Yearly Archives: 2019

Royals fall in county finals

by Bill Landon - May 31, 2019

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Port Jefferson junior Aidan Kaminski rips a shot on goal in the Suffolk Class D County final against Mattituck May 28th. Photo by Bill Landon — Port Jefferson junior Aidan Kaminski rips a shot on goal in the Suffolk Class D County final against Mattituck May 28. Photo by Bill Landon

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Port Jefferson’s boys lacrosse team, the No. 2 seed, trailed most of the way against Mattituck in the Class D County final at Farmingdale State College May 28, and surged late in the game to make a three-goal game. Mattituck showed why it’s the top seed in the division, keeping the Royals at bay to take the Suffolk title 14-10.

Port Jeff junior Aidan Kaminska topped the scoring charts for the Royals, netting four goals. Sophomore Gage Jampol along with sophomore teammate Daniel Koban each scored twice, and senior Jonathan Moshe and junior Colton VanOverberghe both stretched the net. Freshman keeper Peter Murphy had eight saves on the day. The Royals conclude their season at 8-7 in the division, 10-7 overall.

Patriots win Suffolk Class A Championship in overtime

by Bill Landon - May 31, 2019

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It took more than 48 minutes of regulation play to decide the Suffolk Class A Championship May 30 between top seeded Smithtown West and the No. 2 seed Ward Melville Patriots, but when time expired both teams were tied at nine goals apiece. It came down to Ward Melville junior Jack Gillen, whose stick would decide the contest two minutes into the sudden death overtime period when junior Steven Germain fed him the ball and Gillen found the cage, his first goal of the game, to win it 10-9. That shot will punch the Patriots ticket to the Long Island Championship round, and will make it the fourth time Ward Melville were made county champs.

Germain topped the scoring chart for the Patriots with his game winning assist to go along with his hat-trick, while senior Dylan Pallonetti and junior Rocco Barbero both scored twice.

Senior John Hoffman led the way for Smithtown West with three goals and the Caddigan brothers, Matt the senior and Danny the sophomore, had two goals each.

Smithtown West concludes their season with a 13-2 record in Div 1, with 14-3 overall.

The Patriots will take on Massapequa for the overall Long Island Title at Hofstra University June 1. Game time is at 10:00am.

Family members take part in medical school’s convocation ceremony

by Rita J. Egan - May 31, 2019

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The medical arm of Stony Brook University held its 45th convocation ceremony May 23 at the Staller Center. The event was the first time medical degrees were presented under the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University moniker.

Of the 129 receiving medical degrees, 53 of the graduates were hooded by a family member who has a doctoral degree. At a hooding ceremony, each degree candidate is named and receives a hood. The family members on hand for the SBU hooding included 36 parents, 11 siblings and three spouses, according to a press release from the university. Others were hooded by a faculty mentor.

Graduates, who range in age between 25 and 45, will begin their training this summer at medical facilities in New York state and around the country.

Dr. Kenneth Kaushansky, School of Medicine dean, introduced the graduates, and New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker delivered the convocation address.

Kaushansky talked about the obstacles that face the medical profession, including budget deficits that hamstring state hospitals, Medicare and Medicaid cutbacks and malpractice insurance premiums going up. He also reminded the graduates that they now take on the responsibility of life-long learning as advances are continually made in the medical field.

“As physicians you will be frequently in the position to affect life-altering decisions,” he said.

Zucker reminded the graduates that one day they will be in a position to save a person’s life.

“Be daring and help your patients should others turn a blind eye,” he said. “And remember that the stethoscope allows our ears to listen to the patient’s heart sounds, but it’s our heart that hears their words and their life stories.”

The convocation speaker also said as doctors manage the challenges such as exhaustion, missed family gatherings and losing patients, they will experience tears of their own.

“You will find yourself as we all have in a room where the tears are your own because a child never had a chance to look with awe at the giraffes at the zoo,” he said, adding that in those times doctors must remind themselves that they did all they could, but it wasn’t meant to be.

“Let those experiences become lessons about being human and ask questions of your mentors and colleagues,” he said. “Foolish is the one who fails to wonder why.”

PJS firefighter recognized for saving Selden man from heart attack

by David Luces - May 31, 2019

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Firefighter Cliff Lesmeister greets Selden resident Bob Short for the second time at SBU Hospital. Photo by David Luces

“It means everything that he was there — he knew,” Bob Short, a Selden resident said of Cliff Lesmeister, a Port Jefferson Station resident and New York City firefighter. The man had rushed to his aid after he crashed his car and stopped on a lawn in Selden and went into cardiac arrest Feb. 25.

Lesmeister and Olivia Hoerner were presented with a community award. Photo by David Luces

Four months later, Short and Lesmeister reunited for the first time since the incident at Stony Brook University Hospital May 28. The 28-year veteran of the FDNY and Olivia Hoerner, an EMT from the Selden fire department, were presented with the Stony Brook University Heart Institute’s HeartSaver Community Award.

Lesmeister was off-duty and was parked on the other side of the road taking a phone call when he witnessed Short’s car crash. He and a bystander ran across a street, called 911, broke the car window to rescue Bob and started performing CPR. In a short time, the Selden EMS/fire department responded, and Bob was taken to the Heart Institute. After 15 days of treatment, which included a protected percutaneous coronary intervention procedure, Short was released March 12.

When asked if he remembered anything from that day. Short said he doesn’t remember a thing and when he regained consciousness his wife told him he had suffered a heart attack.

Lesmeister and Short’s wife Dawn embrace. Photo by David Luces

“Something was wrong — I had to act, and I was just happy I was there,” the FDNY firefighter stationed in Astoria said.

Short stated he didn’t know what he could say to the firefighter and said he didn’t know if he’s supposed to be here or not supposed to be here after all that has happened.

“You are supposed to be here,” Lesmeister reassured him.

Recipients of the HeartSaver Community Award are recognized for delivering exemplary cardiac care to the community at large by the Heart Institute’s Chest Pain Center and Door-to- Balloon Committee.

Local students show reverence in 2nd annual Joe’s Day of Service

by David Luces - May 31, 2019

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Giving back and paying it forward. That is what Comsewogue High School teacher Andrew Harris wants his students to get out of the second annual Joe’s Day of Service. Students and staff participated in this year’s event on May 29 and throughout the day engaged in acts of kindness throughout the community.

Harris said the idea of a full day of community service projects came about last year, when students in his classes made pitches on how the student body could spend the day.

Two students, Julia Ratkiewicz and Rachel Plunkett, proposed the idea of visiting Calverton National Cemetery, where members of the United States armed forces are laid to rest, to spend the day cleaning gravestones and straightening flags.

Harris immediately took to the idea, and for the second straight year nearly 200 Comsewogue High School students journeyed to Calverton cemetery.

Joe’s Day of Service was named after Superintendent Joe Rella, who Harris said showcased a belief that students and community members can improve their lives and the lives of others by working together.

“I wanted the students to know that what they do can impact and benefit so many people,” he said. “Also, I think it’s important to get involved and step up to the plate.”

While the high school students were at Calverton, other Comsewogue kids throughout the district were doing their part. Middle schoolers participated in a beach clean-up at Cedar Beach, elementary school kids at Norwood Elementary School sang songs to senior citizens and others painted rocks as part of the Kindness Rocks Project, an initiative which calls on people to paint inspiring messages on rocks and leave them in places where they will be found by someone in need of an emotional boost.

Students and staff honored Dashan Briggs, a member of the National Air Guard 106th from Port Jefferson Station, who died last year in a helicopter crash in Iraq, along with several members of his unit. The high school chorus serenaded Briggs’ wife Rebecca Briggs and his children, Ava and Jayden, who will be attending district schools next year. Comsewogue student Ava Pearl presented the family with a portrait she painted of the late Briggs, which will be placed in the district schools.

“We wanted them to feel part of our family,” Harris said.

The students joined the Briggs family and others at the Calverton National Cemetery to visit Dashan’s gravesite. Once there, they gave the family flowers and painted socks with encouraging messages. Also, this year, students straightened and put flags on gravesites throughout the cemetery. Students took the time to escort family members of veterans as well, who were coming from around the New York metro area, to visit the graves of their fallen family member.

“It is so nice to see how many kids were able to come out and help,” John Quartararo, a senior at Comsewogue High School, said. “For them to give up a day of school to come out and do this just shows how much a community that Comsewogue really is.”

For the high schooler, to be able to honor Dashan Briggs’ memory in front of his wife and children meant a lot to him personally.

“I lost my father when I was younger, and just knowing that we are making an impact and showing that we are always there for them means a lot,” he said. “The motto for us has always been to help someone out — ‘once a warrior, always a warrior’ and I feel like that resonated on this whole day.”

Along with the cemetery visit, teachers and students participated in a track walk to fundraise for a fellow student battling leukemia and whose family is having financial distress due to the treatment costs.

Harris praised the students for what they did on this day.

“I just want you guys to know that you have made a huge impact to the community and the Briggs family. You should be proud of yourselves,” he said.

Obituaries for the week of 05/30/19

Obituaries

by Kyle Barr - May 30, 2019

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Shirley Weiner

Shirley Weiner, a resident of Port Jefferson for 44 years, passed away May 13 and was laid to rest at Calverton National Cemetery May 16. She was 87.

Weiner was born in Brooklyn in 1931 and lived in many different places before settling in Port Jefferson, including Brazil and the Azores Islands in Portugal where her husband served as a diplomat.

After raising four children, she went back to school to earn her master’s degree in social work at Stony Brook University. She worked as a social worker at Stony Brook University Hospital for 16 years before retiring. In her retirement, Weiner was able to develop her passion for watercolor painting and had several local shows of her artwork. She was also an avid reader and active member of the Emma S. Clark Memorial Library book club.

She is survived by her husband, Harry Weiner; her sons Robert, Daniel and Alex; her daughter Joan; their spouses; and 11 grandchildren.

She will be greatly missed.

Nick Boba

Nick Boba, of Centerport, died May 6. He was 59. He was the beloved husband of Maggie, loving father of Jared and Justin and the dear brother of Stacey (Wayne) Kneussle. Visitation was held at Nolan Funeral Home in Northport.

In Nick’s memory donations are appreciated to the Center for Developmental Disabilities, 72 South Woods Road, Woodbury, NY 11797 or one can donate online at www.centerfordd.org/donate/.

James Regan

James Nolan Regan, of East Northport, died May 10 at the age of 76.

He was the beloved husband of Peggy Ann (nee O’Brien); loving father of Peggy Ann (Michael) Gallagher, James (Kamala) Regan, Eileen (Russell) Murphy, Thomas (Marie) Regan and Jeanne (Christopher) Kozlowsky; the dear brother of Florence Keutmann and Dennis Regan and the late Thomas Regan, the late John Regan and the late Margaret Cahill; and cherished grandfather of Katherine, Michael, Emily and Ryan Gallagher; Claire, Molly, Kelly and Maggie Regan; Reilly, Brigid and Liam Murphy; Matthew, Brendan and Kaitlin Regan and Regan and Adelyn Kozlowsky.

Regan and his wife Peggy Ann were married for 55 years and were christened together 76 years ago. Jim retired as a lieutenant with the New York Police Department with his last assignment at the 81st precinct.

A funeral Mass was celebrated May 15 at St. Anthony of Padua Church in East Northport, followed with a burial at Commack Cemetery.

People donating in his name can do so at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Clorinda Oates

Clorinda A. Oates, of Huntington, died May 15. She was 92.

She was the loving mother of Susan (D.J. Young) Oates, Joseph Oates and Linda Jean (Gordon) Brown; beloved grandmother of Joe III, Gregory Oates, Melissa Oates and Derek and Robert Brown; and cherished great- grandmother of Colton and dear sister-in-law of Vera Carminati.

She was reposed at Nolan Funeral Home, in Northport with a funeral Mass at St. Philip Neri Church in Northport. Interment followed at St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Huntington.

John Henesy

John K. Henesy, of Hauppauge, died May 6. He was 92.

Henesy was the beloved husband of the late Catherine; the loving father of Kevin (Joanna), and Barbara Ann Etkin; the cherished grandfather of Nicole Henesy (Jason Stewart), Angela Henesy, Benjamin Etkin and William Etkin; and dear great-grandfather of Jayden.

Visitation was held at Calvary Chapel Island of Grace in Holbrook. Funeral services were held at the church and he was buried beside his wife with military honors at Calverton National Cemetery. Arrangements were handled by Nolan Funeral Home of Northport.

Community demonstrates support for new Armed Forces Tribute at PJ high school

by Kyle Barr - May 30, 2019

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For close to a month, Tom Butera, a mason in Port Jefferson village, laid the bricks down for the new Armed Forces Tribute in front of the Port Jeff High School. Though he had been laying bricks for over 40 years, bending over, picking them up, planting them in the ground, to him, every brick represented a family and a sacrifice.

“These we’re the heaviest bricks I ever laid,” he said.

On May 30, veterans cut the ribbon on the new tribute surrounded by well more than 100 local residents. The center of the memorial is a large stone with a plaque on it surrounded by bricks donated by local residents with notes of names of family members who were involved in the armed services. By the end, the memorial looks remarkably like the sketch by high school student Jillian Lawler produced in January, when the brick drive was first announced.

While many donated $100 for each brick, others in the community came out to support the new memorial. Gabe Zoda, 17, a senior at the high school and a member of Boy Scouts of America Troop 45, donated benches to the project, each emblazoned with the fleur-de-lis of the Boy Scouts. Zoda expects to move on to Hofstra University after graduation where he will study broadcast journalism.

The idea for the project spawned from local Vietnam veteran Jim Henke, who had originally approached the district several years ago about building the memorial. It would take years, but the district helped form an Armed Forces Tribute committee in 2017, with local veterans and residents as members, who helped get the project rolling at the beginning of this year.

“Most of these veterans I knew myself from the Vietnam era,” Henke said. “We played ball together, we had a good time in the 60s, and we lost so many of those lives that I thought this was just fitting.”

Though it took time for the project to take root, he said it was the efforts of the school administration and Superintendent Paul Casciano.

“I want to thank the entire Port Jefferson School District community that raised enough brick sales to support the project without any assistance from the school district,” Henke said.

Local residents stooped down to take pictures of bricks donated by friends and family, and the Port Jefferson art staff was on call if people looked to get a rubbing of their bricks.

“I would like to say thank you for the names of the men and women engraved on the walkway,” said high school Principal Christine Austen. “My hope is that this tribute stands as a reminder to all the youth that Port Jefferson veterans are heroes that will always be close to our hearts.”

Butera feels a deep connection to the new veterans tribute. It’s his father’s name, Technical Sergeant Tony Butera of the U.S. Army Air Corps, that is inscribed in one of the bricks. His father was shot down during WWII over Hamburg, Germany, flying in a B17 bomber. His plane landed on a field of sheep, what they called a “fleece-lined landing,” and he and his compatriots were held at gunpoint on their knees by several disgruntled farmers. He became a prisoner of war on Jan. 17, 1945, and he was held for 134 days in a POW camp before it was liberated by troops led by Gen. George Patton. It was with his father that Butera picked up and laid his first brick.

While he looks fondly back on the stories of his father, he sees the different side of war with the record of his son, Greg, a veteran of two tours in Afghanistan. There was a time where Butera had no communication with his son for three months, though now Greg is home, and has a wife and a daughter.

“When it got hard to work, I told myself ‘shut up — these people were in a much harder spot,’” Butera said. “It was such an honor to do it.”

Jim Henke’s name was changed May 31 to correct the spelling of his last name.

Police: two women allegedly break into PJ Marina

by Kyle Barr - May 30, 2019

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Suffolk County Police 6th Precinct officers are trying to identify and locate two people who allegedly entered a marina illegally and untied boats in Port Jefferson back in April.

Two women allegedly climbed over the fence at Port Jefferson Marina on West Broadway and untied two boats sometime between April 25 at 6 p.m. and April 26 at 7 a.m.

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone with information about these incidents can contact Suffolk County Crime Stoppers to submit an anonymous tip by calling 800-220-TIPS (8477) or texting “SCPD” and your message to “CRIMES” (274637). All calls and text messages will be kept confidential.

Editorial: Open the freezer

by TBR Staff - May 30, 2019

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freezer-and-fridge-door-seals — Stock photo

Despite the hours we work to consistently get this paper into your hands and the local news to your eyes and your ears, we cannot be everywhere at once. Our budgets are ever-more limited, and our attention is pulled to all parts of our coverage areas. News outlets having to cut staff and resources means there are gaps of information. We do our best, and we hope you agree it is well worth the buck you paid for it, but perfect coverage is impossible in this day and age.

Something will move in to fill the gap — it’s the nature of these things. Surprisingly, that hole has been filled with something that was once used for college kids to learn who was dating whom, that being Facebook.

It’s amazing how much information is parsed and spread through individual Facebook pages, along with both private and public groups. You have community pages, moms pages, VFWs, even small municipalities like fire departments and villages all using their pages to get messages out. For us journalists, Facebook has become a tool to gather stories, sources and even occasionally to conduct interviews.

But for residents, Facebook is a razor-barbed rose. Disturbingly, to professional journalists who do their absolute best to get to the heart of the truth, the opposite is regularly proliferated through these same Facebook pages. Rumors fly across social media faster than any one person could hope to actually investigate each post.

At meetings, we often hear officials complain about the rumors spread online, though we journalists condemn any elected official who should ever truly complain about a community becoming engaged, looking at the overall low polling numbers across the spectrum. However,
this activism on the community’s side is not helped with false facts.

Taking journalism classes in college, students are often first made to take a media literacy course, which helps students identify false information when it’s presented to them. One phrase, which became a tagline at the media literacy course at Stony Brook University, was “open the freezer,” relating to a media report back to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans back in 2005. One broadcast claimed the bodies of those who died during that traumatic storm and its aftermath had been stacked in a walk-in freezer as they were waiting for transport. However, the news report was false, there were no bodies in the freezer. The problem? The reporter never bothered to open the freezer and see
for themself.

Don’t take what is on Facebook for truth automatically, as each one of us can be a little journalistic even without a degree. Try researching online, try calling the people referenced in these stories. Don’t take any information presented for you at its face value. Skepticism is healthy for the eager news junkie.

Never let what you read on Facebook be the end to a story. Be sure to take a peek inside that proverbial freezer.

D. None of the Above: Managing the uneasy marriage between determination and doubt

by Daniel Dunaief - May 30, 2019

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By Daniel Dunaief

We generally don’t have to look too far to find difficult marriages. But what about the unions that reside inside us?

Determination and doubt travel together when we’re making a decision, when we’re confronting the naysayers and when we’re preparing for the next steps in our lives.

Sure, I could take the harder assignment, prove something to myself or my boss, venture into the unknown in my area of expertise, or I could stick with what I know, take jobs that will be manageable and remain in my comfort zone.

Determination is often considered the more admirable member of this marriage. Such fortitude pushes us to set new expectations and to venture into arenas where the risks we take could cause physical or emotional bruises.

We see determination when we look at the faces of people running up a hill, returning home late from work, or practicing their musical instruments until they develop rings on their lips or red welts on their necks.

When we’re seeking inspiration, we read about or consider the determination of others, who overcome financial, emotional or logistical limitations and exceed everyone’s expectations but their own. Determination is akin to an off-road vehicle that we maneuver into untrodden or difficult terrain, hoping our suspension and alignment can handle the sudden and unexpected contours of a landscape better suited for pictures or studies of nature than for travel.

While it has a bad reputation, doubt, like the blue girl Sadness from the movie “Inside Out,” also has its place. Doubt can, of course, make the determined part of ourselves even more steadfast, as we seek to prove to ourselves and everyone else that we can and will accomplish anything.

Doubt is the rain that can make the sunshine that much sweeter.

Doubt also can spring from reason and understanding, as in, “I doubt climbing to the top of that tree, when I haven’t maneuvered to the top of a tree in years, is a good idea.” Yes, doubt can and does save us, not just from embarrassment but from injuries, discomfort or dead ends.

Reflexively ignoring doubt as an unwelcome voice whispering in our ear carries risks that may be unnecessary, such as ignoring a “Beware of the Dog” sign before jogging through a stranger’s yard.

So, how do we deal with this married couple? Do we let determination rule the day most of the time, while we periodically give doubt the chance to share concerns about obstacles and consequences?

The answer depends on the circumstance. What is the downside to acknowledging, understanding and appreciating the origin and potential benefit of a doubt?

This doubt shouldn’t need to hide behind the punch bowl, sit in the dark with the coats in a back bedroom, or wait in the car while determination gets to run wild, pushing our limits.

We should consider doubt — whether we or someone else expresses it — in the open, allowing ourselves to ponder and plan for the difficulties ahead, giving ourselves a chance to make informed decisions and to see a few steps into the maze of our future.

Our doubt may help us find a better course of action, redirecting and refocusing a determination that enables us to persevere over the course of a future filled with potential but riddled with uncertainty.

If our determination makes a better case than our doubt, at least we’ve benefited from the marriage that lives in us. Indeed, at its finest, determination should not only understand and appreciate doubt, but this tenacity should also use concerns and objections as motivation, giving determination the opportunity to win over the concerns doubt expresses.

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Yearly Archives: 2019

Royals fall in county finals

Patriots win Suffolk Class A Championship in overtime

Family members take part in medical school’s convocation ceremony

PJS firefighter recognized for saving Selden man from heart attack

Local students show reverence in 2nd annual Joe’s Day of Service

Obituaries for the week of 05/30/19

Community demonstrates support for new Armed Forces Tribute at PJ high school

Police: two women allegedly break into PJ Marina

Editorial: Open the freezer

D. None of the Above: Managing the uneasy marriage between determination and doubt

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