stores and restaurants also donated goods for the raffle baskets. The association also received more than 300 shirts from Port Jeff Sports to sell at the event.

“This has been a true school and community effort,” Sanders said. “We would not have been able to pull off an event of this magnitude without all the support we received.”

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Fred Sganga, Sen. Flanagan and Kenneth Kaushansky, senior vice president of Health Sciences at Stony Brook University, smile after Flanagan received an honorary award at the Long Island State Veterans Home. Photo by Giselle Barkley

Veterans Day isn’t just another day on the calendar for those who served.

“I can’t speak,” said Armmond Bergeron while fighting back tears. The veteran was unable to put together more than a few words about the Veterans Day Ceremony at Long Island State Veterans Home in Stony Brook. “It hits me right here,” he added, pointing to his heart.

Veterans, religious figures, New Lane Elementary School students and Sen. John Flanagan (R-East Northport) were among those who attended the home’s seventh annual Veterans Day Ceremony on Nov. 6. The home invited Flanagan to speak at the ceremony, as he is an avid supporter of veterans and the sacrifices they make or made for the nation.

“I consider myself very fortunate to have the liberties, freedoms [and] protections that I do because a lot of people that are sitting here today,” Flanagan said in an interview.

According to Fred Sganga, executive director of the veterans home, the ceremony honors the more than 42 million Americans who served the nation. He added that those who served the nation continue paying the price, even after their military service ends.

For the senator, how society treats people correlates to how veterans are cared for when they return home. Earlier this year, the home called upon the senator, seeking financial assistance — the Long Island State Veterans Home qualified for a $15 million construction grant to fund future projects. The home hoped to further assist its veterans by providing a lift system, upgrading the building’s elevators and renovating each resident’s room.

According to Sganga, the federal government agreed to provide $10 million and the state funded the rest of the money. Flanagan secured the rest of the money three days after the veterans home sought his help.

This is his 13th year representing the community and the veterans at the home — and his efforts earned him the name Guardian of the Long Island State Veterans Home, according to Sganga.

While Flanagan was met with cheers when he took the podium, it was the fifth-grade students from New Lane Elementary school in Selden who brought the veterans together. Many veterans joined the students as they sang a variety of songs, including “The Army Goes Rolling Along,” “Anchors Aweigh,” “The Marines’ Hymn” and several others. Veterans like Bergeron even stood to clap and dance along as the students sang. Following the ceremony, the fifth-graders went through the crowd of veterans and shook their hands.

Korean War veteran Walter Muller added his thoughts on the ceremony, saying that it was wonderful.

Muller served in the war for 22 months, from 1954 to 1955. His fellow veteran Bergeron was too young to serve in World War II, but he said he helped rescue soldiers when he was able to serve. Like many veterans, the service was a special way to honor his sacrifices.

“I got a lot of things going down,” Bergeron said about his health. “But I’ll never get anything less than I got here today.”

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A dear friend is moving away, and that is sending all sorts of shock waves into my life. For one, she is going a long distance, and while her friends are promising to visit her after she is settled in her new home, we all know that’s not the same as being able to pick up the phone and set a time to get together later that day. Also lurking in the back of our minds is awareness that she will be out of reach should we need the vital help of a friend. While we are happy for her in her choice of a next chapter in life, we are selfish in viewing sadly our imminent loss of her regular companionship.

We have known each other, she and I, for almost 40 years. We met through the newspaper, as I have met so many wonderful people, and over time our friendship developed. We share a lot of the same interests: zipping into the city with tickets to the theater and enjoying a good dinner and glass of wine before or after the performance; lustily cheering on the Yankees in their stadium; wandering through museums to chuckle over the same funny exhibits; being in awe of James Levine as he conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood in Massachusetts; comparing notes after a fabulous concert by the Emersons at the Staller; playing competitive tennis singles in the good old days; and talking over problems with our children as they were growing up. The idea that she will not be easily available to share those activities makes me morose.

I am at the age where friends are, for one reason or another, leaving. While I lost my husband 28 years ago, I have always regarded that as an anomaly. Who expects one’s spouse to die at 50? But now we face a fearsome trend: Two close friends have died in the recent past, as have three first cousins; now one more friend is joining the parade of those moving away.

She is, of course, entitled to her own life. And while it is hard to forgive her for leaving, all her many friends and I understand why she is moving.

She has gone through the many-tiered ordeals of picking up roots and going elsewhere: getting her house ready and then putting it up for sale; researching movers and hiring one; sorting through her accumulated stuff of half a century and countless souvenirs dragged back from many trips in the world; taking care not to leave behind dental and medical records; shutting phone service and arranging to have mail forwarded — and heaven knows what else.

Then there is what I would imagine to be the hardest part of all: saying goodbye to longtime and maybe not-so-longtime friends.

As she ages, our friend doesn’t want to be a burden on anyone. This is one noble aspect of her character, and she believes she has found a solution to that perennial dilemma of every generation. Our times have provided facilities to meet the needs of the aging with assisted living, where an individual’s physical and mental requirements are met, even as they change with the years. And she is moving to a place where she will have her children nearby to oversee those needs but without having to be the primary caregivers. It sounds like a good deal.

Which drives the question home to the rest of us: How will we best cope with the inevitable infirmities of aging if we are lucky enough to live so long?

Reality is tough. Dealing with it is even tougher. My friend has implemented what she believes will be the least burdensome, most efficient solution for herself and her family. In so doing, she has underscored yet again her totally unselfish nature.

Not all of us are of such exalted character. We cling to our comfortable possessions and the familiar structure of our lives as if we could forestall change. But of course we cannot, and so each of us has eventually to come to terms with the endgame of our lives.

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