Above, ‘Corinth Sheep’ by James Napoli, last year’s Best in Show Winner. Photo courtesy of Gurwin Jewish
Gurwin Jewish Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Commack invites all amateur photographers, including students, to submit entries for its 25th Annual Photo Contest sponsored by The Tiffen Company of Hauppauge.
Winners of the unique contest have the distinct honor of not only receiving recognition for their work, but the privilege of helping to enhance the lives of the 460 residents that call Gurwin “home,” as winning photographs are permanently displayed in the Center’s renowned Tiffin Gallery and throughout the facility for the enjoyment of residents, staff and visitors.
Nearly 1000 submissions are received each year from across the globe and are judged by a panel of professional photographers who choose the winners based on clarity, composition, subject matter and suitability for display at the Center. Grand prize and honorable mentions, as well as Best-In-Show and Runner-Up winners are selected in each of 12 categories: Landscapes, Travel, People, Pets, Children, Wildlife, Nature, Still Life, Altered/Enhanced, Student, Long Island/New York and Action/Sports. In addition, a panel of Gurwin residents weighs in on their favorites, choosing “Resident Selection” winners from among the entries.
“Our annual Photo Contest is a unique opportunity for our schools, local camera clubs and other members of the community to touch the lives of our residents,” said Stuart B. Almer, Gurwin’s President and CEO. “Their beautiful photos add a feeling of vibrancy to the facility; both residents and staff are eagerly awaiting this year’s crop of winners.”
Every submission is a “winner” in the sense that those not selected for a prize are repurposed by Gurwin’s staff for programs that benefit the residents. Prints are used as reminiscence aids, for visual stimulation and for art therapy, providing a source of comfort and inspiration, specifically for those residents in the Center’s Memory Care Unit and Adult Day Care Programs.
Winners are selected and notified in May. A reception at the Gurwin Center for winning photographers will be held in June where they will receive their cash prize, award certificate and/or crystal trophy. Deadline for submissions is April 16.
Photographers may submit up to seven printed color or black and white 8×10 or 8×12 photographs for a fee of $5 per entry. Entry forms are available for download online at www.gurwin.org/about/photo-contest or by calling the Gurwin Public Relations office at 631-715-2568.
Port Jefferson Free Library, located at 100 Thompson St., Port Jefferson will host its 6th annual Community Service Fair for all ages on Saturday, March 24 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Have you been looking for ways to give back to your local community and to help those in need? There will be representatives from a range of community service organizations on hand including Friends of Karen, Mather Hospital, Long Term Ombudsman of the Family Service League of Long Island, Open Door Exchange, Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce, Theatre Three, Long Island Explorium (formerly Maritime Explorium), Port Jefferson Fire Department, Welcome Friends Soup Kitchen and more. Learn about each organization’s mission and how you (and your family) can become involved.
Open to all. No registration is required. For more information, call 631-473-0022.
HARBINGERS OF SPRING Ann Moran of Sound Beach recently discovered these snowdrops popping up in her front yard. She writes, ‘Some of my plants in the yard are telling me that spring is not far away. I’ll believe it when I see it!‘
Fun fact: Snowdrops were named after earrings not drops of snow. In the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries women often wore dangly, white drop-shaped earrings known as ‘eardrops.’ Some other common names of snowdrops are Candlemas bells, white ladies, Little Sister of the Snows, snow piercers, dingle-dangle and flower of hope.
Port Jefferson High School. File photo by Elana Glowatz
How to spend taxpayer dollars has been a hot-button issue in Port Jefferson during the current school year, and the tragic shooting in Parkland, Florida, in February that killed 17 people has only added more things to think about for residents and school officials alike.
The district is currently working with a $44.9 million budget draft that rolls over all programs and accounts for mandated contractual and benefit increases from the current year. The proposed spending plan for 2018-19 is 3.65 percent higher than the 2017-18 budget. The current draft makes up for the additional costs with a 2.27 percent increase to the tax levy, meaning taxpayers will be supplying about $807,000 of additional revenue next year, with the remaining increase covered by a 1.46 percent estimated increase in state aid. That number won’t be final until April.
Budget highlights
Current draft stands at $44,917,348 for total operating budget
3.65 percent increase in 2018-19 compared to current year
Additional expenses would be covered with 2.27 percent tax levy increase and 1.46 percent state aid increase
All programs rolled over from current year in next year’s budget
Expense increase largely due to contractual raises and increasing health insurance costs
District taxpayers voted down a $30 million bond proposal in December, which would have set aside money to address capital projects to upgrade facilities and infrastructure in each of Port Jeff’s school buildings and administrative office spaces over a 15-year span. The proposed capital bond would have allowed for the building of security vestibules in the high school and elementary school, moved high school classes taking place in portables into the main building and created a more strategic location for the middle school main office, among many other projects. Now, district administration is working to address the most pressing projects within the annual budget and using reserves.
A little more than $800,000 has been allocated toward the district’s capital reserves, and administration is seeking community input to help decide what projects should be addressed with the money if the budget passes, because voters must approve specific uses for capital reserve dollars. Superintendent Paul Casciano said during a March 22 public meeting it would be a challenge figuring out what to address among the district’s pressing needs.
“We had included in discussions prior, but since the unfortunate school shooting down in Parkland, Florida, [safety] has become a real priority throughout the Island, throughout the state and throughout the country,” he said.
“We want to bring our facilities into the 21st century in terms of learning opportunities for our students.”
— Paul Casciano
Prior to the shooting, the list of projects slated to be addressed using the $800,000 included $330,000 for renovations to the high school gymnasium lobby bathrooms, $260,000 for vestibules at the high school and elementary school, $43,000 to make Americans with Disabilities Act compliant fixes to the high school track for and $170,000 for classroom reconfiguration. Since the shooting, administration put together a new list of suggestions, which includes the vestibules, track fixes and relocation of the middle school office for a total $500,000.
“I like option two, of the two of them,” resident Renee Tidwell said.
The district is in the process of assembling a committee of community members to assist Port Jeff in developing a long-range vision for facilities improvement projects after the budget season, tentatively called the “super schools team.”
“There are a number of things that need to be done,” Casciano said. “We have some aging facilities, we have security needs. We want to bring our facilities into the 21st century in terms of learning opportunities for our students.”
Community input for security enhancement ideas included a system requiring visitors to present and leave identification with security personnel prior to entering school buildings and surveillance of the edge of school grounds. The district already has capital reserve money set aside for a multi-year roof-repair project, which will continue in the upcoming school year. About $1 million will go toward repairing two sections of the high school roof in 2018-19.
“The idea was to get our roofs on a cycle so that we’re not spending it all in the same time period,” board Vice President Mark Doyle said during the meeting of the reserves that had been set aside for roof repairs five years ago.
The board of education’s finance committee will hold a public meeting April 9 before the general board of education meeting April 10, where a budget hearing will take place and a budget will be adopted. The vote will be held May 15 at Earl L. Vandermeulen High School. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
James Garside's innovative signs helped save the like of a hiker in October 2017
Suffolk County police officer James Garside is honored by Huntington town officials March 20. Photo from Town of Huntington
Suffolk County police officer James Garside knows well that every second counts in an emergency.
That’s why he helped develop and implement innovate GPS-enabled trail markers at Cold Spring Harbor State Park. The trail markers played a critical role in saving the life of a heart attack victim last year.
“Officer Garside’s trail markers helped save that man’s life and improved public safety for all the park’s visitors and emergency responders,” Huntington Town Supervisor Chad Lupinacci (R) said while presenting Garside with a proclamation at the March 20 town board meeting for his work .
Garside, an advanced medical technician, designed a system of trail markers to help emergency responders quickly locate injured hikers along the 1.14-mile long section of the greenbelt trail, which runs through the state park. It consists of 15 bright yellow arrow signs attached to trees, labeled 101 to 115, between Cold Spring Harbor High School and Cold Spring Harbor Library. The latitude and longitude of each sign has been publicly recorded.
On Oct. 15, 2017, a 47-year-old man suffered a heart heart attack approximately halfway along the trail, and made a critical call to 911 for help. Due to Garside’s trail markers, he was able to give responders his location within the 47-acre park.
“Critical minutes, even seconds were saved because of the trail markers,” the supervisor said.
Grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis ‘Blonde ambition’) is a welcome presence through winter. Photo by Kyrnan Harvey
By Kyrnan Harvey
At the High Line, the exemplary greenway planted over the abandoned elevated railroad on the west side of Manhattan, the professional horticulturists wait until March for the “cutback” of herbaceous perennials. The dry foliage and stalks gone to seed offer shelter, food and perching possibilities to birds. Leaving them uncut through winter also protects the dormant crowns of plants from winter cold and wind.
But there is a third reason practitioners of the New Perennialist movement delay until March — along with the ecological and the horticultural, there is also the aesthetic. The art of close observation has rewarded us with appreciation of the browns of winter: the lines, the textures and the patterns, especially with the white counterpoint of snow underneath and fresh snow draping the skeletal remains.
The 19th-century Irishman William Robinson was the progenitor of the movement that steered away from formal, geometrical, Victorian bedding-out schemes and garish patterns of hothouse flowers. Through his illustrated books, “The Wild Garden” and “The English Flower Garden” (readily available in reprints); his journal, The Garden; his famous garden Gravetye Manor in Sussex; and through his friendship and collaboration with his contemporary Gertrude Jekyll, he introduced many gardening traditions that today are synonymous with “the English garden” — herbaceous borders, mixed borders (small trees, shrubs, vines, perennials, biennials and annuals grown together in informal drifts), ground covers and rock gardens.
Robinson rejected the artificial, statuary, topiary, fountains and carpet bedding and extolled the naturalistic, the wild and the untidy. His inspiration was not Italian grandeur but rather the simple cottage garden: hardy plants from around the world naturalized to blend into their surroundings. “The best kind of garden grows out of the situation, as the primrose grows out of a cool bank,” he writes in “The English Garden.”
It is an aesthetic that discovers and appreciates the subtle beauties of the natural world in all its diversity near and far. Karl Foerster (1874-1970) was a German nurseryman and writer who discovered a great many perennials, not least grasses, and elevated their status within gardening cognoscenti.
Many of these are North American natives — asters, coneflowers, goldenrods, and most importantly, grasses — but it was European plantsmen, nurserymens and philosopher-gardeners (Ernst Pagels, Mien Ruys, Rob Leopold, Henk Gerritsen, James van Sweden, Wolfgang Oehme) who in the mid-to-late 20th century introduced and popularized many dozens of plants — and the naturalistic aesthetic — that today we take for granted and that is now known as the New Perennialist movement.
And it is a Dutchman, Piet Oudolf, who today is the most acclaimed and influential plantsman and garden designer. The planting at the High Line is the embodiment of his celebrated aesthetic, and is merely one of his many public gardens revealed in a documentary that premiered last November titled “Five Seasons: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf.” He has written numerous books but my favorite is “Oudolf Hummelo,” co-written with Noel Kingsbury. (Hummelo is his family garden in Holland started in 1982.) It is in his beautiful books (or his Instagram) that you will quickly appreciate the merits of delaying until March the cutback of perennials.
As winter drags on, I only just started to cut back the grasses to expose the pushing daffodils. I know of a gardener who uses a mower at its maximum cutting height, but I have Narcissus, Camassia, Allium and Eremurus visible already, so I use my gas-powered hedge trimmer, which makes really quick work of cutting down even the most beastly Miscanthus, and I can be careful not to step on the precocious perennials.
Nor am I in any rush to get to work on the late-winter pruning and cutback of summer-blooming shrubs like Buddleia, Caryopteris, Hydrangea paniculata and roses. I prefer to wait until late March, when any threat of arctic blast is past.
Kyrnan Harvey is a horticulturist and garden designer residing in East Setauket. For more information, visit www.boskygarden.com
Kevin McEvoy will discuss the works of Leonardo da Vinci including ‘The Last Supper.’
The Atelier at Flowerfield, 2 Flowerfield, St. James continues its art history lecture series with Leonardo da Vinci, Part II on Thursday, March 29 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Director Kevin McEvoy will discuss the life and work of Leonardo da Vinci as a scientist, experimenter, poet and artist and his role in the progression of naturalism from Giotto to Sargent.
Enjoy snacks, refreshments, good company and stimulating discussion. Suggested donation is $10. No reservation needed. For further details, call 631-250-9009 or visit www.atelierflowerfield.org.
Protests outside Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan's East Northport home March 23. Photo by Sara-Megan Walsh
Roughly a dozen protesters marched up and down Cayuga Avenue in East Northport Friday morning greeting residents as they headed to work with chants of “hey hey, ho ho, predators have got to go.”
The New Yorkers Against Hidden Predators, a coalition of child sex abuse survivors, advocates, and advocacy organizations, stood outside state Sen. John Flanagan’s (R) home to protest his opposition to the Child Victims Act March 23. They carried signs reading “Stop protecting predators & start protecting kids” as well as blown up copies of the New York Daily News front cover “Protectors of the Predators” featuring Flanagan’s photo.
Kathryn Robb protests with others outside Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan’s East Northport home March 23. Photo by Sara-Megan Walsh
The rally’s aim was to push the Senate Majority Leader to use his position among Republicans to negotiate approval of the legislation that would open up the state’s statute of limitations of child-sex abuse crimes.
“I think that the power and energy of the ‘Me Too’ movement has really opened people’s eyes,” said Kathryn Robb, a Manhasset resident and child sexual abuse survivor. “We’re saying enough is enough, time is up. The laws in New York need to change. They are archaic and protect the predators, not victims.”
The Child Victims Act, if passed, would extend the time that child-sex abuse victims have to file a lawsuit from age 23 to age 28 in criminal cases, and up to age 50 in civil cases. In addition, the passage of the bill would open up a one-year period where survivors could file claims previously not permitted under the current law.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) included the Child Victims Act in his 2018 executive budget for the first time, after the bill was passed by the state assembly in 2017. The March 23 rally coincides with the last weekend of negotiations before the April 1 deadline to approve the state budget.
The act has been blocked by Senate Republicans numerous times during the past 14 years, according to Marci Hamilton, a founding member of the New Yorkers Against Hidden Predators and CEO of CHILD USA, a nonprofit think tank that seeks to end child abuse and neglect through evidence-based research.
“We are out here to tell Senator Flanagan it’s time to finally put this bill to rest and pass it,” Hamilton said. “He has personally refused to meet with us.”
Protests outside Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan’s East Northport home March 23. Photo by Sara-Megan Walsh
Sen. Flanagan and his spokesperson were not immediately available for comment in response to this morning’s protest.
In a pre-Election Day 2016 sit down with TBR News Media and his then Democratic challenger Peter Magistrale, Flanagan addressed the Child Victims Act and statutes of limitation.
“We have statutes of limitations for very cogent reasons and no matter how emotional a subject may be, witness availability, evidence, all those things have a salutary effect in terms of what happens,” he said.
Hamilton said the protest group has plans this afternoon to meet with state Sen. Elaine Phillips (R-Flower Hill) in her office to discuss her position on the Child Victims Act and attempt to negotiate her support of the bill’s passage.
From left, Cherry Torres (Nina), Nick Martinez (Sonny), Spiro Marcos (Usnavi), Vincent Ortega (Piragua Guy), Shadia Fairuz (Camila) and Paul Aguirre (Kevin)
From left, Scheherazade Quiroga (Daniela), Chiara Trentalange (Vanessa), Cherry Torres (Nina) and Iliana Garcia (Carla)
From left, Danny Lopez (Graffiti Pete), Nick Martinez (Sonny), Spiro Marcos (Usnavi) and Josh Marin (Benny)
By Rita J. Egan
It may be chilly outside, but things are heating up inside the John W. Engeman Theater. The Northport venue debuted its production of “In the Heights” on March 15, and with a talented cast and the energetic sounds of salsa, reggaeton, merengue and hip hop, audience members are guaranteed a fun, hot night on the town.
Before he shared the story of Alexander Hamilton through rap and song in “Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda created this spirited musical, which ran from 2008 to 2011 on Broadway and won four Tony Awards.
A love letter to Latinos who live in Manhattan’s Washington Heights, the story takes place during July Fourth weekend on one city block and centers around bodega owner Usnavi and his neighbors. While the play includes a good deal of reality like money issues, the death of loved ones and the sacrifices one must make for a better life, its main themes are about love and hope, and most important of all, having patience and faith.
With book by Quiara Alegria Hudes and music and lyrics by Miranda, through dialogue and song “In the Heights” reveals the economic struggles of Usnavi and his fellow business owners, car service proprietors Kevin and Camila Rosario and beauty salon owner Daniela.
Directed by Paul Stancato, the musical throws in romance as Usnavi pines away for the beautiful Vanessa, who works at the beauty salon, and the Rosarios’ daughter Nina and their employee Benny engage in a forbidden romance. As the audience gets a peek into the heartache of Usnavi losing his parents at an early age, Vanessa yearning to move downtown, the bright Nina losing her college scholarship and the love felt for the neighborhood’s adopted grandmother, Claudia, one can’t help but feel a part of this close-knit community.
Spiro Marcos as Usnavi does a fine job filling big shoes (the role was originally played by Miranda on Broadway). The actor skillfully uses rap during most of his numbers to tell the story. Marcos is in touch with Usnavi’s softer side, making it impossible not to root for him as he longs for Vanessa and dreams of going back to the Dominican Republic, his birthplace, while trying to keep the bodega afloat.
Cherry Torres and Josh Marin in a scene from ‘In the Heights’
Josh Marin is charming as Benny, and Cherry Torres is sweet and lovely as Nina. The two have a good amount of on-stage chemistry during their romantic scenes, which is front and center during the song “Sunrise” where they sing beautifully together. Chiara Trentalange balances a bit of sass and attitude with a touch of softness to deliver a Vanessa who may be determined to put her neighborhood behind her, but audience members can’t help but like her, too.
Tami Dahbura is endearing as Abuela Claudia, while Paul Aquirre and Shadia Fairuz are perfect together as Kevin and Camila. Scheherazade Quiroga is perfect as the spunky Daniela and delivers comedic lines perfectly. Iliana Garcia is refreshing as naïve hairdresser Carla, and Vincent Ortega is delightful as the Piragua Guy, especially during his number “Piragua” and its reprise. Nick Martinez, as Usnavi’s young cousin Sonny, and Danny Lopez, as Graffiti Pete, do a nice job adding some comic relief throughout the production.
The dancers are also among the stars in the show. Skillfully choreographed by Sandalio Alvarez, they energetically and masterfully transfer from salsa, merengue, reggaeton and hip hop dance steps.
The music in the production is top notch and is a mix of dance tunes that will have audience members wanting to dance in the aisles and emotional ballads for which some may need tissues. The band, led by conductor Alec Bart, does a superb job flawlessly moving from one musical genre to another, and the singers also do an excellent job.
During the first act, Torres expertly uses her vocal talents to perform an emotion-evoking version of “Breathe.” It is during this number audience members discover her time at Stanford University didn’t work out for her, and she now feels lost not knowing what to do with her life.
Aguirre’s number “Inútil” is just as heartbreaking as his character feels useless after discovering his daughter didn’t come to him to help her pay for school. Fairuz also displays strong vocals during the song “Siempre.”
Trentalange sings lead on the upbeat song “It Won’t Be Long Now” with Marcos and Martinez. The actress has fun with the song and her vocals are great.
Spiro Marcos (Usnavi) and Tami Dahbura (Abuela Claudia)
Dahbura moves around convincingly like a frail grandmother, and then surprises audience members with her incredible and emotional vocals during “Paciencia y Fe.” Abuela Claudia remembers her youth in Cuba and arriving in the United States, during the song. Her mother would always remind her to have patience and faith, advice Claudia continues to share with those she loves.
During the first act, the ensemble performs “96,000” as they sing about what it would be like to win Lotto. With the singers emanating so much energy, one can’t help but feel optimistic for them.
Quiroga gets the party started with “Carnaval del Barrio” and her vocals are outstanding. The high-energy song with exceptional dancing is sensational. It is soon followed by “Alabanza” where Torres sweetly sings the first lines and then the song builds up to a powerful number featuring the whole cast. Both performed during the second act are show stoppers.
Spanish is sprinkled throughout the dialogue and lyrics of “In the Heights” to add authenticity, but are always followed by English translations, or the lines are delivered with gestures that make things clear for those who don’t understand the language.
Many may want to see this musical because they are curious about Miranda’s earlier work, but “In the Heights” is an entertaining look into the life of Latinos in New York City and a beautiful tribute to the music that was brought to the United States from the islands of Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic.
The John W. Engeman Theater, located at 250 Main Street, Northport presents “In the Heights” through April 29. Running time is approximately 2.5 hours and tickets are $73; $78 for Saturday evening performances. Free valet parking is available. For more information, please call 631-261-2900 or visit www.engemantheater.com.
Commack Superintendent Donald James presented the district's 2018-19 budget draft. File photo by Greg Catalano
As Commack school officials propose nearly $300,000 in additional security measures and upgrades for next year, many parents came forward looking for the answer to one question: “What about armed guards?”
“Let’s get real — let’s make this part of the discussion,” resident Timothy Griffin said at the March 8 board of education meeting. “It makes no sense to me to not allow retired police officers that you currently have employed as security guards to carry firearms.”
Richard Schramm, director of facilities, said that Commack school district currently employs 23 security guards, most of which are assigned to specific individual buildings. A smaller number are designated as patrol guards along with two security supervisors, according to Schramm, who roam the district throughout the school day.
“It makes no sense to me to not allow retired police officers that you currently have employed as security guards to carry firearms.” — Timothy Griffin
Anastasia Vetter told board members they should be making increased security a priority over mental health monitoring.
“As much as you try to incorporate all these teachings about anxiety and how to handle children with problems, there’s always going to be one you’re not going to get,” she said. “And I don’t know if my child or someone else’s child is going to have to pay the price.”
Ian Chaikin asked why the school district is only now battening down its hatches in the event of a shooter situation.
“Parkland was tragic and the most recent but what have you been doing since the first shooting, or the second or third?” Chaikin said. “You guys gotta get on the ball.”
Another resident called for armed guards as well as locked vestibules at all eight buildings in the district, locked parking lot gates and metal detectors upon entering the school.
School administrators have built in nearly $300,000 of security upgrades to the district’s 2018-19 drafted budget. Schramm said there is $263,500 of remaining bond funds in order to install new classroom lock sets at Commack Middle School and Commack High School. The proposal also includes pulling $15,000 from the reserves to upgrade the security staff’s radios and $15,000 in the annual budget for upgrade the district’s security vehicles.
“Parkland was tragic and the most recent but what have you been doing since the first shooting, or the second or third?” — Ian Chaikin
Superintendent Donald James assured the speakers that the District Security Connector Group will be formed in upcoming weeks, consisting of Commack security personnel, teachers, administrators, board trustees, two parents for each grade level, and two community members-at-large (residents without school-aged children) in addition to the superintendent himself. This group will be charged with crafting a request-for-proposal to hire an outside agency to do a comprehensive security review of the district and consider the community’s suggestions — including whether to hire armed guards.
The funds to hire an outside security company to review the school district’s current practices and provide a list of suggestions is built into the facilities portion of the 2018-19 draft budget, according to Schramm.
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