CLOSE

Yearly Archives: 2024

by -
0 1240
Nassau County International Cricket Stadium at Eisenhower Park. Courtesy Don Lockerbie, T20 USA

By John Broven

The 2024 International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup final, held June 29 in Barbados, featured India and South Africa. Both teams had starred locally June 3-12 in Eisenhower Park at a temporary modular facility, grandly named Nassau County International Cricket Stadium. 

The site was chosen after NIMBY opposition ruled out first-choice Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. Credit should go to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman (R) for spotting the opportunities for the local economy and tourism. 

The eight games were blessed with almost perfect sunny cricket weather. There was a short rain delay for the key India vs. Pakistan game, which India won and effectively knocked out their intense rival from the tournament. Crowds swarmed to see their Indian and Pakistani heroes from back home. Every one of the 34,000 seats was sold within minutes of the ticket office opening, resulting in a scalpers paradise. The attendance was only slightly less for USA’s honorable defeat by ultimate tournament winners India on the concluding Wednesday. All told, more than 150,000 fans saw the Nassau stadium games.

Overlooked features of the competition included USA, a non-cricketing nation, making it to the Super Eight stage and war-torn Afghanistan progressing to the semifinals stage.

T20 cricket at Eisenhower Park 

So, how was my experience of international cricket on Long Island? Quite simply, it was wonderful. It was a joy to see top-class cricket again after many years living over here. Even with the rapid-fire T20 format, with matches hardly lasting four hours, the serenity, charm and strategy of the game came shining through. Somehow the introduction of loud recorded music was only a minor distraction.

The batting, bowling and fielding were all spellbinding on what was acknowledged to be a “slow” wicket, where the ball didn’t come quickly onto the bat. As is often said in cricket terminology, the state of the wicket was the same for both teams.

With friend Richard Tapp, who traveled all the way from England for the tournament, I had tickets for the games on Friday, June 7 (Ireland vs. Canada) and the Saturday (South Africa vs. The Netherlands). Both matches swung back and forth, with Canada edging the first game and the Netherlands almost pulling off a shock defeat after South Africa had lost their top four batsmen cheaply. 

Meet-and-greet at Westbury LIRR station

The pleasurable experience started as soon as we disembarked June 7 at Westbury station from Stony Brook. A kind gentleman on the platform led us to the shuttle bus area where we were greeted cheerily by LIRR and NICE bus officials. If there were any fears of being stuck in traffic to Eisenhower Park, they were soon dissipated when we realized that the main arteries, Post and Merrick avenues, were dedicated to bus traffic. A lady driver said that the journey would be 8 1/2 minutes — and so it was.

The spirit of the event was captured by bus passengers discussing their presence with others. There was an Indian national who failed to get tickets for the “big game,” but was attending because he wanted to experience live international cricket in the United States. He said he was a fast bowler from New Jersey and played in a cricket league on Long Island with matted pitches (as opposed to grass). A French lady, who lives now in Nassau, said she wanted to experience the occasion even though cricket is as foreign in France as it is in the United States.

After leaving the shuttle bus, we approached the ticket and check-in areas. There were nervous moments as tickets were available only electronically and then on the day of the match. Luckily, the combination of ICC’s ticketing agency and Apple’s iPhone did the job. We had taken the precaution to acquire see-through bags for check-in, but that didn’t save from the trashcan a tasty deli sandwich or a bug spray, which proved to be unnecessary anyway.

Impressive stadium

As we walked the perimeter of the vast modular stadium it was hard to believe that it had been constructed from nothing since January. This included the cricket outfield grown from Kentucky bluegrass in New Jersey and the pitches, which were prepared in Florida based on guidance from the famous Adelaide Oval in Australia. 

We were handed big red placards marked “6” — the equivalent of a baseball homerun — and “4,” which were waved vigorously whenever a boundary was struck, adding to the party-like atmosphere. 

Our seats in the East Grandstand were perfect for watching the games although there was quite a lot of stair climbing, which was quite hard on the elderly. There was no shortage of bar, food and soft drinks facilities with merch stalls, ice cream vans and, importantly, restrooms and first-aid. 

The Friday crowd was on the small side at just over 5,000 people. Although cricket is not a major game in Ireland or Canada, I had expected a larger contingent of Irish and Canadians. Saturday was much fuller, thanks to many enthusiastic South African supporters regaled in green and gold. There were quite a few Netherlands fans, too, dressed in familiar bright orange. The visible security force quietly kept order throughout. Indeed, good humor pervaded at all times among the attendees reflecting the uniqueness of the event.

A touching moment before each game was the competitors’ two huge national flags being unfurled across half the ground by local schoolchildren dressed smartly in white.

There was a strong local connection with T20 USA venue development director, Don Lockerbie, being the son of Bruce Lockerbie, former dean of faculty at The Stony Brook School. 

The future of U.S. cricket

Cricket is seemingly destined to be a minnow sport in the U.S., but there’s no doubt that the Long Island T20 series did the game proud — more so than the matches held in Dallas and a weather-hit Florida. As expected, the coverage by the national media was spotty, but credit to the New York Times, News12 and Newsday for their reporting. I think the New Yorker’s doubting headline “If you build it (a cricket stadium on Long Island) will they come?” was well-answered in the affirmative.

English-born John Broven, of East Setauket, is an award-winning American music history author and a copyeditor with TBR News Media. This article is a follow-up to “International cricket coming to Long Island” (Feb. 29).

by -
0 1404
File photo

Suffolk County Police Third Squad detectives are investigating a three-vehicle crash that seriously injured a motorcyclist in West Islip on July 12.

Dominic Dentici was operating his 2000 Yamaha eastbound on Sunrise Highway between Higbie Lane and Udall Road when he lost control of the motorcycle and struck the rear of a 2023 Tesla, causing him to be ejected from the motorcycle, at 4:17 p.m. Keith Ward was operating his 1994 Harley-Davidson eastbound behind the Tesla. Ward lost control of the motorcycle in an effort to avoid the crash and struck the rear of the Tesla.

Dentici, 31, of Ronkonkoma, was transported to Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip for treatment of serious injuries. The driver of the Tesla, Ashish Kaushal, 37, of Lindenhurst, was also transported to Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. Ward, 48, of Island Park, was transported to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact the Third Squad at 631-854-8352.

by -
0 1471
Daniel Marx in front of one of the magnets at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Photo courtesy of BNL

By Daniel Dunaief

In a world filled with disagreements over everything from presidential politics to parking places, numbers — and particularly constants — can offer immutable comfort, as people across borders and political parties can find the kind of common ground that make discoveries and innovations possible.

Many of these numbers aren’t simple, as anyone who has taken a geometry class would know. Pi, for example, which describes the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, isn’t just 3 or 3.14.

In classes around the world, people challenge their memory of numbers and sequences by reciting as many digits of this irrational number as possible. An irrational number can’t be expressed as a fraction.

These irrational numbers can and do inform the world well outside of textbooks and math tests, making it possible for, say, electromagnetic radiation to share information across a parallel world or, in earlier parlance, the ether.

“All electronic communication is made up of waves, sines and cosines, that are defined and evaluated using pi,” said Alan Tucker, Toll Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics at Stony Brook University. The circuits that send and receive information are “based on calculations using pi.”

Scientists can receive signals from the Voyager spacecraft, launched in 1977 and now over seven billion miles away, thanks to the ability to tune a circuit using math that relies on pi and numerous mathematical formulas where the sensitivity to the signal is infinite.

The signal from the spacecraft, which is over 16 years older than the average-aged person on the planet, takes about 10 hours to travel back and forth.

“Think of 1/x, where x goes to 0,” explained Tucker. “Scientists have taken that infinity to be an infinite multiplier of weak signals that can be understood.”

Closer to Earth, the internet, radio waves and TV, among myriad other electronic devices, all use generated and decoded calculations using pi.

“All space has an unseen mathematical existence that nobody can see,” said Tucker. “These are heavily based on calculations involving pi.”

Properties of nature

Constants reflect the realities of the world. They have “a property that is fundamental and absolute and that no one could change,” said Steve Skiena, Distinguished Teaching Professor of Computer Science at Stony Brook University. “The reason people discovered these constants as being important is because they are relating things that arise in the world.”

While pi may be among the best known and most oft-discussed constant, it’s not alone in measuring and understanding the world and in helping scientists anticipate, calculate and understand their experiments.

Chemists, for example, design reactions using a standard unit of measure called the mole, which is also called Avogadro’s number for the Italian physicist Amedeo Avogadro.

The mole provides a way to balance equations, enabling chemists to determine exactly how much of each reactant to combine to get a specific amount of product.

This huge number, which is often expressed as 6.022 times 10 to the 23rd power, represents the number of atoms in 12 grams of carbon 12. The units can be electrons, ions, atoms or molecules.

“Without Avogadro’s number, it would be impossible to determine the ratio of particular reactants,” said Elliot Smith, a postdoctoral researcher at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory who works in John Moses’s lab. “You could take an educated guess, but you wouldn’t get good results.”

Smith often uses millimoles, or 1/1000th of a mole, in the chemical reactions he does.

“If we know the millimoles of each reactant, we can calculate the expected yield,” said Smith. “Without that, you’re fumbling in the dark.”

Indeed, efficient chemical reactions make it possible to synthesize greater amounts of some of the pharmaceutical products that protect human health.

Moles, or millimoles, in a reaction also make it possible to question why a result deviated from expectations. 

Almost the speed of light

Physicists use numerous constants.

“In physics, it is inescapable that you will have to deal with some of the fundamental constants,” said Alan Calder, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Stony Brook University.

When he models stellar explosions, he uses the speed of light and Newton’s gravitational constant, which relates the gravitational force between two objects to the product of their masses divided by the square of the distance between them.

The stars Calder studies are gas ball reactions that also involve constants.

Stars have thermonuclear reactions going on in them as they evolve. Calder uses reaction rates that depend on local conditions like temperature, but there are constants in these.

Calder’s favorite number is e, or Euler’s constant. This number, which is about 2.71828, is useful in calculating interest in a bank account as well as in understanding the width of successive layers in a snail shell among many other phenomena in nature.

Electron Ion Collider

The speed of light figures prominently in the development and calculations at Brookhaven National Laboratory as the lab prepares to build the unique Electron Ion Collider, which is expected to cost between $1.7 billion and $2.8 billion.

The EIC, which will take about 10 years to construct, will collide a beam of electrons with a beam of ions to answer basic questions about the atomic nucleus.

“It’s one of the most exciting projects in the world,” said Daniel Marx, an accelerator physicist in the Electron Ion Collider accelerator design group at BNL.

At the EIC, physicists expect to propel the electrons, which are 2,000 times lighter than protons, extremely close to the speed of light. In fact, they will travel at 99.999999 (yes, that’s six nines after the decimal point) of the speed of light, which, by the way, is 186,282 miles per second. That means that light can circle the globe 7.48 times per second.

The EIC will increase the energy of ions to 99.999% of the speed of light. With only three nines after the decimal, the protons will be traveling at a slower enough speed that the designers of the collider will make the proton ring about 4 inches shorter over 2.4 miles to ensure that the protons and electrons arrive at exactly the same time.

The EIC will attempt to answer questions about the mass and spin of the nucleus. They hope to understand what happens with dense systems of gluons. By accelerating nuclei or protons to higher energies, they will get more gluons and will look for evidence of gluon saturation.

“The speed of light is absolutely fundamental to everything we do,” said Marx because it is fundamental to relativity and the particles in the accelerator are relativistic.

As for constants, Marx suggested that its value might look like a row of random numbers, but if those numbers are a bit different, that could “revolutionize” an understanding of physics.

In addition to a detailed understanding of atomic nuclei, the EIC could also lead to new technologies.

When JJ Thomson discovered the electron, he toasted it by saying, “may it never be of use to anyone.” That, however, is far from the case, as the electron is at the heart of electronics.

As for pi, Marx, like many of his STEM colleagues, appreciates this constant.

“Once you look at the mathematical statement of pi, and how it relates in various ways to other quantities in math and physics, it deepens your appreciation of how beautiful the whole universe is,” Marx said.

by -
0 604
The Girl Scout troop prepares soil for native plants. Photo courtesy of Earth Care

By Katherine Kelton

The Conscience Bay Quaker Meeting House in St. James has been convening since 1961. This meeting house in St. James has started its own Earth Care Committee and its first goal is incredibly close to home for the Quakers. 

On the meeting house’s grounds, two former horse paddocks were mowed and maintained as a lawn. The Earth Care Committee plans to convert the lawn into a meadow through a process of rewilding. An expert at Cornell Cooperative Extension informed the committee of a problematic barrier of invasive species around the paddocks, further complicating their goal of having a self-propagating native meadow. 

Barbara Ransome, the clerk of grounds at the meeting house, works with the Earth Care Committee for which Amy G. is the clerk. They spoke with TBR about the process.

“In this first phase of removing these invasive plants, we needed contractors and equipment. Which was funded by our own meeting house. For the planting materials we got a small grant from the New York Yearly Meeting,” Ransome said. 

The Yearly Meeting is a gathering of state Quaker congregations. The Conscience Bay Quakers applied for an Earth-care grant from the Yearly Meeting with an “inclusive application,” as Ransome described it. The group received $500, the largest grant allowed to be given as a result of their application.

The grant money covered some of the cost of the native species, although Amy G. admitted that securing enough plants to cover such a large area is “quite expensive.” Consequently, the newly-cleared area will be replanted in stages with the work ongoing as funds, plants and volunteers are sourced.

The pair enlisted the help of local native plant grower, Mindy Block, who owns Quality Parks in Port Jefferson. Block works to provide native plants to locals and is working to cultivate more species. She provided the group with milkweed and native grasses, along with a variety of other plants that it hopes will begin to self-propagate and spread to create a native habitat. 

Amy G. explained that one of the beliefs of Quakerism is respecting the Earth’s ecological integrity and being “good stewards of the environment.” She shared that an attendee of the society inspired these efforts when he mentioned how burning fossil fuels to mow the horse paddocks was not aligned with the values of the Quakers.

Ransome said, “In unity, the Quaker meeting house decided to go forward with an Earth Care Committee not to mow the paddocks.” From there the committee decided to take on a plan for rewilding the grounds, which refers to allowing native plants to take over the area and self-propagate. However, the process has not been an easy transition.

The committee wanted to ensure the meadow could thrive independently as part of its plan to take a combination active-passive approach. In the beginning stages, the committee will take an active approach to planting native species and clearing the border of invasive plants around the paddocks.

The end goal would be to allow habitat to develop where creatures can live and be undisturbed by machines and people. Ransome provided an example of a tree falling, where she believed it is beneficial to allow it to stay because it can become a home to small animals. 

“Our first step in outreach was the Girl Scout troop, who we invited to help plant the native grasses and plants,” Amy G. said. The committee hopes to invite them back each year to continue to learn about plants and invest in a long-term community project. The committee also hopes to involve other groups and anyone who wants to get involved. 

The St. James attendees and members meet weekly in person or via Zoom for worship. Quakerism is also known as the Religious Society of Friends. Ransome wants people to know that “there is a concern for climate change — this is one way the Quakers are dedicated to being good stewards of the Earth.”

Those interested in joining the Earth Care Committee do not have to be practicing Quakers, nor do they have to fill out any formal application. Ransome urges those interested to contact her via email at: [email protected]. 

by -
0 1532
Pickleball court. Photo by Pixabay

By Toni-Elena Gallo

It has a funny name and it was not something most of us grew up with. Now pickleball has gained the “likes” of the world. 

A sport developed to happily pass the summer days has become an international phenomenon. Despite its similarities to tennis and ping-pong, pickleball has a rule set all its own. Time has seen the creation of the International Federation of Pickleball as well as the World Pickleball Federation, and there has even been talk of it becoming an Olympic sport.

Long Island is no stranger to this relatively new sport’s growing influence. The Town of Brookhaven installed its first 11 outdoor pickleball courts at Centereach Park over the last two years and has recently brought that number up to 22.

When asked if pickleball has become a trend among Brookhaven residents, town Supervisor Dan Panico (R), simply replied, “It is.”

Origins of pickleball

Pickleball originated on Bainbridge Island, Washington, in the summer of 1965. Joel Pritchard, a Washington State legislator and future congressman, with his close friend, Bill Bell, stumbled upon Joel’s 13-year-old, Frank, in a very annoyed mood.

He told the two men that he was bored on his vacation and had nothing to do. When he sarcastically told his father to “go make up a game” for everyone to play, his father took the words to heart.

Pritchard, Bell and their friend Barney McCallum, developed pickleball out of a rag-tag assortment of ping-pong paddles, the perforated, plastic ball of a kid’s bat-and-ball set and a badminton net. The name was coined by Pritchard’s wife, Joan, in reference to the mish mosh of people delegated to the sport of rowing’s “pickle boats.”

And, so was the beginning of pickleball, a game that since its infancy has been all about family and community.

Pickleball in Brookhaven

“Around the town, there has been an impetus to install more pickleball courts, because the popularity of the sport has exploded,” Panico said. “The existing courts were so heavily utilized that we put additional monies in the budgewt to double the number of courts townwide.”

 He added that three existing courts, located at the Brookhaven Aquatic Center in Mastic Beach, will be resurfaced.

Panico said that the sport’s popularity is not only talked about, but visible: “When I left my house this morning, I went past the Moriches Athletic Complex, and I was pleased to see that the courts were full. And that was early in the morning, so people are utilizing them and that’s what we want them to do. We try to meet the needs of our residents to the best of our ability.”

There are new courts at the Moriches Athletic Complex, Sylvan Avenue Park in Miller Place and the Medford Athletic Complex. “So, you have South Shore, the middle of the town and the North Shore [covered],” Panico said.

The mass popularity of the game has caused courts to pop up throughout Long Island, including at Port Jefferson, Smithtown and Huntington. 

by -
0 909
1 of 12
A scene from the 2024 Port Jefferson Prom.
A scene from the 2024 Port Jefferson Prom.
A scene from the 2024 Port Jefferson Prom.
A scene from the 2024 Port Jefferson Prom.
A scene from the 2024 Port Jefferson Prom.
A scene from the 2024 Port Jefferson Prom.
A scene from the 2024 Port Jefferson Prom.
A scene from the 2024 Port Jefferson Prom.
A scene from the 2024 Port Jefferson Prom.
A scene from the 2024 Port Jefferson Prom.
A scene from the 2024 Port Jefferson Prom.
A scene from the 2024 Port Jefferson Prom.

Port Jefferson made waves this prom season with an extraordinary event — one that just may redefine high school celebrations across Long Island.

This year’s Earl L. Vandermeulen High School prom, themed “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” and held Monday, July 1, was not just an event, but a testament to the creativity, dedication and community spirit of Port Jefferson.

Transforming the high school gymnasium into a magical undersea kingdom, the prom committee created an immersive experience for its peers. With vignettes, professional and theatrical-level lighting and stage constructions, Port Jefferson high school’s prom theme transported students to an enchanting world beneath the waves. As the seniors entered the festivities, they walked a red carpet and were given star-level treatment.

The school’s prom has long been anticipated as a highlight of the academic year, showcasing the talent and dedication of Port Jefferson’s community members. This school set a new standard for high school celebrations, not only in terms of creativity and design but also in fostering a sense of pride and camaraderie among students and residents alike.

For more information regarding the Port Jefferson School District and its students’ many achievements, please visit the district’s website, www.portjeffschools.org, and follow its Facebook page. 

by -
0 1008
Whole Foods Market

New store features more than 2,000 local products from 400+ Northeast-based suppliers

Whole Foods Market has announced that it will open a new 43,916-square-foot store, located at 350 Walt Whitman Road, Huntington Station in the Huntington Shopping Center, on Wednesday, July 17 at 8 a.m. This will be the Northeast Region’s 98th store and 7th location on Long Island.

“The store’s design emphasizes simplicity and modernity, incorporating elements reminiscent of the bay area’s fluidity and the neighborhood’s commuter heritage,” said the company in a press release, adding that the store’s product assortment features more than 2,000 local products from 400+ Northeast-based suppliers.

On opening morning, customers will enjoy coffee from Sail Away Coffee Co., muffins from Abe’s and a sunflower photo station from Tucker Farms. The first 300 customers in line will receive a limited-edition Huntington Station tote bag and a Secret Saver coupon featuring offers up to $100 off. Features of the Huntington Station store include:

  • Curated grocery section filled with exclusive brand favorites and local products, including new to Whole Foods Market suppliers L’Isolina Pasta, The White Moustache, Don Carvajal Café and La Rossi Pizza, which will be exclusive to the Huntington Station location. Existing local favorites will include Vista Hermosa Tortillas, Family Farmstead Dairy, Heidelberg Bread, Oliver’s Organic Eggs and Adirondack Ice Cream.
  • An array of certified organic, conventional and Sourced for Good produce, plus offerings from more than 11 local farms and suppliers, including local sunflowers and floral bunches from Tucker Farms and Cranbury Fields, Rubi tomatoes from Oishii, and packaged salads from Satur Farms.
  • Specialty department dedicated to celebrating cheesemakers and artisan producers, including 20 local suppliers. Local items include fresh mozzarella from Lioni Laticini, sauces from Gotham Greens, and ricotta from Calabro Cheese. The cheese counter will be overseen by trained cheesemongers and a Certified Cheese Professional who can offer recommendations for any occasion and create custom boards.
  • Full-service seafood counter featuring locally and globally sourced seafood and a large selection of Ready to Cook and Ready to Eat Seafood. Local options include oysters from West Robins Oyster Company, smoked salmon from Catsmo Artisan Smokehouse, and seafood cakes from Lagniappe Foods. All offerings are either sustainable wild-caught or Responsibly Farmed.
  • Full-service meat counter, with butchers available to cut steaks and poultry to order. Local options include pork from Briar Woods Farms, smoked cooked cured chicken sausages from Bilinski’s, and cured salami items from Brooklyn Cured.
  • Extensive selection of more than 300 craft beers, including 40 local suppliers. Local options include Money IPA from Barrier Brewing, Sun Up IPA from TALEA Beer Co., and Rose Cider from Sand City Brewing.
  • A Prepared Foods department featuring a hot bar, salad bar and fresh pizza. Customers can also shop for made-to-order sandwiches and rotisserie chicken.
  • Bakery department offering bread baked fresh daily as well as everyday favorites, such as Whole Foods Market’s Berry Chantilly Cake and brown butter chocolate chip cookies. The department also carries a wide variety of special diet items. Local offerings include pastries from Balthazar, pita bread from Angel Bakeries, and muffins from Abe’s.
  • Wellness & Beauty section featuring more than 300 local products from 40 local suppliers. Local products include ginger shots from Annie’s Ginger Elixir and soap bars from RAD Soap Co.

To give back to the community, Whole Foods Market has partnered with local suppliers and organizations, including Helping Hands Rescue Mission, Long Island Cares, and Island Harvest. On opening day, Whole Foods Market will donate a Nourishing Our Neighborhoods van to We All We Got, Inc., along with $3,000 in products as part of the Stuff the Van event.

Prime members who shop at Whole Foods Market have access to a number of benefits year-round, including deep discounts on select popular products each week and an additional 10% off hundreds of in-store sale items. Additionally, customers can pay in-store with their palm using Amazon One or with the Whole Foods Market or Amazon app.

Founded in 1980, Austin-based Whole Foods Market is part of Amazon’s Worldwide Grocery Stores and serves customers in more than 530 stores across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. Other locations on Long Island include Lake Grove, Commack, Garden City, Manhasset, Massapequa Park and Jericho.

by -
0 909
Kathy O’Sullivan. Photo courtesy the O’Sullivan Family

PREPARED BY THE O’SULLIVAN FAMILY

Kathy O’Sullivan of Port Jefferson, a longtime writer and contributor to Times Beacon Record Newspapers, passed away April 19 after a life well lived. For the past eight years, Alzheimer’s slowly took over her body, consuming her memories one by one, but never diminishing her spirit. Until her last breath she still retained her marvelous sparkle and familiar, irrepressible sweetness.

Born Kathleen Allen in 1936, she spent her early years traveling the globe with her family. As a child in Burma, she lived among elephants and golden pagodas. Some of the last memories she held onto were of hiding in a drain ditch when the Japanese bombed Rangoon. Despite, or perhaps because of growing up in a land torn by war, Kathy had an uncommonly optimistic view of any situation. Every hardship she met in life was approached like a joyful game. She could find reason to smile in any challenge, and her enthusiasm was contagious.

Kathy wandered wide-eyed from country to country wearing many different hats. She attended Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Paris and traveled the world sharing her culinary genius with countless dignitaries. She could always be counted on to surprise you with anecdotes of random princes and movie stars she knew. She lived in Gandhi’s India, spent years in Europe becoming fluent in foreign languages, traveled the Silk Road through Central Asia and even approached a trip to the grocery store with a sense of worldly wonder.

As a journalist, Kathy delighted in writing profiles on ordinary people she encountered. It was her belief that any person you meet had at least one fascinating story to tell, and Kathy was determined to find it. She loved to ride in cabs and interview the drivers, or turn to the person next in line in a store and unearth some captivating piece of information from them. If you asked her how her day went, she never said, “Oh, fine.” She would always answer with some variation of “I just met the most fascinating person!”

A voracious learner, Kathy had a constant tower of books beside her bed. She could be counted on to give informed and nuanced opinions on a vast array of topics and maintained an uncommonly open mind to keep learning. Not only was she an encyclopedia of history and philosophy, but she gave the most insightful and comforting advice. The phone was always ringing from people who wanted her wisdom.

Her life was a kaleidoscope of the people she met, and it never ceased to give her joy. Her children joked that you never knew you would come home to Mom having tea with — it might be a festooned Maasia warrior, a Shaolin monk, a Harlem Globetrotter or the cashier from 7-Eleven.

For over 50 years, Kathy made Port Jefferson her home with her husband Desmond. Though her adventures never stopped, she lovingly raised her three kids and filled the house with a constant stream of international travelers. 

Kathy spent her later decades devoted to the village of Port Jefferson. She was involved in the Dickens Festival, as well as the creation of Harborfront Park and the construction of the Bayles Boat Shop. There was rarely a day that she was not fluttering about, tirelessly attending meetings, baking brownies, writing grants and weaving people together in service of her town.

As a passionate marine conservationist, Kathy organized beach cleanups and environmental education classes. Her passion project was to work with Coastal Steward Long Island to restore the oyster population in Mount Sinai Harbor. If you are ever walking on the beach there and find an oyster shell in the sand, that is one of her babies. 

She was never the sort of person who craved applause or recognition. There are no buildings with her name on them or tales of her in the history books. But in a hundred years there will be oyster shells on the beach, and knowing Kathy, that would be the most satisfying legacy she could hope for.

Kathy is survived by her husband Desmond; her children John, Desmond and Kaitlin; big sister Winnie; brother David; as well as two grandchildren, Maggie and T.J. 

There will be a celebration of her life July 27 at 4 p.m. at the Port Jeff Village Center. All are welcome. In lieu of flowers or any sort of donation, the best way to honor Kathy would be to smile at a stranger, maybe talk to them and find out something fascinating.

by -
0 1260
Stop & Shop will close the Coram location by November of this year. Photo courtesy of Mapquest

Ahold Delhaize’s U.S. brand, Stop & Shop, has announced the next steps in its plans to position the company for growth in a July 12 press release.

“In addition to continuing to make investments in price and the customer experience as part of its growth strategy in its markets, Stop & Shop will close 32 underperforming stores by year-end. Following the closures, Stop & Shop will continue to have a strong presence across its five-state footprint with more than 350 stores. Stop & Shop associates at impacted locations will be offered other opportunities within the company,” read the release.

Stores slated for closure on Long Island include Coram, East Meadow, Greenvale and Hempstead.

“Stop & Shop is proud of the deep roots and community ties we have developed as a neighborhood grocer of more than 100 years, and we remain committed to nourishing our associates, customers and communities,” said Gordon Reid, President, Stop & Shop. “As we announced in May, Stop & Shop has evaluated its overall store portfolio and made the difficult decision to close underperforming stores to create a healthy base for the future growth of our brand.”

“Our associates are a strong community dedicated to growing and working together, and all of our store associates will continue to have a place in the Stop & Shop family as we look forward to serving customers at other nearby locations,” added Reid.

Stop & Shop will communicate specific store closing dates to local customers well in advance of any store closures.

“Stop & Shop is focused on growing through large, multi-year price investments and a stronger customer value proposition, both in-store and online. This means we’ll be focused on delivering lower everyday prices, as well as even more savings for our customers through strong promotions,” added Reid. “Since 2018, we have completed more than 190 store remodels, with the customer shopping experience in mind. These stores are outperforming other Stop & Shop stores that haven’t been remodeled. We’re taking these learnings and implementing them at other stores as we build upon our strong foundation, similar to our new Boston flagship location, opened last month in the Allston Yards development. We look forward to continuing to serve and care for our communities and to grow Stop & Shop as a local brand for many years to come.”

After the store closures are complete, Stop & Shop will operate more than 350 stores spanning five states, including 81 stores in Connecticut, 115 in Massachusetts, 47 in New Jersey, 91 in New York and 25 in Rhode Island.

The 32 impacted store locations, which are anticipated to close on or before Nov. 2, 2024, include:

Connecticut
  • 100 Division St., Ansonia
  • 211 High St., Torrington (931 Torringford St., Torrington will remain open)
  • 1937 West Main St., Stamford (2200 Bedford St., Stamford will remain open)
  • 855 Bridgeport Ave., Milford (1360 East Town Road, Milford will remain open)
  • 72 Newtown Road, Danbury (44 Lake Avenue Ext., Danbury will remain open)
Massachusetts
  • 932 North Montello St., Brockton
  • 36 New State Highway, Raynham
  • 341 Plymouth St., Halifax
  • 539-571 Boston Turnpike, Shrewsbury
  • 165 Needham St., Newton (bfresh Market)
  • 415 Cooley St., Springfield (1600 Boston Rd. and 1277 Liberty St., Springfield will remain open)
  • 545 Lincoln St. Worcester (940 West Boylston St. and 949 Grafton St., Worcester will remain open)
  • 24 Mattakeesett St., Pembroke (125 Church St., Pembroke will remain open)
New Jersey
  • 1083 Inman Ave., Edison
  • 1049 US Highway 1 South, Edison
  • 4861 US Highway 9, Howell
  • 1278 US Highway 22, Phillipsburg
  • 581 Stelton Rd., Piscataway
  • 625 Paterson Ave., Carlstadt
  • 1221 State Route 27, Franklin Township
  • 130 Skyline Dr., Ringwood
  • 505 Richmond Ave, Point Pleasant Beach
  • 2275 West County Line Rd., Jackson
New York
  • 2965 Cropsey Ave., Brooklyn
  • 130 Wheatley Plaza, Greenvale
  • 7 Samsondale Plaza, West Haverstraw
  • 294 Middle Country Road, Coram
  • 240 East Sanford Blvd., Mt. Vernon
  • 132 Fulton Ave., Hempstead
  • 2525 Hempstead Turnpike, East Meadow
Rhode Island
  • 11 Commerce Way, Johnston
  • 176 Pittman St., Providence (Eastside Marketplace)
Prev1...179180181...360Next Page 180 of 360
TBR News Media is your local news and entertainment website.
We provide you with the latest breaking news and information for your community.
Contact us: [email protected]

Most Viewed

©