Port Jefferson Village Hall. File photo by Heidi Sutton
By Margot Garant
I am writing in response to statements made by Reclaim New York in a recent article in the Port Times Record (“Report: Long Island public agencies fail to comply with FOIL requests,” May 18). Reclaim New York, the self-anointed guardians of public transparency, claim the Village of Port Jefferson ignored “the appeals and our phone calls” to release public records on vendor information and purchase orders. Nothing could be further from the truth.
We accepted Reclaim’s request in March. It was not a simple inquiry for documents, but a blatant transparency test sent to every government agency on Long Island. They requested every single vendor, its address, payment listing, check numbers, banking routing numbers, etc. The village treasurer did contact Reclaim staff on two occasions and asked for clarification on their blanket request to help them tailor a more focused request which would better meet their needs. Reclaim’s representative never attempted to work with the treasurer to fine-tune the request. Several village employees have spent significant time away from their duties in order to gather these records. So far, approximately 4,500 pages of documents have been identified and are in electronic format and the work goes on. Other municipalities have provided thin responses to Reclaim’s request for vendor records. Is our village to be punished because it strives to provide comprehensive responses to records requests? Would it have been better to provide a quicker response with fewer records and missing documents just to be able to say we responded? I think this would defeat the very purpose of public transparency.
Contrary to how they misled our local newspaper, Reclaim did not reach out to us to check the status of their records request after it was accepted, nor have they ever submitted the legally required appeal challenging the timing of our response. Had Reclaim simply picked up a phone or emailed me or the village clerk, they would have learned that we have been working on a detailed and comprehensive response to their request, more accurate and more complete than what many other municipalities have provided. This was an agenda-driven fishing expedition and it is unfair to criticize our village as part of their statewide campaign.
As the mayor, I have always pushed for increased transparency on the village budget and public records. Our record on this issue is unmatched. We should not be punished for providing more transparency. I ask that in the future, Reclaim reach out to us before they attack our village in the press and on social media.
Margot Garant is the mayor of Port Jefferson Village.
The Patriots will face undefeated Half Hollo hills East in the semifinals Tuesday
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Dylan Ratner, a junior All-County player, won his second doubles match won 2-6, 7-5, 7-5. Photo by Bill Landon
Junior All-League Jonathan Gruberg won serves up the ball. He won his No. 4 singles matchup 6-1, 6-1. Photo by Bill Landon
Junior Nick Decker, who was named All-Division, won his No. 3 singles match 6-4, 6-3. Photo by Bill Landon
Matt Roberts, an All-County junior, sends the ball over the net with a forehand swing. He won his No. 2 singles match 6-2, 6-2. Photo by Bill Landon
Junior All-County player Dan Meinster sends the ball over the net. Photo by Bill Landon
Deven Wackett, an All-County sophomore, won his No. 2 doubles match 2-6, 7-5, 7-5. Photo by Bill Landon
Evin Aviles, an All-League sophomore, serves the ball. Photo by Bill Landon
By Bill Landon
The strength of the Ward Melville boys’ tennis team is in the power of its singles play. The Patriots swept all four singles matches in the Suffolk County quarterfinals match, defeating Bay Shore 5-2 on their home court Thursday.
Junior Dan Meinster, a co-captain, led the way winning his best of three singles match, downing his opponent 6-1, 6-4. Classmate Matt Roberts followed with a 6-2, 6-3 singles win. Both athletes earned All-County honors this season.
“I won, but there was definitely room for improvement,” Meinster said. “I won the first set 6-1, and felt I played pretty well, but I dropped my game a little in that second set.”
All-Division player Nick Decker, a junior, downed his challenger 6-4, 6-3, and junior co-captain Jonathan Gruberg made short work of his foe, 6-1, 6-1, for a clean sweep in singles.
“I was consistent,” Gruberg said. “I had good volleys and I was able to stay with it, hit the ball back and score points. It was a good win for the team and I’m happy with my performance.”
Leading the way for the Patriots in doubles action were junior Dylan Ratner and sophomore Deven Wackett. The two got off to a rocky start, dropping their first set 2-6, but both players showed why they were named All-County, and battled back to win the next two 7-5, 7-5 to snatch the victory.
Cameron Dean, the lone senior on the team, had his hands full in first doubles, dropping the first set, but won the second. Dean said he was up against a tough opponent. The turning point came in the final set.
“They broke serve in the third set to put us down 0-2 and that took a little wind out of our sails,” he said. “We fought back at the end, but it just wasn’t enough to get the job done today.”
Ward Melville head coach Erick Sussin was particularly pleased with the strength of his teams’ singles play.
“They’re a tough opponent but our strength is in singles,” he said. “In doubles, we knew it was going to be challenging, and we did well.”
Meinster, Roberts and Decker are a strong one, two three, according to Sussin.
“And Jon Gruberg at four has been solid,” the head coach added. “Our doubles lineup is strong with Deven Wackett and Dylan Ratner who’s been solid all season and has come on strong in the last two matches.”
With a 10-0 League V record, 15-3 overall, No. 4 Ward Melville advances to the semifinal round to face top-seeded Half Hollow Hills East, 16-0 overall, on the road Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Sussin said his team knows the magnitude of the semifinal matchup, knowing that it will be the toughest opponent his Patriots will face all season. Half Hollow Hills East outscored Ward Melville 6-1 in the regular season.
“They’re the best team in the county, but we went three sets in four of those matches [when we lost to them],” he said. “They’ll definitely have the advantage, and we are complete underdogs here, but that’s when we play our best. We’ve had some good losses and sometimes good losses are better than bad wins.”
White flowers from a catalpa tree put on quite a show in the evening. Photo by Ellen Barcel
By Ellen Barcel
Gardens reflect the personality of the gardener. Some gardeners like to grow specific colored flowers. In the past I’ve done columns on chocolate gardens, for example, and red, white and blue patriotic gardens and even gardens filled with red-leaved plants. Suppose you want a garden filled only with white flowers, which make a stunning contrast against the dark green of leaves. If you enjoy your garden in the evening, white flowers really stand out at night while the brightly colored flowers seem to fade into obscurity as the sun sets. Here are some suggestions for a garden filled with white blooms.
Spring
Flowers that bloom in the spring are generally shrubs and trees. If you have very acidic soil, like most of us do, consider white rhododendron and white azaleas. Both generally bloom in May.
Japanese lilac put on quite a show in the evening. Photo by Ellen Barcel
Cornus florida is the native dogwood on Long Island. That means that not only will you have beautiful white flowers, but, since it is a native plant, you’ll have less work to do as it’s already adapted to our summer heat and winter cold. ‘Cloud 9’ flowering dogwood is an improved version of C.florida with larger white flowers.
Cornus kousa is also a white flowering dogwood. It blooms later in spring than the C. florida and tends to be a bit more disease resistant.
Rhododendrons do extremely well on Long Island. They thrive in our acidic soil and there are a number of rhodies with white flowers. ‘Baroness H. Schroder’ is an old cultivar, white with burgundy splotches. ‘Blanka’ has pale pink buds that open up to reveal white flowers. Other varieties are white with yellow throats.
Azaleas also do extremely well on Long Island. ‘Bloom-A-Thon White,’ ‘Girard’s Pleasant White’ and ‘Delaware Valley White’ are just a few of the many white varieties available. Some primarily white varieties have flowers tinged in pink.
The advantage of both white rhodies and white azaleas is that the shrubs are evergreens, making them ideal as foundation plants or plants to create a living wall.
Other white spring flowering shrubs include bridal wreath, viburnum and some varieties of white lilacs.
Summer
Montauk daisies put on quite a show in the evening. Photo by Ellen Barcel
Come summer there are a number of white flowering plants. Big showy shrubs with large white flowers include a number of hydrangeas. Snowball hydrangeas (Hydrangea arborescens) produce large white blooms early in the season. They are the native hydrangea to North America. Oakleaf hydrangeas (H. quercifolia) are also native to North America and produce enormous white flowers. Their enormous leaves resemble those of the oak tree. The leaves of many varieties turn a deep burgundy in the fall.
Japanese white lilacs are deciduous shrubs. They bloom later in early summer, later than spring lilacs and produce clusters of delicate and fragrant white flowers.
If you’re looking for climbing plants, consider climbing hydrangeas with their delicate white flowers or moonflowers. Moonflowers are annuals, related to morning glories but they open in the evening, rather than during the day as morning glories do.
Other white flowered plants include varieties of astilbe, white geraniums and the really unique Peruvian daffodils. Consider also the white scented Nicotiana (flowering tobacco), which will provide a beautiful scent.
White roses are stunning in the garden and some will rebloom later in the season. ‘Wedding Dress’ is a ground cover rose while ‘Moonlight Melody’ is a shrub rose with single blooms. The latter blooms freely all summer long.
Fall
Peruvian daisies put on quite a show in the evening. Photo by Ellen Barcel
Fall is known for its blazing colors, trees and shrubs filled with yellow, orange and red leaves, but, fall also has some really nice white flowers. For fall, the ideal white flowering plants include Montauk daisies and some white varieties of mums.
Remember the rule of 100 when pinching back Montauk daisies and mums to make nice busy plants. You begin pinching them back when you first see little green leaves appear. Stop 100 days before expected bloom date. For both of these, that means stop around July 4th to give the plants time to form blossoms.
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.
After signing the memorandum of understanding, SBU President Samuel L. Stanley shakes hands with Monique Rasoazananera, the minister of Higher Education, while Patricia Wright, distinguished professor of anthropology, far right, and Zina Adrianarivelo-Razaly, Madagascar’s ambassador to the United Nations, look on. Photo by Leah Dunaief
It was a celebration and a ceremony that recognized the past and set ambitious goals for the future. A quarter of a century ago, Stony Brook helped establish Ranomafana National Park in Madagascar, home to the island nation’s lemurs and a favorite destination for scientists and ecotourists.
On Monday at the Old Field Club, Stony Brook President Samuel L. Stanley, distinguished professor of Anthropology Patricia Wright, Director of the SBU Global Health Institute Peter Small, along with the Dean of the medical school Kenneth Kaushansky and several other Stony Brook deans, welcomed a delegation of distinguished guests from Madagascar.
The relationship between Stony Brook and Madagascar has been “of great benefit to both sides,” Stanley said in opening remarks. He suggested Stony Brook was seeking “new ways to engage together” because he was confident that the school “could do more.”
Indeed, after short speeches by Zina Andrianarivelo-Razaly, Madagascar’s ambassador to the United Nations and Monique Rasoazananera, minister of Higher Education in Madagascar, Stanley and his distinguished guests signed a memorandum of understanding to expand and broaden opportunities for Stony Brook in the island nation.
Rasoazananera hopes that Stony Brook will develop relationships with the five university research centers in Madagascar.
“For the students and faculty, this is a win-win,” Rasoazananera said. She spoke in French to Onja Razafindratsima, who served as a translator and was trained by Wright’s former graduate student Amy Dunham. Razafindratsima will begin the Sara and Daniel Hardy Conservation Biology Fellowship at Harvard this year.
While celebrating the relationship with Madagascar, Stanley also highlighted the ongoing affiliations in Kenya and South Korea. In Kenya, Stony Brook’s Richard, Meave and Louise Leakey conduct groundbreaking work on fossils at the Turkana Basin. Like Wright, they are involved in outreach programs in education, health, and food.
Wright was optimistic that more departments at Stony Brook would find partners in Madagascar, where she not only helped create Ranomafana, but where she also inaugurated NamanaBe Hall, a state-of-the-art research center adjacent to Ranomafana.
Stanley attended the opening ceremony for NamanaBe in 2012 and called his visit to Madagascar a “transformative” experience.
Several deans, including Kaushansky and Mary Truhlar, dean of the School of Dental Medicine at Stony Brook, plan to travel to Madagascar in July. Wright believes these visits could trigger future joint efforts.
Elise Lauterbur, a fourth year graduate student in Wright’s lab, believes this kind of memorandum could expedite the process of receiving the permits to conduct research.
Lauterbur studies three species of bamboo lemurs, two of which are critically endangered because of a loss of habitat. These lemurs eat bamboo that contains cyanide. Each day, they consume 12 times as much cyanide as the amount that would kill other mammals of their size, and yet they continue to search for their favorite meal.
Surrounded by passed appetizers of lamb chops, baked clams and scallops wrapped with bacon at the Old Field Club, Lauterbur described how she is trying to figure out what enables these lemurs to survive after ingesting such high dosages of an element that would kill many other species.
To understand how the lemurs might be removing the toxicity of cyanide, Lauterbur has attached a funnel and a cup to a stick or vine. When the lemurs urinate, she catches the specimen and analyzes it to explore their physiology and genetics. Compounding the challenge of being in the right place at the right time, Lauterbur has to navigate through dense underbrush, while the lemurs in the trees overhead can move or change direction.
For future research, this memorandum of understanding broadens the field of future research partners, Lauterbur said.
“It’s always beneficial to have local collaborators — it improves the research and it gives them access to additional resources,” Lauterbur explained in an email.
Broadening the relationship between Madagascar and Stony Brook holds promise not only for researchers who are already there, but also for many departments, students and faculty members who have yet to experience the wonder of a nation rich in biodiversity.
The diverse array of vegetation in Madagascar may offer alternative medical remedies, Wright said.
The opportunity for students and faculty “is tremendous,” Stanley added.
Brittany Braun, 14, with her godfather, Brian Kane, at her first communion in the winter of 2007-08. File photo
The Breathe for Britt Foundation Ltd. presents the second annual Breathe for Britt 5K Run/Walk on Sunday, June 5.
The Breathe for Britt 5K will bring together athletes of all abilities as well as community organizations and local businesses to support those with cystic fibrosis. All proceeds from the event go to the Breathe for Britt Foundation Ltd., a registered nonprofit organization. The Breathe for Britt Foundation was created in memory of a young cystic fibrosis patient and benefits Long Island families affected by this genetic, life-threatening disease.
The race will start and finish at the Gazebo across from Nesconset Plaza, 127 Smithtown Blvd., Nesconset.
Registration starts at 7 a.m. and the race will begin at 8:30 a.m., rain or shine. The event is a USATF Certified and sanctioned 5K — 3.1 miles. Timing is provided by Just Finish Inc. The race is a beautiful, paved course through residential streets of Nesconset.
Participants are encouraged to register in advance online at www.justregister.net for reduced registration fees.
Registration fees are as follows: adult, $25, day of race, $30; 17 and under, $20, day of race, $25.
Preregistration must be postmarked by May 29. The event is family friendly and open to both runners and walkers of all ages and abilities. Awards will be presented to the overall top three male and female finishers and top three males and females in each age group.
Business sponsorships are still currently available. Companies with four or more participating employees are also eligible to be acknowledged as a race sponsor. Visit www.breatheforbritt.org or call Laura at 631-413-0605 to take advantage of this team building opportunity.
Huntington's Tara Wilson and Comsewogue's Hannah Dorney fight for possession. Photo by Bill Landon
The Comsewogue girls’ lacrosse team is taking it to the next level.
The Warriors finished the regular season at 7-7 in Division II, and enter playoffs as the No. 7 seed.
The team will be up against No. 2 Rocky Point, when they hit the road today for a 4 p.m. matchup.
Comsewogue has its fair share of close calls this season, and just fell short to the Eagles, 6-5, the only time the two teams met up this season, on April 13.
If the Warriors win, they will move on to the semifinals, which will be on Tuesday against the winner of the No. 3 Westhampton vs. No. 6 West Babylon matchup.
Matt Senese will portray Lord Farquaad in Theatre Three’s latest production, ‘Shrek the Musical.’ Photo by Peter Lanscombe, Theatre Three Productions Inc.
By Rita J. Egan
Armed with hockey-grade shin and knee guards, Patchogue resident Matt Senese is ready to hit, not the ice, but the stage as Lord Farquaad in Theatre Three’s upcoming Mainstage production of “Shrek the Musical.”
For those who may not be familiar with the 2001 DreamWorks movie or 2009 Broadway musical, Lord Farquaad is the diminutive archenemy of Shrek and friends. Senese, who jokes that he is “5 feet 7 inches with a lot of sleep,” will play the role on his knees in order for the audience to get the full effect of just how small his royal nuisance is. The shin and knee guards under his costume protect his lower legs from injuries.
Matt Senese will portray Lord Farquaad in Theatre Three’s latest production, ‘Shrek the Musical.’ Photo by Peter Lanscombe, Theatre Three Productions Inc.
The seasoned actor, who is also a fourth-grade teacher at Maud S. Sherwood Elementary School in Islip, has appeared in over 300 local productions as well as regional theater outside of New York. Recently, Senese took time out from his busy schedule to answer a few questions about his participation in the upcoming production.
How did you feel when you learned that you got the part? I was very excited! Jeff (Sanzel), the artistic director, cast me before it was even announced. He asked me about it last year. So, I’ve known for a year that I was going to be doing it which gave me time to … learn it and kind of get used to dancing on my knees.
How are rehearsals going? They’re great. I think it’s going to be a wonderful show. It’s a very hard working group.
Do you have a favorite number in the musical? The favorite thing that I do is a song called “What’s Up, Duloc” where it’s kind of a … Las Vegas number, so it’s got back-up singers and dancers. But, I’m doing it on my knees with these tiny legs so it’s very funny. I think my favorite song in the show though is one that I’m not in, and it’s called “Freak Flag.” It’s a song about just being yourself — everyone is different; nobody is perfect. So just let your freak flag fly.
For you is that the main message of ‘Shrek’? Absolutely. It’s a great musical to bring the whole family to because it’s a musical that celebrates differences. Also, the wonderful thing about this story is it’s not your typical fairy tale. Usually the princess kisses the frog, and the frog turns into a handsome prince. It’s a musical about an ogre who falls in love with a princess and at the end of the story, she turns into an ogress. They’re both ogres at the end of the show, and happy to be ogres because it’s not about looks, it’s about love.
Do you have plans after the musical ends at Theatre Three? No, I don’t. I’m just going to take it easy. I think after “Shrek” I’m going to rest up and enjoy myself, and then in the fall, look for something to do.
Do you have anything to share with locals who want to act? I think people who live on Long Island are very lucky in the fact that there are so many theaters. We’re lucky. There are other places you go to, and they really don’t have any kind of local theater and they have to wait until tours come through. We live in a place that really has a lot of art. I think if that’s your passion, then there is a lot opportunity for it on Long Island.
What do you hope the audience will take away from this production of “Shrek the Musical”? First and foremost, I hope they’ll be entertained. I hope they’ll leave whistling a tune from the show because I think the score is really wonderful. Sometimes you go to see a show and you really can’t whistle any of the tunes. This show you can take so much of that with you. The music is very catchy; it’s very inspirational.
And, I hope that they just get the message. The message of “Shrek” is to just be yourself. There’s no such thing as perfection in the world. We’re led to believe…as children we’re taught these fairy tales, but really nothing in life is a fairy tale, and that is what I think “Shrek” shows. It’s about love. It’s about love and accepting who you are and accepting everyone else for who they are.
Theatre Three, 412 Main Street, Port Jefferson, will present “Shrek the Musical” from May 21 to June 25. Tickets range from $15 to $30. For more information, visit www.theatrethree.com or call 631-928-9100.
The poster for the short film "Grace." Photo from Marisa Vitali
By Victoria Espinoza
“Grace” did not come easy for Northport native Marisa Vitali, but she has used her struggles to help inspire others.
The poster for the short film “Grace.” Photo from Marisa Vitali
The village will be rolling out the red carpet for the premier of Vitali’s short film, “Grace,” based on her experiences battling addiction and recovery. In an interview, the filmmaker said she wanted to tell her story differently and focus more on the light at the end of the tunnel.
“I felt like a turtle without a shell, raw and emotionally exposed,” Vitali said of her struggles. “This was the story I wanted to tell in the film ‘Grace.’ Anyone can watch a film and learn how to shoot a bag of dope or smoke a crack pipe. I wanted to tell a story of hope and recovery and bridge a gap between addicts and non-addicts to start that conversation of recovery.”
The film focuses on a woman in her first year of recovery working at diner, which mirrors Vitali’s real life. She worked at Tim’s Shipwreck Diner in Northport during her first year of recovery. Vitali said she included the snapshot in her film because of how important the first days of improvement are for recovering addicts.
“The first year is the most difficult,” she said. “You’re left with fear, shame, anger and guilt.”
Vitali, who is now nearly 15 years sober, said she went to an outpatient program at Daytop Village Inc. in Huntington Station once she made a commitment to get clean, and continues to attend support meetings.
Discussing the problem is half the battle, Vitali said. She said a lot of people think addiction will never happen to them, or their loved ones, so they end up not having the information they need to deal with the struggles of substance abuse.
“Addiction is still portrayed as a taboo topic,” she said. “There is a lot of stigma attached to it. There is something to be said about how we can all be a little more compassionate for one’s struggle to overcome against all odds.”
Anthony Fernandino, chair of the Northport-East Northport Drug and Alcohol Task Force, said he hopes the film sparks a conversation about the importance of the prevention side of dealing with drug addiction.
“I felt like a turtle without a shell, raw and emotionally exposed.” — Marisa Vitali
“We want to continue to raise awareness, and provide the community with more education,” he said in a phone interview. “If we can prevent a kid or give a parent the tools they need to prevent this from happening, it is a much easier [task] than treating a kid who is already in the throws of addiction.”
He said this film could help give parents new talking points for more open conversations with their children and provide concrete examples of what to do to keep a safe and healthy environment.
This film also lines up with an ongoing battle facing Suffolk County, and the nation as a whole.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 28,000 overdose deaths in 2014 as a result of heroin or opioid abuse across the United States — the highest number on record in any single year. Last year alone, Suffolk County suffered 103 fatal heroin overdoses and tallied more heroin-related overdose deaths than any county in New York from 2009 to 2013, according to the New York State Opioid Poisoning, Overdose and Prevention 2015 Report.
“Grace” was filmed at Tim’s Shipwreck Diner in the village, and Vitali said the community has been extremely supportive of this endeavor.
Marisa Vitali grew up in Northport, which is also the setting for her short film. Photo from Marisa Vital
“It was important to shoot in Northport because it was a homecoming of sorts, and it felt like I had come full circle.”
Not only has “Grace” been received well by the community, it has also won film awards including Best Drama at the Cape Fear Independent Film Festival, the Audience Award for Best Short Film at the Long Island International Film Expo, and was selected for the short film corner in the Cannes Film Festival.
And the journey isn’t ending anytime soon for this short film.
Vitali said she is working to use the film, along with a lesson plan, as a learning tool for health classes in the Northport-East Northport school district.
“This was one of my intentions,” she said. “I wanted it to be available for educational purposes because there is not a lot of education on coming out of addiction and the recovery process.”
“Grace” will be shown at the John W. Engeman Theater in Northport on June 7 in an event hosted by the Northport-East Northport Drug and Alcohol Task Force. All proceeds will benefit Youth Directions and Alternatives, a nonprofit organization serving communities throughout Huntington by developing services and sober programs for youth in the communities.
Following the film premiere, there will be a question and answer session with Vitali and the director of the Huntington Drug and Alcohol Task Force Barry Zaks, where they will also discuss ways in which the community can work to address the issue of addiction.
The event was created for high school students, as there is some inappropriate language. Tickets for the event can be purchased at www.engemantheater.com/event/grace-premiere.
Old friend gets third organ transplant with councilwoman’s help
Tom D’Antonio and Jane Bonner spend time after a successful kidney transplant surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Photo from Bonner
A Brookhaven Town Councilwoman was elected in 2007 to serve the community. On April 26, she took the idea of public service to a whole new level.
Tom D’Antonio and Jane Bonner spend time after a successful kidney transplant surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Photo from Bonner
Jane Bonner, councilwoman for Brookhaven’s second district, and Tom D’Antonio have known each other for almost 40 years. Bonner said she became friends with D’Antonio’s younger brother Steven in her seventh grade Spanish class at Middleville Junior High School in the Northport-East Northport school district, which has since closed, and the families have stayed in touch ever since. D’Antonio was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when he was 10 years old. He said the disease has “wreaked havoc” on his kidneys over the years. The 57-year-old EMT has a medical history that most would consider unlucky. He wouldn’t agree.
“I’m living proof that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” D’Antonio said.
He has had three successful kidney transplants and a pancreas transplant, and survived an acute coronary thrombosis, which was a 100 percent blood clot-blockage in a vessel of his heart in 2012.
The flip side to the hard luck of requiring three kidney transplant surgeries is the fact that three times, D’Antonio had a willing and able donor who was also a match. The first time was in June 1988 when his then girlfriend Cheryl, who he has been married to for 27 years now, stepped up and donated D’Antonio a healthy kidney. He said at the time, doctors told him the chances of his girlfriend being a match were one in a million.
In 1999, he underwent a pancreas transplant, which he said at the time was somewhat experimental. The result was the formerly insulin-dependent diabetic was essentially cured. But by 2002, the diabetes had done damage to his wife’s former kidney. This time, D’Antonio’s sister stepped up. She wasn’t an option in 1988 because she had just given birth.
Everything was fine until October 2012 when the blockage caused his heart to stop for about 14 minutes while he was riding the Long Island Rail Road one day. An EMT riding the train performed CPR to resuscitate D’Antonio. Luckily, the incident occurred near the Mineola train station, which is about five minutes walking distance from Winthrop University Hospital. Doctors told him they thought he’d have brain damage if he survived the ordeal, emphasis on “if.”
D’Antonio’s brain was okay, but the heart stoppage caused damage to his sister’s kidney. He was back in a familiar position. For a third time he needed a family member or close friend to step up and offer an organ that would save his life.
‘Once I make up my mind, I’m pretty steadfast and determined. I’m a big believer in God having a plan.’ — Jane Bonner
According to the National Kidney Foundation, more than 3,000 new patients are added to the kidney waiting list every month, and 13 people die every day waiting for a kidney transplant. According to the Living Kidney Donors Network, more than 80,000 people are currently on the waiting list, where most people remain for more than five years waiting for a life-saving donation while on dialysis.
D’Antonio found himself in need of a kidney with his options exhausted. In October 2015, Bonner invited D’Antonio and his wife to meet her and her husband, John Sandusky, to join them and some friends at the Huntington Lighthouse Festival in Huntington Harbor. Bonner and Sandusky sailed their boat from Mount Sinai, while the D’Antonios took the short trip by boat from their home in Eaton’s Neck.
“We almost didn’t stop — we didn’t want to intrude,” D’Antonio said about that October day. He revealed to Bonner he was in need of a kidney once again, and told her that a family member who might have been an option was not going to work out.
Tom D’Antonio, his wife Cheryl and Jane Bonner sail on the open seas, which is where Bonner first told D’Antonio she’d like to donate her kidney. Photo from Bonner
“I said, ‘I’ll do it,’” Bonner said. Taken aback, D’Antonio suggested Bonner should think it over and maybe discuss it with her husband and family.
“John!” D’Antonio said Bonner called out to her husband across the boat. “I’m going to give Tommy a kidney!”
That was all the discussion the Bonners needed, which D’Antonio said was apropos of their relationship.
“Once I make up my mind, I’m pretty steadfast and determined,” Bonner said. “I’m a big believer in God having a plan.”
On April 26, Bonner donated her left kidney to D’Antonio in what she called a “minor surgery” at New York Presbyterian Hospital.
As that master plan has played out since, Bonner said doctors discovered two precancerous polyps that were about two years away from manifesting into colon cancer during the litany of tests she had to undergo in preparation for the donation.
D’Antonio said he’s not sure what his outlook would have been if Bonner hadn’t offered to help.
‘I’m living proof that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’ — Tom D’Antonio
“I know that right now I wouldn’t be feeling as good as I’m feeling,” he said. “I was to the point, the week of and the week before the surgery, if I walked a block I’d have to stop and rest. It’s like a slow, miserable, downward spiral.”
Bonner has since shared news about the transplant on social media using the hashtag #ShareTheSpare, and plans to advocate for programs like the Kidney Paired Donation Pilot Program, which is managed by the United Network for Organ Sharing and is an option for patients with a living donor who is not a match.
“It’s more dangerous to drive to work every day than it is to live with one kidney,” Bonner said. “There’s no greater gift to give than the gift of life.”
Bonner, who missed just eight days of work, has been hesitant and uncomfortable with the baskets, flowers and cards she’s received since the surgery.
“There’s like this common element that runs through people who do that,” D’Antonio said. “They’re all like ‘it’s a no brainer.’ Clearly it’s more than that. That’s the thing that’s hard to express in words — how that makes you feel.”
D’Antonio shared what he said to Bonner in response to that hesitancy to accept thanks or praise.
‘Gone Fishin,’ 1994, oil on canvas, by Gary Erbe, on loan from Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Cusenza
Trompe l’oeil /trômp ‘loi/ — noun — visual illusion in art, especially as used to trick the eye into perceiving a painted detail as a three-dimensional object. Fr., deceiving the eye.
By Ed Blair
Artists have attempted to beguile the eyes of viewers with clever techniques for centuries. While the actual phrase originated in the Baroque period, when it referred to perspectival illusionism, trompe l’oeil dates much further back. It was, and still is, often employed in murals. It was used in Greek and Roman times, as famously illustrated in the ruins of Pompeii. There was widespread fascination with this type of perspective drawing during the Renaissance, and it enjoyed a renaissance of its own in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Visitors to the Heckscher Museum of Artin Huntington will have the opportunity to enjoy this artistic style in an exhibition opening Saturday, May 21, where the work of Gary Erbe will be on display. Combining trompe l’oeil realism with modernist tendencies, Erbe has created captivating illusions that are entrancingly intricate and hypnotically absorbing. Titled Master of Illusion: The Magical Art of Gary Erbe, the exhibit spotlights the engaging oil paintings of the artist who coined the term “levitational realism” to describe his work.
‘Those Amazin’ Mets,’ 2006, oil on canvas, by Gary Erbe, on loan from Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Cusenza
A native of Union City, New Jersey, Erbe has been painting professionally for over 40 years. Originally working as an engraver, he made the decision while in his mid-twenties to pursue painting full time. The museum’s exhibition traces the career of the self-taught artist from his early trompe l’oeil works to his more recent paintings that focus on juxtaposed objects and the dynamics of composition, form and structure.
Erbe explained levitational realism as an illusionistic depiction of objects where they seem to hover in space. “I studied the nineteenth century trompe l’oeil works of artists like [William] Harnett and [John F.] Peto,” he said, “but I wanted to be original. I wanted to create an atmosphere surrounding subject matter where it seemed to be floating in space, but at one point I realized that trompe l’oeil had its limitations. I wanted to add new elements of abstraction. I wanted the work to be about ideas, about something I envisioned that was familiar but did not exist in reality.”
Erbe’s subjects are inspired by popular culture and range from nostalgic images of childhood pursuits and national pastimes to American jazz and the golden age of 1950s radio, television and film, to American history, nationalism and contemporary social issues. “The rules of trompe l’oeil do not allow for human figures,” he said. “You can’t fool the eye if a person is in the work. So I occasionally will use silhouettes to give the feeling of a human presence.”
‘The Big Splash,’ 2001, oil on canvas, by Gary Erbe, on loan from Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Cusenza
Lisa Chalif, the Heckscher Museum’s curator, noted that “Mr. Erbe’s impeccable skill imbues familiar objects with a heightened realism that evokes the pristine, otherworldly clarity of surrealism. Painted from carefully crafted constructions of objects belonging to our shared American experience, Erbe’s work is at once aesthetically complex and profoundly engaging to all.” She added, “I have come to admire the artist’s gracious and generous spirit as much as his remarkable work. The museum is sincerely grateful to the private and institutional collectors who have entrusted us with their paintings, sculptures and constructions. Mr. Erbe’s collectors are passionate about his art, and we are honored to share their works with a larger audience.”
Via extensive solo exhibitions, Erbe’s work has been presented throughout the United States, and he has garnered numerous honors and awards. He has exhibited internationally and participated in a group show, American Art on the Brink of the 21st Century, organized by Meridian International in Washington, D.C., that traveled for two years in the Far East. Erbe’s works hang in a number of museums across the country and can be found in many public and private collections throughout the world. He currently maintains a studio in Nutley, New Jersey.
The Heckscher Museum of Art, located at 2 Prime Ave. in Huntington, will present Master of Illusion: The Magical Art of Gary Erbe through Aug. 28. Meet the artist on Sunday, May 22, from 3 to 4 p.m. as he leads a gallery tour exploring his artwork and creative process. Registration is recommended.
For further information, call 631-351-3250, or visit the museum website atwww.heckscher.org.
‘The 50’s,’ 1991, oil on canvas, by Gary Erbe, from the collection of Ira W. Kent
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