Do you know a lot about movies? Then join the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington for Movie Trivia Night: At Home Edition on Monday, Jan. 3 at 8 p.m. hosted by Daniel French. Tickets are $10, $7 members. To sign up, visit www.cinemaartscentre.org.
How do I play?
It’s simple! When you purchase your ticket, you will provide a valid email address for admission. This email address will receive a Zoom meeting code and password.
What do I need to play?
You will need two electronic devices – preferably a computer/laptop/iPad and a smartphone. We will use the computer to stream the trivia over Zoom and we will use the smart phone to answer the questions (using the program AHASlides). This will be explained in more details when we get going, but for now, please know that you will need two devices to play.
Who can I play with?
Your ticket of $10 ($7 Members) gets your team access to Trivia. Your team will consist of whomever you are physically with right now. We will not be able to combine efforts with people you are not physically with. If you would want to play against the people you are with, that’s allowed as well.
What do I get if I win?
Well, we’re all winners when we play trivia and now you get to support the Cinema Arts Centre that you know and love. But in a more real way, the winning team will get up to four (4) CAC Gift Cards (1 Per Team Member) and bragging rights!
Is this anything like the monthly trivia?
Yes and no. Yes in that it is trivia hosted by Daniel French. No in that it will be structured a bit differently and will not have any other links to the monthly trivia (no sneak peeks, tournament of champions, etc.).
Leigh Wixson (right) with her colleagues, Monica Passarelle and Christina Almeida, from the Smithtown Animal Shelter. Photo from Town of Smithtown
With the popularity that pets and other animals already feature on social media, one wouldn’t be blamed to think it’s a cinch to get folks into local municipal animal shelters and find those longing dogs and cats a forever home.
Yet, any shelter worker will tell you it remains an intense challenge to help animals, whether to find new owners or to live safely in Long Island’s dense suburban landscape. To many who work with or in the Smithtown Animal Shelter and Adoption Center, director Leigh Wixson has proved to be a steadfast and extremely compassionate head of the shelter, one who is open to any suggestion and recourse to help those furry companions within the Town of Smithtown.
Nicole Garguilo, public information officer for the town, has worked intimately with Wixson since the director came into the job in 2019. Together, they have set up multiple blasts on social media to promote the animals currently inhabiting the shelter. Beyond the usual social blasts profiling those animals waiting for adoption, Wixson and her crew have started to get especially creative.
“I always laugh because I feel like I torture Wixson and the others at the shelter with my ideas,” Garguilo said, mentioning their recent video where they used shelter dogs to recreate famous movie scenes from “Lady and the Tramp” and Rin Tin Tin-featured adventures. The shelter recently posted a video of their hotdog challenge on TikTok, where shelter dogs had to catch in their mouths small pieces of hot dogs thrown to them. Another video featured a buck trapped in a fence during rutting season, and as town animal control officers pried it loose, Jim Carrey’s appropriate line from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” played in the background: “All right, you’re a reindeer. Here’s your motivation: Your name is Rudolph.”
Beyond that, those who constantly work with the shelter said with Wixson’s kind, open and funny demeanor, she has a knack for using social media in a way that both informs and promotes the shelter.
“She is very, very good at using video, which can be cute, so it grabs the attention of people on social media, but they also learn something,” Garguilo said. “When they learn something, and when they see that video, they realize, ‘Oh, if I have that situation, I can call the shelter, they’ll help me.’ And she’s been very successful in getting our social media pages to go viral.”
The animal shelter has had leadership problems over the years. Former director George Beatty resigned in 2015 after some 30 years at the helm, and a shelter advisory council of volunteer residents designed to offer recommendations to the town on shelter operations quit shortly after it was created that same year. Susan Hansen, Beatty’s replacement, was suspended from the shelter director’s position in 2017, and the town’s Department of Public Safety temporarily took over the shelter’s reins.
But Wixson’s tenure has catapulted the shelter ahead of its contemporaries, according to those people who have worked intimately with her. Different folks have pointed to her deep knowledge base as well as her constant attentive attitude to those animals inhabiting the shelter, often going above and beyond what’s usually expected of a director.
Charmaine DeRosa, a longtime animal advocate from St. James, said that of all the multitudes of shelters across the Island she works with, the shelter headed by Wixson is the best in terms of their openness and care for the animals.
“A lot of people in the community are more willing and more open to donating to the shelter, and they think about the shelter a lot more,” DeRosa said. Wixson and her staff “are very open, and the animal adoptions are handled so quickly and nicely.”
The shelter also performs many other services beyond adoption. In 2018, the town netted a $168,000 grant from New York State to create a new trap, neuter and release program to try and handle the stray dog and cat populations — otherwise known by animal activists as community dogs or cats — while treating them for diseases or parasites. Garguilo said Wixson’s experience in the private sector was incredibly helpful for getting the program off the ground. Instead of building a separate building, as the town originally planned, Wixson suggested using multiple pod trailers, each with their own heating and ventilation. The trailers help keep the stray animals away from the general population to help them acclimate if they’re to join the shelter.
The shelter’s animal control arm has also taken off on social media. Denise Vibal, an animal control officer at the shelter, can be seen in multiple videos attending to deer during rutting season or explaining what to do when people find injured animals on their property. She said Wixson has been a “fantastic boss” and attentive leader, adding that she’s been in the animal world for a long time and understands the struggles and remedies in this line of work.
“Most supervisors, they wouldn’t know every cat’s name, every dog’s name, every quirk, every this or that,” Vibal said. “So, she actually takes the time to get to know them, to have them in her office, take them for a walk, or have a relationship with a really tough animal who’s had a rough life.”
“In the past, we were told not to post anything, but the community likes to see wildlife and rescues, and things like that,” Vibal added. “And I think it’s great for the community morale. So Wixson has been very positive about posting different things, not only for the animals but what we do for the community.”
The shelter has faced other ongoing issues due to the pandemic. Vibal said that as more people go back to work, the shelter has seen a rash of pet abandonment, especially those animals folks acquired during 2020 that they claim they don’t have the time to take care of anymore. Though it is a felony to abandon a pet, those in the know said the shelter has worked hard to help any animal in need.
“The fact that she’s been able to keep the morale up, especially right now, and really take care of her employees, as well as love these animals unconditionally, is really very special,” Garguilo said.
The Smithtown Senior Citizens Department has announced that it has recently expanded its Medical Alert Program. In addition to offering in-home medical alert monitoring services, residents now have the option to choose a GPS enabled system that travels where ever they go. The program is open to all residents age 60 and older.
This Medical Alert Program allows seniors to live independently, with the comfort and peace of mind, knowing that help is just a touch away. Through a partnership with American Medical Alert Corporation (AMAC), a Connect America Company, residents simply wear a lightweight, touch activated system that can be worn as a pendant or on the wrist (home based system only). Once an alert is activated, trained emergency operators respond to help with the situation, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“Our objective with this personal emergency response system is to ensure the well-being of our seniors and enable them to remain safely in their homes. Perhaps just as important is to provide seniors with the peace of mind knowing that if they ever need help they will get it,” said Doreen Perrino, Smithtown Senior Citizens Department Program Director.
Residents who are interested in obtaining a Connect America Medical Alert system can inquire through the Smithtown Senior Citizens Department at 631-360-7616. The service is available for a low monthly monitoring fee of $18 for the in-home system and $30 for the GPS enabled system. There are no installation fees, long term contracts or cancellation penalties.
For more information on this and other Smithtown services, please contact Smithtown Public Information Officer Nicole Garguilo at 631-360-7600 or via email at [email protected]
May Chasteen, of St. James, has been volunteering for most of her life. Photo from Mary Beth Chasteen
Volunteerism runs in the blood of one St. James resident.
May Chasteen, 90, has always found time and energy to volunteer. Currently, she is the vice president of the Fairfield at St. James Civic Association.
The spot on the board is a volunteer position, and through the years, she has also served as its president and recording secretary, using the shorthand skills that she developed during one of her first jobs with American Express.
Dan Ryan, president of the civic association, said while members have had to lessen activities due to COVID-19, the board members’ responsibilities include providing information to the residents and giving them a voice. Before COVID-19, they would hold monthly meetings, send out newsletters and invite speakers to talk to the residents. Often, the monthly meetings will feature people in the medical and political fields.
Ryan described Chasteen as “a gem” who is always willing to help out, and due to her delightful personality is seen by many in the community as the “face of the organization.”
“She’s a terrific asset to the civic association,” he said. “I find probably her greatest asset to me is that she knows the workings of these organizations. She knows the legalities, so to speak. I really rely on her and depend on her.”
Photo from Mary Beth Chasteen
Someone who has witnessed Chasteen’s volunteerism through the decades and admires her work is her godson, Suffolk County Legislator Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga). He called her “a source of strength, wisdom and guidance” for her children and grandchildren. He said she is a role model who has always supported his career choices and puts other people first.
“She instilled her values and positive work ethic in her children, relatives and colleagues,” Trotta said.
Her daughter-in-law Mary Beth Chasteen agreed and said the St. James resident has always found time for others and enjoys keeping busy.
“She’s 90, and she still does a lot,” Mary Beth Chasteen said. “She’s in a bible study group; she’s in a Rummikub group; she plays canasta. You look at her calendar and she is booked more than me and my husband.”
Born and raised in Brooklyn’s Red Hook section, while working for American Express she attended Brooklyn College to study law and languages, including German, French and Russian, adding to the Spanish she already knew.
During this busy time, she was involved in her church where she met her husband Gerard. After the couple moved to Commack, the mother of four children still found time to volunteer with the Girls Scouts, Holy Cross church and the PTA. All this while driving her oldest daughter, Susie, to ice skating lessons early in the morning.
Chasteen also fundraised for the former St. John’s Hospital in Smithtown before it was built, and once it was open, volunteered as one of the “Pink Ladies.”
Her volunteer efforts led to her joining the management team at St. John’s in 1982 as director of volunteers, where she oversaw more than 400 volunteers and fundraised, creating an annual awards ceremony. Mary Beth Chasteen remembered one year her mother-in-law organized the highest ticket-selling fundraiser for the institution.
“She really did a lot of good for the community,” Mary Beth Chasteen said.
Juggling various responsibilities has never been much of a problem for her mother-in-law.
“When she’s given a challenge, she really meets it head on,” the daughter-in-law said. “She’s pretty amazing.”
Stony Brook University President Maurie McInnis talks to attendees at the fourth annual Light the Brook ceremony in November of 2021. Photo from Stony Brook University
From offering insights about higher education to The New York State Senate, to presenting her academic research on slavery to the University Senate, President Maurie McInnis earned kudos and appreciation as she completes her first full year at the helm of Stony Brook University.
McInnis, who earned her doctorate from Yale University, became the first president to present her research to the University Senate as a scholar in October amid her inauguration week, in a talk titled, “The Shadow of Slavery in American Public Life.”
“She hit it out of the park,” said Richard Larson, president of the University Senate and professor of Linguistics at Stony Brook. “She’s quite a remarkable individual from the standpoint of intellectual achievement.”
The talk included a description of the work of Eyre Crowe, whose 1853 sketches of a slave auction in Richmond, Virginia, provided an eyewitness account abolitionists would use and which formed the basis of an award-winning book by McInnis.
TBR News Media is pleased to recognize McInnis as a Person of the Year for 2021 for her careful guidance of the university amid the pandemic, for her goal of bringing diverse groups of people, departments and communities together, and for her efforts to enhance the profile and talents of the university.
“Day after day, I see a new initiative of hers that expands the visibility of Stony Brook or further tends to the needs of minority students, or helps researchers accomplish their goals,” Alan Alda, award-winning actor and founder of an eponymous science communication effort at the university, explained in an email. “Dr. McInnis brings people together and makes big ideas happen. I don’t think the university could be in better hands.”
Commencement ceremonies
Graduation at Stony Brook in May this year was like the movie “Groundhog Day” for McInnis.
Except that, instead of acting without consequence the way Bill Murray did in the film, McInnis attended 10 graduation ceremonies, which had to be separated to reduce the number of people at each graduation.
McInnis offered her congratulations for the academic achievement of the graduates and applauded their resilience, particularly amid the worst of the pandemic.
She was “quite insistent” that she attend each of these events, which were held over the course of three days in the warm sunlight, Larson said. “She wanted to hand out the certificates personally. That was an incident that just really struck home with me. Each ceremony was many hours long.”
During her inauguration week lecture, McInnis discussed her research in Richmond and Charlottesville, Virginia.
Louis Nelson, a former colleague of McInnis at the University of Virginia, where he is currently vice provost for Academic Outreach and professor of Architectural History, sang her praises.
She is “one of the most impactful social historians of the American South at work today,” said Nelson, who co-edited the book “Educated in Tyranny: Slavery at Thomas Jefferson’s University” with McInnis. Her “scholarship has forged a path toward the truth telling that our nation needs to confront,” he said.
Humanity
Photo from Stony Brook University
In addition to the scholarship and academic rigor she brings to campus, McInnis has won appreciation from her colleagues at Stony Brook for her compassion.
Richard Gatteau, vice president for Student Affairs, explained that he dealt with a health issue earlier this year. “Right away, she was empathetic,” he said. McInnis turned to him during a meeting and asked how he was doing. He genuinely appreciated her support.
A provost at The University of Texas at Austin before she arrived at Stony Brook, McInnis officially joined the school only months after the worst of the pandemic reached Suffolk County. An active participant in calls before her July 1, 2020, start date, she has helped oversee the university’s distinguished response to the pandemic.
Carol Gomes, chief executive officer of Stony Brook University Hospital, observed that McInnis does considerable homework in making decisions. She also emphasized how McInnis “always emphasizes the importance of working together.”
The university president asks “good, insightful questions and she can analyze different sides of an issue, process the information and provide meaningful feedback,” Gomes said.
Even before McInnis arrived on campus, she “did call me regularly to ask how things were going, to get acclimated to what was happening at the hospital during the height of the pandemic,” Gomes said. “It was very comforting to know that I had somebody to whom I was reporting who cared and was compassionate, and who thought about reaching out and developing a relationship before she began.”
McInnis also called state Sen. Jim Gaughran (D-Northport) before she arrived on Long Island.
Gaughran is on the Senate Higher Education Committee, which held hearings around the state, including one on the Stony Brook campus, where McInnis was the lead witness.
“I was very impressed with her presentation and her answers to questions,” he said. “She clearly seems to be the right fit for Stony Brook during what are some very challenging times.”
Diversity
McInnis is committed to developing and enhancing the university’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
She elevated Judith Brown Clarke, who joined Stony Brook as chief diversity officer in February of 2020, to vice president for Equity and Inclusion.
Brown Clarke described the promotion as “game changing” for diversity, ensuring that fairness and social justice are “woven into every part of campus governance and decision making.”
As an example, Brown Clarke is a part of the governance committee, which allows her to look at the equitable distribution of resources like software that make it possible for students to learn remotely.
Rosemaria Martinelli, vice president for Strategic Initiatives, had served as McInnis’ chief of staff for two years at UT Austin before McInnis joined SBU. Martinelli followed her to Long Island.
Martinelli is thrilled with McInnis’ support and guidance for Stony Brook’s bid to compete for a global competition to establish a climate solutions center on Governors Island in New York City.
SBU’s proposal, which involved numerous departments, “energized everybody,” Martinelli said. “We engaged our campus community and [McInnis] helped us identify the academic partners. She was involved in every step.”
Judith Greiman, chief deputy to the president, lauded the McInnis leadership style.
“She is unique [among college presidents] in that she has all the credentials anybody might want, she has ambition for the institution, and she does not have an ego that gets in the way,” Greiman said. She has a “collaborative leadership style.”
Indeed, Doon Gibbs, laboratory director at Brookhaven National Laboratory, appreciated McInnis’ commitment to collaborations.
She has “galvanized impact at the university and among its partners with a new sense of energy, unity and inclusiveness,” Gibbs explained in an email. He suggested it was “a pleasure to work with her on behalf of Long Island and New York state.”
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