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Yearly Archives: 2016

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People at an anti-drug forum stay afterward to learn how to use the anti-overdose medication Narcan. Above, someone practices spraying into a dummy’s nostrils. Photo by Elana Glowatz

We’ve been hit with some staggering figures. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 28,000 overdose deaths in 2014 as a result of heroin or opioid abuse, the highest number on record. Last year alone Suffolk County suffered 103 fatal heroin overdoses. Suffolk 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.

Although local and national initiatives have come from all different angles to try to combat the rise in heroin and opioid abuse, we think lawmakers lack focus.

Most recently, U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) endorsed a large legislation package that would review and update guidelines for prescribing opioids and pain medication and require a report to Congress on the availability of substance abuse treatment in the country, among many other provisions. While we applaud any earnest effort to combat the widespread problem, there needs to be more focus from one specific angle: prevention.

With treatment and recovery options across the North Shore and with the rate at which the county is now taking down drug dealers, enforcement and rehabilitation are not our biggest problems. Instead, more needs to be done to deter kids from ever considering to try drugs in the first place. While some schools have begun to work on this, working with police to hold Narcan training sessions and informational forums, students should be seeing more than just numbers and figures, police officers or counselors.

Tracey Budd, of Rocky Point, helped Suffolk County create a public service announcement, “Not My Child,” that has been shown in schools. Budd lost her son to a heroin overdose and her message is powerful. Kids need to see the struggles that addicts and their families go through to help hammer home how dangerous drugs are.

We also urge parents to be more aware and involved. You know your child — look, listen and ask questions. There are signs in mood, behavior, habit and appearance that could warn you that there’s a serious problem. And don’t be afraid to set boundaries or to talk both about drugs and other topics that may seem difficult or awkward. Many people are drawn to drugs because of an underlying emotional issue, but letting a teenager know that nonjudgmental ears are listening could be a solution.

Frederick Douglass once famously said, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” Building those stronger children is how we should tackle our country’s growing drug problem.

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Jimmy Caddigan shoots through traffice, and scores with a shot to the top, far right corner. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Danny Caroussos is sandwiched between the Bay Shore goalkeeper and a Bay Shore defender after scoring a goal. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Dan Riley, who had three assists on the evening, races across midfield. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Brandon Meir pushes his way past a stick across the chest and fires a shot at the net. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Dan Varello raises his stick to maintain possession after the faceoff. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Matt Caddigan rockets a shot through traffic and scores. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Jimmy Caddigan maintains possession while a Bay Shore defender tries to force a turnover. Photo by Desirée Keegan
John Hoffman moves the ball around inside the box as Bay Shore defenders race to gain possession in a last-ditch effort to score before time expires. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Kyle Zawadzki winds up to pass the ball. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Danny Caroussos moves the ball around the cage. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Jimmy Caddigan dives for the loose ball. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Smithtown West bounced back from a tough loss to Northport with a 9-7 win over Bay Shore Tuesday.

With one game left in the regular season — a tough matchup against Division I leader West Islip — the boys’ lacrosse team has lost just four games this season, all of them one-goal games. The Bulls’ defense had a target to keep all opponents under five goals this season, and came close with 10 of its 15 competitors scoring six or fewer.

“We’ve been playing some big games lately,” said junior attack Jimmy Caddigan, who tallied a hat trick and two assists in the win over Bay Shore. “I think today we got back on track a little bit. Our defense has been playing great all year. We had some man downs that they played big on.”

Smithtown West senior attack Danny Caroussos got his team on the board first to open the game, and although Bay Shore tied it up, sophomore attack and midfielder Kyle Zawadzki scored with 15.9 seconds left in the first quarter to give his team the advantage.

Being a man down, Bay Shore was able to capitalize on the Bulls’ yellow card to again even the score. But that would be the last time the Marauders would come that close.

“Overall I though we could’ve played better — definitely not up to our potential, but coming off a loss it’s great to get back in the win column and get some momentum going into our last game of the year against a very good West Islip team coming in, especially on senior night,” Caroussos said of the May 12 game, which kicks off at 5 p.m.

Caddigan assisted on Zawadzki’s final goal of the evening, and Caroussos assisted on Caddigan’s first when he passed to the sophomore, who swiveled around the cage from the left side and scored for the 4-2 advantage.

The Bulls led by four goals twice. First, when Caddigan whipped the ball into the netting from two yards out with 30.5 seconds left in the first half, and second, when his younger brother Matt Caddigan found the net off an assist from John Hoffman.

Right before that goal that gave Smithtown West an 8-4 lead, senior midfielder Danny Varello, who won 17 of 19 faceoffs, won the draw and raced into Bay Shore’s zone, rocketing a shot in, in a play that lasted just several seconds.

Despite the showing, Smithtown West head coach Bobby Moltisanti Jr. said his team has some more work to do.

“It was a gritty win,” he said. “I felt we were inefficient on offense. There was an opportunity throughout the game where we could’ve pulled away, but we didn’t. I feel like we can play better, and the boys know they can play better. But I give the boys credit. They fought.”

His athletes agreed, but still think they have what it takes to go far.

“I think this team can beat anyone,” Jimmy Caddigan said. “We’re getting over that hump of finishing the regular-season games and we’re looking forward to the playoffs.”

Although playoffs are looming in the near future, the Bulls are looking to take it one game at a time, with the immediate focus being on their senior night game.

“They’re No. 1 right now, we have a big rivalry between us and them,” Jimmy Caddigan said of West Islip. “We play them every year and we want one more big win.”

Zawadzki said the teams needs to clean up before heading into the next matchup, but added that the win over Bay Shore was important.

“This gives us confidence going into next week and we’ll just keep it rolling,” he said.

Smithtown West was a mixed bag this season, with strong senior leadership but some big contributing underclassmen. Although plenty of strong players will be left no matter what happens this postseason, for seniors like Caroussos, heading into his last few games will be bittersweet.

“There’s definitely mixed emotions,” he said. “We have a lot of potential and the county championship is one of the goals. I think we honestly have a chance to do that. We just need to come together as one unit and keep motivating each other to play better and better, and keep finding ways to win.”

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One of the more curious footnotes to World War II occurred 75 years ago this week. On a May evening in 1941, Rudolph Hess, deputy führer of the Third Reich and No. 3 man in line of succession after Hitler and Hermann Göring, flew solo from Germany to Scotland and parachuted into the waiting arms of the British.

So who was Hess and why did he make this bizarre wartime flight? He was born into a prosperous German merchant family living in Egypt just before the turn of the 20th century. The oldest of three children, he was by inclination a warrior and immediately after World War I broke out, he joined the infantry. He was wounded several times during the war, always returning to the front when he recovered and earning medals that included the Iron Cross in 1915. Toward the end of hostilities, he trained as an aviator.

In 1919 he continued his education at the University of Munich and attended a class taught by Karl Haushofer, a proponent of the principle of lebensraum (“living space”), which urged the need for more land. Postwar life in Bavaria at that time was chaotic, with fights erupting between right-wing groups and Communists, and Hess was drawn to battles in the streets as a member of the Thule Society, an extreme anti-Semitic gang.

In 1920, after hearing Hitler speak at a Nazi rally in Munich, Hess became totally devoted to him and joined the Nazi Party. From then on Hess was almost inseparable from Hitler, being at his side in the abortive Beer Hall Putsch of 1923 when Hitler tried to stage a coup d’état, and was in prison with him subsequently where he talked to Hitler about the lebensraum idea that became a pillar of the Nazi platform and justification for conquering lands in Eastern Europe. And while in prison, Hess helped Hitler write his “Mein Kampf” (“My Struggle”). After they were released, he was even subsequently injured protecting Hitler from a bomb planted by a Marxist group.

When Hitler and the Nazis finally did seize power in 1933, Hess became a cabinet member and was frequently the one who would introduce Hitler at rallies and speaking engagements. If Hitler could not attend, Hess would be his surrogate, addressing the crowds. Part of his cabinet responsibilities was to cosign every law decreed by Hitler, including the Nuremberg Laws, which stripped Jews of their rights as German citizens and set the stage for the Holocaust.

Meanwhile Hess regularly took lessons, becoming ever more skilled as a pilot. When war broke out in 1939, he asked Hitler if he could join the Luftwaffe but Hitler forbade it, telling him he couldn’t fly again until the end of the war but eventually limiting the ban to one year. Hess had been Hitler’s private secretary for years but was replaced by Martin Bormann, who gradually surpassed Hess in his relationship to Hitler.

About the time his flying ban was lifted, Hess confided to his son that he wanted to arrange peace negotiations between Hitler and Churchill. He talked about flying to meet with the Duke of Hamilton in Scotland, who was known to Albrecht Haushofer, the son of Hess’ professor and with whom Hess had become a good friend. They believed, mistakenly, that Hamilton was a leader of the opposition against the war. Hess began outfitting a sophisticated airplane with the necessary equipment to reach Scotland, including auxiliary fuel tanks, and after abortive tries due to weather or mechanical limitations, finally took off on May 10, 1941. That was six weeks before Hitler planned Operation Barbarossa, the surprise invasion of the Soviet Union. Hess was distressed at the prospect of two fronts and was determined to get Britain to sit out the rest of the war.

Hess was able to get to the coast of Britain before the radar picked him up, and before fighter planes sent up to intercept him could shoot him down. He flew at extremely low altitude and when he was near his destination, he parachuted out of his plane and landed within a few miles of Hamilton’s home. Churchill was not interested in his plan and the British held him as a prisoner of war. Hitler was reportedly enraged by Hess’ action and, disavowing any such knowledge on his part, stripped Hess of all his offices and decorations, fearing the response of Mussolini and the Japanese to such a unilateral move. Ultimately Hess was tried in the first round of prisoners at the Nuremberg trials and sentenced to life. He died in Spandau Prison in 1987 at age 93 by suicide.

The question will always remain for historians to argue: Did Hitler send Hess on his doomed mission?

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Words mean everything. Words mean nothing.

What’s going on in the world of words? Well, for one, we’ve become hypersensitized to words. Or, wait, maybe we’re desensitized.

We fling words across the aisle at our enemies, becoming both a victim and a perpetrator. We are more sensitive than the other guy until he seems absurd, and then we claim that his hypersensitivity is triggering our insensitivity.

And therein lies the tricks of the trade. Shakespeare would have a field day with a world so preoccupied with gender. The Bard focused on gender identity and gender issues through many of his writings and musings.

Are we the gender we choose, or do others have too much to lose, if we allow people to use the restroom of their gender identity?

Now that it looks like it’ll be Trump versus Clinton, the epic battle will no doubt become a war of words, wills and wallets. Who has the most money, where did it come from — and how will these people who have millions and billions help those with big dreams but small bank accounts?

Bernie Sanders isn’t going gently into that good night, nor should he. He’s forced Clinton to focus on the unequal distribution of wealth and he seems to be having a jolly time through a primary season that has brought pain and suffering to so many Republicans.

Whither Jeb Bush? The poor establishment candidate had the money but not the votes, while Trump directed verbal daggers at everyone else in the field. Whether Cruz was a lyin’ guy or not, Trump stuck that label on him the way novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne attached the scarlet “A” (for adulteress) to Hester Prynne in “The Scarlet Letter.”

Now that he’s no longer in the race, will Cruz decide to play the lyre, or will he retire from the national scene?

You have to imagine Trump is preparing memorable one-liners for the woman who wants a shot at the White House. When you don’t have anything else to say this year, make sure you point an angry finger in the direction of your adversary for whom you have abundant animosity.

Will Hillary deflect the disparaging dialogue the Donald directs, or will she flutter and stutter like so many of Trump’s other adversaries who have become political roadkill? Will he focus on her face as he did with Carly Fiorina?

Leaving the political realm, how about those Yankees? I know the better bet is the Mets. The team from Queens is proving that last year was no aberration, and it has the pitching and the hitting to play deep into October. But I’m a Yankee fan through and through which means that, these days, I’m feeling blue. I suspect the cast of “Gilligan’s Island” might even feel sympathy for a team that’s discovered a myriad of methods to strand runners every game, with nary a chance to cross the plate and return home.

The Bronx Bombers are playing like Bronx Bummers. This team, with its expensive, aging veterans and its floundering youngsters, may finish below .500. Even in a world where one out of three isn’t bad for a hitter, one out of two wins is horrific for any team.

And then there are the movies, those sweet escapes from the political jungle and the athletic battlefield. But wait, the top-grossing movies of last weekend were “The Jungle Book” and the Civil War movie with Captain America, which means that even in our movie dreams we are escaping to familiar themes. Maybe we enjoy our imaginary characters going to battle, allowing us to turn our words into swords.

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Superintendent Robert Banzer speaks about the three propositions on the ballot for next week’s budget vote at last Thursday’s board meeting. Photo by Victoria Espinoza

Northport-East Northport residents must support or deny three major proposals next week: a $161 million budget,  $2 million in capital improvements, and reducing the amount of board members from nine to seven.

The 2016-17 budget includes an American sign language elective at Northport High School, an elementary special education program and the purchase of a new school bus.

“This really emphasizes what this budget and what this school is all about,” Vice President David Badanes said at the May 5 meeting. “At the end of the day, it’s about students — there are students who are great in robotics, students who are great in music, students who are great in foreign languages. From A to Z, students in this district continue to shine.”

Northport proposes collecting $140.9 million in taxes, a 0.55 percent increase to the tax levy from last year’s budget, which will raise the average home’s taxes assessed at $3,800 an additional $56.40. This budget meets the state-mandated tax levy cap of 0.55 percent.

The second $2 million proposition on the ballot includes boiler replacements and a new gym ceiling at Northport Middle School, with funds taken from the 2008 general construction/electromechanical capital reserve and the 2012 capital reserve fund.

The district’s Athletic Facilities Citizens Advisory Committee first introduced many of the capital projects in a presentation led by trustee Regina Pisacani last December, after the committee conducted tours of the district’s facilities to see what improvements were needed.

Members of the United Taxpayers of Northport-East Northport presented a petition at a school board meeting last June, with more than 300 signatures, asking for the board size to go down by two members.

Armand D’Accordo, a member of the United Taxpayers of Northport-East Northport who presented the petition at that meeting, said he’s seen a number of issues with the current board size.

“I have gotten the sense at board meetings, both through watching and interacting, that it seems a bit dysfunctional, due to the makeup of how many members and how long they’ve been around,” D’Accordo said.

According to the district clerk’s office, if the proposition passes, it will go into effect in next year’s election. Trustees Pisacani, Donna McNaughton and Jennifer Thompson will all be up for re-election next year, and only one of the three seats would be open.

Board members have said they disagree with the proposal, arguing that a larger board size means more representation for the district.

“I’ve always liked the idea that the community has this degree of representation with nine members,” trustee Julia Binger said in a phone interview.

Trustee Lori McCue echoed her sentiment: “The downside for the community is a lack of representation,” McCue said in a phone interview. “I don’t feel this would benefit the community.”

The Northport-East Northport budget vote will be held from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. next Tuesday, May 17 at Dickinson Avenue Elementary School, Fifth Avenue Elementary School and the William J. Brosnan Building.

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Legislator Rob Trotta, left, calls on Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone to resign. Photo by Alex Petroski

Corruption is a word used often relating to Suffolk County government recently, and at least three legislators have had enough.

Suffolk County Legislator Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga) spoke at a press conference at the Suffolk County Legislature, Evans K. Griffing Building in Riverhead on Tuesday in which he called for the resignation of County Executive Steve Bellone (D) and District Attorney Tom Spota. Trotta also called for Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer (D), who is also the Suffolk County Democratic Committee chairman to step down from one of the two jobs.

“At this point we are calling for the district attorney to step down and to let normalcy come back,” Trotta said, adding stories that continue to come out relating to former Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke, who pleaded guilty to a civil rights violation and conspiracy to obstruct justice in February, are “disgusting.” Spota, Bellone and Schaffer were all critical in Burke’s career rise and promotion despite evidence reported by Newsday the men were warned of Burke’s troubled legal past.

Trotta’s calls for Spota’s resignation also stem from his backing of Chris McPartland, a corruption prosecutor in Spota’s office, who Newsday reported in January is under investigation by a federal grand jury for political corruption.

“People need to be held responsible for their actions and right now, in this county, they’re not being held responsible,” Trotta said. “I don’t mean in federal courts or being arrested, I mean morally and socially.”

Legislator Tom Cilmi (R-Bay Shore) and Kevin McCaffrey (R-Lindenhurst) joined Trotta at the press conference. Cilmi stopped short of calling for resignations when pressed, though he made a statement condemning Bellone and Spota’s alleged actions relating to Burke.

“People always have a sense that their political system is corrupt,” Cilmi said. “But day after day, week after week, year after year they’re seeing those fears play out right before their eyes in Suffolk County and it’s disgraceful. Whatever integrity Suffolk County has left is evaporating in a murky haze of finger pointing and deceit.”

Cilmi also echoed Trotta’s sentiments about Schaffer and suggested Schaffer’s two positions created a conflict of interest.

“The people of Suffolk County didn’t elect Schaffer,” Cilmi said. “The people of Babylon elected him town supervisor. Is he able to keep his government role separate from his political role?”

Schaffer could not be reached for comment but Bellone responded to Trotta’s comments in an email through his spokesperson, Vanessa Baird-Streeter.

“Rob Trotta and Tom Cilmi are partisan politicians who just don’t get it,” she wrote. “This is not a partisan issue, this is about sweeping out a culture of abuse and corruption in the district attorney’s office. I regret that I trusted the word of the district attorney regarding Jim Burke, and I have learned from that error in judgment, which is why I nominated former federal prosecutor Tim Sini as police commissioner after vetting him for more than a year.”

Bob Clifford, a spokesperson for Spota, responded in a similar fashion.

“This predictably partisan press conference calling for the resignation of the duly elected district attorney is nothing but a political challenge to the effective leadership of Thomas Spota, who has spent the last 14 years putting criminals in jail,” he said.

McCaffrey and Trotta refuted any claims that the legislators’ motivation was driven by anything other than morality.

“I can tell you there’s Democrats in there that want to be standing here with us,” McCaffrey said, gesturing toward a legislative meeting going on at the same time. “They are ashamed of what’s going on in Suffolk County right now.”

Trotta said he invited Democratic legislators, though none attended.

“This is not about Republicans — this is not about Democrats,” Trotta said. “This is about corruption. Our job as representatives is to look into this. My constituents don’t have the ability to look into it like I can. Having been a former detective for 25 years I came to this job and I am sickened by what I see. Sickened.”

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Alexandra Juliano, far right, in a scene from ‘The Little Mermaid Jr.’ at the SCPA. Photo by Samantha Cuomo

By Rita J. Egan

Before she flies off to the University of Delaware in a few months, Alexandra Juliano is taking on one of her dream roles — Peter Pan. The Commack High School senior and other young actors, who are all 18 years old or younger, will be hitting the stage at the Smithtown Center for the Performing Arts in “Disney’s Peter Pan Jr.,” which opens on May 14.

The Commack native is no stranger to the stage. She has performed in various productions at the Dream Makers Performing Arts School in East Northport as well as her high school, most recently playing Mrs. Lovett in “Sweeney Todd.” Over the last few years, she has appeared at the Smithtown Theater in the junior versions of “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Les Miserables,” as well as the Mainstage production of “The Little Mermaid” as Aquata, one of Ariel’s sisters.

Recently, Juliano took time out from rehearsals to talk about her portrayal of the iconic character of Peter Pan and about growing up.

How did you feel when you heard you got the part?
I was ecstatic; I was over the moon! I love doing shows here, especially the junior shows. I’ve done a Mainstage show and it was amazing, but the junior shows are really nice because I love working with the little kids and all my friends and everything. Peter Pan actually has always been my favorite Disney movie, ever, and Peter Pan himself has always been one of my dream roles. I love “Peter Pan” and everything that it’s about. So, not only did I know it was going to be a great experience because of that, but it’s a part I always wanted to play. I was so proud, so happy, so humbled to get the chance to play it.

What’s it like working with the cast and crew?
Amazing. I’ve done so many shows here and I’ve never had a bad experience from the adults to the directors to the kids. You just get so close to everyone. It’s such a warm environment.

Do you have a favorite song in the play?
I guess I have to say my favorite song is the first time the Darlings fly with me. The “You Can Fly” sequence, where the famous line is, “Neverland is second star to the right, straight on till morning.” I’ve always loved that line. I can’t wait for that magic with the audience, the little kids thinking that we’re flying.

What is the energy like with a children’s audience?
The energy in the audience is always so high. We do autographs after, and obviously performing onstage is amazing, but that’s one of my favorite parts, is the autographs after. For “The Little Mermaid Jr.” I was Sebastian, and the kids, just the things that they would say to you, they really believe that you’re the character. They thought I was this little red crab. I think that’s the best part. These kids come, and they’re so young some of them, and even the ones who are older, and they know that it’s not real, they still get sucked into it. They still have that Disney Magic. Like I said, even though I love performing, obviously, I love the autographs, and the energy that the kids show, the enthusiasm they show.

Do you think some of the kids in the autograph line will realize you’re a girl?
I’ve actually thought about that. I don’t know exactly what response I’m going to give yet if anyone says that to me. I’m thinking I’m going to have a short enough wig and if they say anything to me, I’ll just have to stay in character and say, “No, I’m Peter.” And I hope, even if they do realize I’m a girl, I hope that when I’m onstage, they’ll forget the fact that it’s a girl playing a boy, and just enjoy it for what it is.

Peter Pan and his friends are resistant to growing up. How do you feel about growing up?
It’s scary. I just paid my deposit for college actually this past weekend, and it’s really scary. My brother, my whole life I’ve grown up with me and him being very, very close … my older brother … When I was younger I was always like, “No, I want to be an adult. I want to wear the high heels and the lipstick,” but he was always like, “I just want to stay young forever.” And now that I’m actually wearing the high heels and the lipstick, I love looking back at the memories of being a kid. There are perks of being an adult but then there’s definitely reasons why I see that Peter didn’t want to grow up. It’s definitely a lot more fun being a kid.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
I would love to be an actress. Hopefully, knock on wood, but I’m actually majoring in dietetics, so nutritional sciences and stuff like that.

Do you plan on acting at college?
Yes, I plan on minoring in theater. Which is good, since I’m doing the minor, I’ll be able to audition for their shows and everything. And, I know already Ken [Washington] said next year for the summer show I’ll be able to audition for it when I get home from college. So, it’s good. Even though I’m not majoring in it, it will always be a part of my life.

Do you see yourself acting professionally?
I would love to be able to pursue it professionally. It’s such a risky and tough business. My parents have told me you’re more than allowed to audition, and they’ve even told me if you get a part while in school, you’re allowed to take time off to pursue a part on Broadway or off Broadway if you get that opportunity, because they know how important it is to me. I have my backup plan, I have the backup job, but I definitely would love to audition and put myself out there for it.

What advice would you give young actors?
Just keep trying out. You’re not always going to get the part you want. You’re not always going to get the lead role your first try or your second try. But, it’s all about making the best of the role you get, in theater so many people don’t see that, but there’s no bad role. Even ensemble in shows, they’re so much more than ensemble. I’m one of those people I’ll watch a show, and during the big dance numbers, I love seeing the facial expressions of the ensemble, and I love seeing the energy. And, the ensemble really makes or breaks a show. So ensemble is sometimes the best role. Just keep trying. Just keep going. Don’t get down on yourself. Because eventually you’ll get there, you’ll get the role you want.

So far, the experience with “Disney’s Peter Pan Jr.” has left the soon-to-be 18-year-old with  wonderful memories. She said not only does she enjoy working with the whole cast but the musical gives her a chance to perform with one of her best friends Cass Fawcett, who plays Tinker Bell. Juliano also said the young actors playing the Darlings — Moira Swinford (Wendy), Cole Napolitano (John) and Erika Hinson (Michael) — with whom she appears in many scenes, are exceptionally talented.

Catch Juliano and her fellow young actors at the Smithtown Center for the Performing Arts until June 19. The theater is located at 2 E. Main St., Smithtown, and tickets are $15 per person. For more information, call 631-724-3700 or visit www.smithtownpac.org.

This version corrects the last name of Erika, who plays Michael Darling.

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Setauket Neighborhood House. File photo

By Irene Ruddock

The Setauket Neighborhood House will host its annual Taste of the Neighborhood fundraising event on Friday, May 13, from 7 to 10 p.m.

Local restaurants, including Fratelli’s, O Sole Mio, Country House, Three Village Inn, Curry Club, Chick-fil-A, Fifth Season, Bliss, Setauket Gourmet Deli, Mario’s, Old Field Club, Setauket Pastaria, Luigi’s, Villa Sorrento and Elegant Eating, will provide their signature dishes accompanied by beer or wine compliments of the SNH.

Live music by members of the Ward Melville High School Jazz Ensemble will enliven the atmosphere, providing a joyful backdrop for all in the local community to re-connect after a long winter while supporting this fundraiser.

Contributing to the festivity of the evening by setting up and serving will be members of the High School Key Club. Raffle baskets, complied by SNH board members with numerous gift certificates from local businesses, will tempt all to purchase tickets. Drawings will be conducted that evening, but you don’t have to be present to win.

Artists Joan Bloom, Anne Katz and Paula Pelletier, all members of the Setauket Artists, will be exhibiting their work as well as each donating an original painting for the raffle. Paintings will be for sale for several weeks after the event, which will give people time to view the exhibit. (Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., but call 631-751-6208 for details and gallery hours.) All proceeds from the raffle baskets and sale of paintings will go directly to the Setauket Neighborhood House.

The Setauket Neighborhood House originally was built in the early 1700s. In 1820, it was moved from its Conscience Bay site in Setauket to its present location by Dr. John Elderkin. When passed on to his son John in 1836, the rooms, now known as the Victorian Parlors and the Board Room, were added. The house then became known as Ye Old Elderkin Inn. Besides being an inn, the house also had a general store, post office, bank and library in the building. John Ederkin’s wife, Renelcha, was a woman of great refinement and energy. She oversaw the inn, which was noted for its hospitality and fine food with many famous people stopping there. During the 1860s, the inn serviced a stagecoach line from Setauket and the Lakeland Railroad Deport near Ronkonkoma.

When Dr. Elderkin died in 1885, the house was passed on to his niece, Julia, and then on to Julia’s niece Augusta Elderkin and her husband, Captain Beverly S. Tyler. The Tylers named their inn The Lakeside House and it operated until 1917.

The Old Field industrialist, Eversley Childs and his wife Minnie, purchased the property in May of 1917 and together with an endowment presented it to the community. The Childs also provided funds for the addition of the present-day Ballroom. The Setauket Neighborhood Association was formed to maintain and preserve the house, and it has since served as a community meeting place.

Tickets for this event may be purchased for $30 online at www.setauketnh.org or at the door for $35. Checks may be sent to P.O. Box 2192, Setauket, NY 11733. Please join them at this wonderful community event to raise money for the maintenance and preservation of one of our most beloved community treasures — The Setauket Neighborhood House!

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By Elof Axel Carlson

I learned from my daughter-in-law, Dawn Allen Carlson, that my son John died as he was recovering at home from pneumonia treated with antibiotics. John (1962-2016) could not be revived by the EMT or after being taken to the hospital in Swampscott, Massachusetts, where he lived.

John was a happy child and had many friends at Ward Melville High School. He went to Yale for his bachelor’s degree and loved volleyball, serving as captain of his team. He switched from engineering to mathematics and got his master’s in applied mathematics at Stony Brook University.

John loved history and read widely. He treasured the Civil War narrative histories that he inherited from my brother Roland. I had seen John last at the memorial service for my daughter Claudia. After I finished my presentation on the stage of the Hotel Roger Smith in Manhattan, my son John scooped me off the high platform and gently brought me down to the floor.

John used his skills as an actuary and as a designer of computer software for corporate health and retirement programs. When he was a child, I marveled at his gift for playing Monopoly, where instead of counting out each spot for landing a marker, he just lifted it from the board and placed it where it should be. He was invariably the banker for the game. John was gentle in his personality. During Claudia’s last month of life, he helped move in a hospital bed and rearrange her furniture so she could see people who came by.

I have learned that the hardest psychological impact of aging is being alive to see family members, students and friends younger than me die. It is so unfair that Claudia will not experience holding a grandchild and John will not experience the weddings for his two adult children. But this is characteristic of life. It does not abide by our wishes or logic.

While I know this from my immersion in the life sciences, the injustice of it is hard to rationalize by science or faith. I can hear John’s resonant baritone voice in my head and savor the rational, sympathetic way he handled crises. I shall miss his telephone calls and the delight of discussing history and current events with him filled with wit and insight.

Elof Axel Carlson is a distinguished teaching professor emeritus in the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Stony Brook University.

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From left, E.J. Kuhlmann, Mike Christie and Chris Schnupp of the 88th NY Volunteers Irish Brigade. Photo by Heidi Sutton
Members of the 9th Virginia Infantry Co. C examine a bayonet. Photo by Heidi Sutton
Dakota Kuhlmann gives an apple to the teacher, Susan Gill. Photo by Heidi Sutton
Nathan Blaine and Eric Seemann of the 9th Virginia Company C pose in front of the Terry House, 1823. Photo by Heidi Sutton
Kids gather in front of a Civil War tent. Photo by Heidi Sutton
The 1850 Greek Revival-style Bald Hill School House served the community through 1929. Photo by Heidi Sutton
Teacher Susan Gill with a child from the community. Photo by Heidi Sutton
Members of the 9th Virginia Company C perform drills. Photo by Heidi Sutton

Despite the threat of rain, the Farmingville Historical Society hosted a Civil War Encampment at the site of the 1823 Terry House and 1850 Bald Hill School House on Horseblock Road in Farmingville on Saturday.

The community was able to travel back in time to the 1860s to experience the daily lives of Civil War soldiers with members of the 88th New York State Volunteers and The 9th Virginia Infantry Company C. The Union and Confederate soldiers conducted military drills, fired muskets, demonstrated how soldier’s meals were prepared on an open fire and conducted a mock battle at Farmingville Hills County Park.

In addition, the one-room school house was in session, led by schoolmarm Susan Gill, who regaled the children with stories from the days of Laura Ingalls and life in the 1800s and answered questions.

If you would like more information on the Farmingville Historical Society and its programs, visit www.farmingvillehistoricalsociety.org.

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