Save the date! Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum, 180 Little Neck Road, Centerport hosts a Sunset Yoga Flow event on Friday, May 28 from 7 to 8 p.m. Kick off your weekend with a beautiful view on the Great Lawn overlooking Northport Harbor. All props and mats will be provided upon request. Check in begins at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 adults, $15 children. To register, visit www.vanderbiltmuseum.org.
For students at Miller Place High School, fourth-period is actually a working office.
The virtual enterprise business class is open to juniors and seniors there, and its idea is to allow students to “run” a virtual business, which they completely create.
It is a business ownership simulation class where students network with other students around the United States and world under the auspices of the Virtual Enterprises International organization. Throughout the school year, students create, manage and work collectively with their peers to help ensure their business concepts and ideas are successfully put into action. Students then take their business model and begin to network with other VE students from all over the country.
In Thomas Fank’s fourth-period class, 22 students have worked diligently on their business model for an online boutique they created called As Scene on the Screen — a store with movie, TV and pop-culture memorabilia.
But it’s not a real store, Fank said. It’s all virtual and a simulation that allows students to see what it’s like to run a business and deal with customer service. Just like a real business, As Scene on the Screen buys products from wholesalers, and then sells items for a profit, all with virtual funds.
“They’ve sold items and created their business throughout the whole year,” Fank said. “And now, we just got results back from a bunch of the national competitions — 13 awards.”
Since the class started in the district three years ago, it’s won 30 awards. And over the last couple of years, it has piqued the interest of many students. Along with fourth-period, he has 28 students in his second-period class and 26 in eighth.
And just like an office, the class shows how important teamwork is when running a business.
Anthony Gagliardi, head of marketing and design with As Scene on the Screen, said that working on their digital portfolio — which includes both professional and personal portfolios — students move through the different steps to do just as a typical corporate setting would do in the real world.
“Now we’ve gotten up to working on a website,” he noted. “Just explaining about ourselves, what we do for this company, and that really just shows how we function as a class.”
Throughout the 40-minute period they have available, each and every minute is spent in meetings, making sales, working on company documents and networking with other students across the country and around the world.
“The students will do trades and complete purchases from other schools,” Fank said. “This helps stimulate the virtual economy.”
As a capstone class, students are able to earn six college credits through SUNY Farmingdale. Underclassmen are encouraged to take lower-level business electives, like accounting, digital design, business law, sports marketing or computer literacy, prior to the course so they’re completely prepared.
“I think that’s what’s helped lead to kind of the success that we’ve been seeing so far,” Fank said. “So not only are they getting kind of real-life readiness — career readiness skills — they’re also getting six college credits.”
Jack Soldano, head of design at the virtual company, said this class is different than his other classes throughout the day.
“Every other period of the school day there’s a lot of memorization, formulas, historical figures, and this class is such a breath of fresh air, because it allows you to be creative and have some fun with a task,” he said. “It’s a great teamwork experience.”
Working with the rideshare company Lyft, Suffolk County is offering free rides for senior citizens, veterans and people who are driving impaired to get their vaccinations for COVID-19 at county-run sites.
Starting on June 1, seniors who are over the age of 60, veterans and driving impaired residents can contact Suffolk 311 to schedule a pick-up and drop off to receive their inoculations.
The county would like residents to have an “equal ability to get their vaccines,” regardless of whether they have easy access to transportation, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said at a press conference announcing the program. “It’s not only good for them and their health: it’s good for all of us. It means that we will get closer to the numbers and the level of vaccinations we need to say that we have put this virus behind us.”
Suffolk County will be able to schedule and pay for the rides on behalf of residents, according to a Lyft spokeswoman.
The effort is a part of Lyft’s Universal Vaccine Access program, which started in December of 2020. Lyft has created more than 100 such partnerships and is facilitating access to rides throughout the country.
Lyft drivers will not wait outside while residents receive shots. County staff can arrange for pick up and drop off up to seven days in advance when residents call 311.
When seniors, veterans or driving impaired residents need transportation for their shots, county staff can request a ride using Lyft’s Concierge platform, which allows groups to request rides on behalf of those who may not have access to a smartphone or a bank account.
Bellone indicated that the county put out a competitive process to select a partner who could allow residents who don’t have access to a smartphone or who haven’t downloaded an app to secure a ride.
Lyft is committed to helping communities reach an “immunity that is going to get our economy back on track and our community back to normal,” Jen Hensley, head of government relations at Lyft said at the press conference.
Bellone shared his appreciation for the efforts of Senator Chuck Schumer (D).
“Without [Schumer’s] support, we wouldn’t be in a position to be able to offer a program like this,” Bellone said.
Vaccination efforts have helped reduce the spread of the virus, according to a recent interview with Gregson Pigott, commissioner of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services.
Lyft has also partnered with the White House.
From May 24 through July 4, anyone going to get their shots can get a ride code through the Lyft app or web site for two free rides during normal pharmacy hours of 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. of up to $15 each.
The county’s partnership with Lyft is the latest effort by Bellone to increase the number of people who have received the Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
Through a “Lift Your Spirit, Take Your Shot” campaign, residents who are 21 years old and over and who receive their shot at a Suffolk County run site during the month of May will get a ticket that they can redeem at a participating brewery, winery and distillery for a free beer, tasting, glass of wine or cocktail.
Eight businesses are participating in that effort, including Del Vino Vineyards in Northport.
On May 14 the Three Village Historical Society hosted the grand opening of the Three Village Artisan Farmers Market.
Linda Johnson, who leads the market and owns Chocology Unlimited, said on a scale of 1-10, the opening was an 11.
“It couldn’t have been any better,” she said. “And after spending much of 2020 stuck inside, it was so nice to see folks relaxing at our picnic tables, enjoying seeing each other, shopping the local vendors, all on the beautiful Three Village Historical Society property.”
At the May 14 opening, Three Village historian Beverly C. Tyler, above right, was on hand to sign copies of his book “Setauket and Brookhaven History — Through the Murals of Vance Locke.”
The farmers market is open every Friday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. and features local, grass-fed meats, farm fresh eggs, fish, fresh baked bread and pastries, pickles, honey, handmade products, home goods and more.
The farmers market runs through Oct. 1.
By Heidi Sutton
Sometimes the stars align perfectly. Such is the case with Katherine Tian, a senior at Ward Melville High School in East Setauket. Tian was recently named the national winner of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Good Citizen Award, earning a perfect score of 100.
Tian was chosen as the $1,000 scholarship winner to represent the local Anna Smith Strong Chapter DAR based in Setauket. She then went on to be chosen to represent the Long Island districts, won the state level and then advanced to the national level.
Tian was the top choice of all the national judges, each awarding her with the perfect score. In addition to receiving an additional $5,000 scholarship, her achievements will be highlighted at the 130th Daughters of the American Revolution Continental Congress event in Washington D.C. which is scheduled to be held virtually at the end of June.
Locally, the high schooler was honored for her incredible achievements by the Anna Smith Strong Chapter at an award presentation at the VFW Post 3054 in Setauket last Saturday with her proud family by her side.
Guests included Ann Otten, Chairman of the Regents Roundtable for District X & XI and Gerrie MacWinnie, DAR Vice-Regent of Southampton Colony. Sandy Zerrillo, New York State DAR Good Citizen Chair, joined the event via Zoom.
“Today for the first time in the history of the Anna Smith Strong Chapter we have a national winner and it has been 30 years since New York State has had a national winner,” said Rita Newman, Regent of the Anna Smith Strong Chapter.
“It’s exciting to hear that a Long Island student has gone all the way to nationals and we are so proud,” said Gerrie MacWinnie, DAR Vice-Regent of Southampton Colony.
“The DAR Good Citizen’s contest is highly competitive in New York State,” added Zerrillo. “This year was an exceptional year for New York State. … Katherine excelled beyond our greatest expectations.”
Addressing Katherine, Sarah Gutmann, Anna Smith Strong Good Citizen Chair, recalled getting the initial phone call notifying her of the honor.
“I got a call from the regional director who said you got the top score of all the judges. Nobody was even close to where you were — you really just blew everyone out of the water. You’ve got a bright, bright future ahead of you. You are going places and we are just so happy to just be a little part of your journey.”
According to Otten, the DAR Good Citizen Award and Scholarship Contest was created in 1934 to encourage and reward the qualities of good citizenship. It was established to recognize and reward a high school student who exhibits the qualities of dependability, service, leadership and patriotism in their homes, schools, and communities.
“Katherine Tian exemplifies all of those qualities and more,” said Otten. “As I read Katherine’s information on her work experience, extracurricular activities and high school awards, I had to keep looking back at her cover page to remind myself that she was indeed still a senior in high school.”
She continued, “From being a competition dancer and dance captain at [a local dance school] to being a research intern at Brookhaven National Laboratory; from volunteering as a unit assistant at [a nursing home] to inventing an automatic non-contact fever detector and manufacturing it and being vice-president of her school’s Ethical Care of Animals Club; Katherine has proven that the qualities of dependability, service, leadership and patriotism have guided her throughout her high school career and will be the cornerstones of her future.”
“Congratulations to you, your family, and the Anna Smith Strong Chapter DAR as you represent Long Island, New York State and the North Eastern Division as the National DAR Good Citizen winner,” said Otten.
Photos by Heidi Sutton
Thanks to vaccines for COVID-19, the percentage of positive tests recently dropped below 1% for the first time since the third week of October.
“That’s a big deal,” said Dr. Gregson Pigott, commissioner for the Department of Health Services in Suffolk County.
Indeed, Adrian Popp, chair of Infection Control at Huntington Hospital/Northwell Health and associate professor of medicine at Hofstra School of Medicine, said the infection rate was closer to 10 percent in the middle of the winter.
The current positive tests represent a “really low number,” Popp said.
Infections are coming down even more than they did last year amid the economic shutdown because of the vaccine, Pigott said.
Pigott added that the vaccines have proven effective against the most predominant mutated form of the virus, B117 or the UK variant, which is also the most common mutation throughout the country.
“We haven’t seen evidence of resistance to the vaccine,” he said. “The vaccine is working against it.”
The number of people hospitalized with the virus also has been declining in recent weeks. Throughout the county, under 150 people were in the hospital battling symptoms of the disease that caused the pandemic. That’s down from a high of 863 on Jan. 19.
The age of those hospitalized is generally younger than the people who needed urgent medical care in 2020. They are in their 40s and 50s, and they generally don’t stay in the hospital for long.
Because they are younger and healthier, even if they are hospitalized, they generally are discharged sooner, Pigott said.
“I expect we’ll be under 100 soon,” Pigott said.
Indeed, area hospitals reported lower numbers of Covid patients. As of May 10, Stony Brook Hospital had 42 COVID-19 patients, with 13 in the Intensive Care Unit.
As of the same date, Huntington Hospital had 17 COVID-19 positive patients.
Vaccinations
The population of people who are older than 65 have generally embraced the opportunity to receive vaccinations. Pigott said about 80% of this population in Suffolk County have been vaccinated.
The elderly, who were among those representing the larger groups hospitalized or killed by the virus, were the first group eligible to receive the vaccination. Children as young as 12 are now eligible to receive a vaccine.
The medical community has been wondering how to “cross this barrier” to encourage more people to receive a vaccine that could continue to reduce the risk of the spread of the virus, Popp said.
Popp urged medical professionals to have conversations with each person to figure out why he or she might be reluctant. He attributed some of the fears of the vaccine to misinformation spread on the Internet or over social media.
Popp recognized that some of those who are unwilling to consider the vaccine don’t have a personal or regular connection with a member of a medical community they trust.
He suggested that doctors and nurses should visit people at cultural centers and schools.
Among workers at Huntington Hospital, the rate of vaccinations has slowed and is about 73%.
“We did quite well” to get to that point, but the hospital “can not go much further” without overcoming some resistance, Popp said.
Pigott said that the halt in the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on April 13 tamped down on the vaccination rate.
When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration stopped the use of that vaccine pending an analysis of rare side effects, the county “never recovered momentum.”
Pigott said he has participated in webinars and has encouraged people to gather information to make informed decisions.
“The best you can do is show the numbers,” Pigott said, as the number of people who are over 65 who have been hospitalized has declined dramatically as a result of the use of the vaccine.
Reopening in stages
Employers throughout the county have been monitoring the health of their workers and keeping track of the vaccination rate.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has been working its way through various phases of reopening, from phase 1, which occurred on June 1 and involved bringing back most of the scientists, to phase 2 in late September, with the return of more administrators, to phase 2A, which started May 3 and involved bringing back even more people.
The lab, which has historically hosted well-attended scientific meetings that bring together some of the best researchers from around the world, has not yet entered phase 3, when it would be open without any restrictions.
On any given day, the lab probably has 60 to 65% of its staff working on site, according to John Tuke, the chief pperating officer.
“We aspire to be 100% vaccinated, but we’re realistic to know that that’s probably not going to happen,” Tuke said. “Before we move into phase 3, we’re going to want to see that percentage be very high.”
The lab is hoping to bring some conferences back in the fall on a limited basis.
In the last week, the lab tested 400 people, with one test coming back positive. The highest the positivity rate ever got was around 1%.
The percentage of people who have received the vaccine at CSHL is in the low 80s.
While the lab has restrictions on travel, it has made exceptions for staff members to travel through requests to the director of research, the president of the lab or to Tuke.
BNL, meanwhile, continues to have about a third of its staff on site, while most of the staff continues to work remotely. Like CSHL, BNL is not requiring staff to be vaccinated.
BNL is not planning any in-person events this summer or fall. The lab has slightly expanded user access to facilities on a case-by-case basis. BNL has had 10 positive tests in the past month.
At Stony Brook University, about 82% of health care workers have been vaccinated, while 77% of students are vaccinated, with 16% looking to get it sooner rather than later, according to a spokeswoman. As with other SUNY and CUNY schools, Stony Brook will require a vaccine for everyone who returns to school in the fall.
Stony Brook is no longer requiring fully vaccinated people to wear a mask outdoors, except in crowded settings or venues.
The Village of Port Jefferson seeks volunteers ages 13 and up for a Community Garden Build at Beach Street Parkland (150 Beach St.) in the village on Saturday, May 22. Choose a session (9 a.m. to noon, noon to 3 p.m. or 3 to 6 p.m.) to help assemble garden bed kits, fill beds with topsoil, dig post-holes and install fence posts and staple up deer fencing. Snacks and gloves will be provided. Masks are mandatory. To RSVP, email [email protected].
By Daniel Dunaief
No one asked me to give a graduation speech. I haven’t done anything to merit standing in front of a group of people who have poured their blood, sweat and tears into their education and who are eager for a memorable, but short send-off. If they’re like me, some of them are probably trying not to sweat on or wrinkle their diploma while they wonder who came up with the idea of turning a piece of cardboard into a hat.
Anyway, I can’t help imagining what I might say to graduates who have ended one phase of their lives and are preparing for another.
I’d start by urging people not to get angry. Adults have mastered the fine art of being angry, yelling at each other, expressing outrage at the way other’s drive, think, live and date. We can and should learn to be as patient with others as we would like them to be with us. You know those student driver bumper stickers? Maybe we should treat each other as if we’re students of life. Let’s assume, for just a moment, that the worst of what you think someone else might have said to offend you or to cause you to gnash your teeth and pull at your hair isn’t actually what they intended.
After all, during the course of your education, you likely wrote or said something in class that your teacher might have misinterpreted or that a fellow student might have taken the wrong way. Perhaps an effective metaphor here might be to imagine that you are laying out the road ahead of you. Wouldn’t it be better to create streets with turnoffs and that allowed traffic in two ways, instead of building an express lane to the world of outrage, anger and disappointment?
I would also urge you, the current graduates and the keys to an effective future, to listen to ideas and opinions that don’t mirror your own. It’s easy to live in an echo chamber, where people say what you want to hear or what you already think, but you don’t learn and grow much listening to the same ideas and expressions endlessly.
Think about your audience when you share an insight, an idea or even a joke. Your boss is probably not the best person for bawdy humor or a racy compliment, no matter how cool he or she seems. While some story might be incredibly funny to people who were there with you at the time, were inebriated, or have concluded that you couldn’t possibly offend them no matter what you said, the same preconditions don’t exist for your boss or a potential customer. Humor is like flavors of food. What constitutes funny varies greatly, with some people nearly falling over in hysterics watching someone stumble on a sidewalk and others failing to see the amusement from physical humor.
Now, this one might be the toughest to hear, but, just because your parent said it or did it doesn’t mean it’s wrong. As graduates, you have likely decided to turn your parents’ words into the sounds of teachers from the Charlie Brown animated series. While that may help you create enough distance to leave the nest, you should remember that those flawed humans who have loved and supported you from your first steps until this one are on your side and are trying to help.
Finally, I’d like to suggest that what you do is almost always much more important than what you say. It’s easy to throw words and labels in the air — “I’m an environmentalist” or “I love animals” — but it’s much more important for you to turn those words and ideas into actions. Your best intentions are great, but your best actions are that much more valuable.
By Leah S. Dunaief
Incredible as it seems to us, we are celebrating with a special section this week the 45th anniversary of our newspaper and media group now called TBR. Where did those 45 years go?
When we reconstruct the events of both the news and behind the scenes at the newspapers over those 2340 issues, we have a chronicle of the passing time between the first edition of The Village Times and today. In this week’s issue, you will find, in a highly abridged fashion, our attempt to do just that. We hope it brings back good memories for you because, if you have lived here during any of that time, it bears witness to what was happening around you as well.
For me the section puts into tangible form the extraordinary work of so many dedicated and talented people who have worked at the paper to gather and present the news in a balanced and cogent fashion. Some of the news has been of happy events: our children’s academic and extracurricular triumphs, our neighbors’ efforts enriching our villages through their civic, political and artistic involvement, the interesting lives we have been able to highlight, our shared history, the businesses and what they had to offer in their ads. Some of what we have printed is of necessity not happy stories. But always all the individual issues defined and held together our hometown. It has been said that what marks the boundaries of a community are its school district and the local newspaper.
Newspapers and other media are more than their reporters and editors. Almost all publications, whether print or digital, have basically the same structure: five departments. Those are editorial, advertising, art and production, business and distribution. Some of the departments are supportive of others, but I can tell you emphatically that all, with their different staffers’ skills, are vitally important and must function in tandem in order to produce the final product.
Many of our staffers have gone on to larger media companies and distinguished themselves on a bigger stage. Sometimes they come back for nostalgic visits and to let us know how they are doing. We are proud of them. Hometown papers and digital platforms are often stepping stones that provide experience and hone skills in the communications industry. But I believe none of those larger arenas is more important than the local papers, where we have to meet and answer to our readers and advertisers in the supermarkets and at the ballfields. And while there are many larger media that carry the national and international news, there are only the local newspapers and websites that tell what’s happening and what’s relevant in our daily lives.
This past year with civic unrest, and with COVID-19, has been particularly difficult for readers and business people alike. It has also been difficult for our staff. With small businesses and their advertising, the main source of our revenues and business model falling by the wayside as residents remained in lockdown, we have had to innovate repeatedly in order to survive. We were forced to reduce the number of employees, and those that remain have taken on more responsibilities even as their hours have been cut. It would have been easier to close down and wait for the pandemic to pass, but we couldn’t do that. We are essential workers, keeping our readers informed of vital information about the disease and the responses of our health systems, our educators and our government. We also needed to let people know where to buy food and supplies when so much of routine commerce had shuttered.
How were people coping, what organizations needed help, where would volunteer efforts be most needed, were all critical facts to know for our combined survival, and we had to come in to work and go out amidst the virus and the protests to gather and then communicate the news. We also were able to reassure with our coverage that ordinary life was continuing, despite the hardships.
On this occasion, when we briefly shine the spotlight on ourselves, I want to salute, among all the essential workers, the brave and committed staff of TBR. THANK YOU.
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