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Rita J. Egan

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Ward Melville career fair to help students explore the future

by Rita J. Egan - December 26, 2018

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WardMelvilleHS-AmericanFlagsFor911--#5--9-14-14--ByGregCatalanoW — File photo by Greg Catalano

Businesspeople are lending a hand in the Three Village Central School District to help students figure out the career path that’s the best fit for them.

Local businesses have partnered with the school district to form the Three Village Industry Advisory Board. Its first initiative is hosting the Ignite Your Career … Discover Your Opportunities career fair Jan. 9, which will give junior and senior high school students the opportunity to learn about potential career paths.

According to a press release from the school district, before the fair, students in grades seven through 12 will take a “career DNA” analysis called the Holland Code. The evaluation reveals career paths that correspond with a student’s personality which is denoted by different colors.

Michael Ardolino, owner of Realty Connect USA/Team Ardolino and co-chair of the advisory board, said the students who sit on the advisory board have contributed many exciting ideas.

He added all the businesses at the career fair will have a table marked with a color from the Holland Code corresponding with the personality that dominates its field, with minor colors that show other types that may be involved in the business.

Businesses are always looking for quality people, Ardolino said, and students can discover interesting information at the event about various fields of industry. One example is how the role of mechanics has changed to where computers are now widely used. Several businesses will also incorporate videos to educate attendees about their selected field.

Ardolino said the school district made the right move in opening the career fair to junior high school students.

“Let’s invite them all here so we can begin to enlighten them to the opportunities of what they can be doing with their lives,” he said.

The event could also be helpful for students to choose elective courses based on their interests and find clarity when it comes to college majors, according to the press release.

“We can learn much from our community partners on what businesses and postsecondary schools need most in terms of the skills that drive their success,” said Alan Baum, executive director of secondary, curriculum and human resources in the school district. “By collaborating with our partners we can learn from them to better inform our own instructional practices. By keeping our eyes open and listening to the business community and our postsecondary colleagues, we hope Three Village remains at the forefront of providing our students with a meaningful education, authentic experiences and equip them with the skills they need for future inquiry and success.”

The career fair will include more than three dozen businesses from across Long Island, including trades and crafts that are in high demand. Local companies participating include Competition Automotive Group, PPS Advisors, Gold Coast Bank, Atlantic Businesses Systems, Camco Services of NY, K&M Truck and Auto Repair, Journey Martial Arts, Equity First Foundation, Realty Connect USA/Team Ardolino, Stafford Associates, Vision World, ProSysCon Computer Technologies, Alternatives For Children, Stony Brook Child Care Services, Bagel Express, Holiday Inn Express, H2M Architects + Engineers, The Meadow Club, The Curry Club, The Meridian Financial Co., Jesco Brick & Concrete, Rossman Tax Service and Bliss restaurant.

The career fair will start at 7 p.m. Jan. 9 in the Ward Melville High School cafeteria.

Son uses social media to find kidney for his mother

by Rita J. Egan - December 25, 2018

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Teresa-Orlik-and-familyw — Teresa Orlik, right, with her husband and her son Frank at a recent family event. Photo from Frank Orlik

A Stony Brook man is hoping for a holiday miracle.

Frank Orlik has taken to social media to share his mother’s medical journey. Orlik said he’s been posting about his mother’s search for a kidney donor on Facebook and has been making the posts public with the hope that his connections will share them, and someone will be moved to donate one of their organs.

Teresa Orlik and her son Frank are hoping for a holiday miracle as she waits for a live kidney donor. Photo from Frank Orlik

“This year has been one of so much heartache for me and her,” he said.

His mother, Teresa Orlik, was diagnosed with kidney disease two years ago and recently had to start dialysis. She said the condition runs in her family and was most likely brought on by type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Her three sons are unable to donate a kidney since they all have the potential to come down with the disease.

Recently Orlik and her husband sold their house of 46 years in Stony Brook, and they have been living in Palm Coast, Florida, a short distance from the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville where she is receiving medical treatment.

Dr. Hani Wadei of the Mayo Clinic said when a patient’s kidney function is at or below 20 milliliters per minute, or he or she is on dialysis, a patient can be considered eligible for a transplant.

“We do not have to wait for the kidney function to deteriorate to the point of needing dialysis to get on the transplant waiting list,” Wadei said. “In fact, studies have shown that getting a transplant before starting dialysis is actually better as it improves post-transplant outcomes.”

The doctor said living kidney donors undergo an extensive evaluation which “ensures that a potential donor has a minimal risk of kidney disease after kidney donation.”

The evaluation analyzes potential medical, surgical and psychological complications, and anyone with risks is eliminated, according to Wadei. While a donor may still be at risk for end-stage renal disease, he said recent studies have shown that the possibility after donation is less than 1 percent. The lifetime risk in the healthy population is less than 0.2 percent.

The doctor said he explains to potential donors they can live with one kidney, and they must follow a healthy lifestyle after donation that includes avoiding certain medications, monitoring their health closely and following up with their primary physician. He said after donation the remaining kidney compensates for some of the organ’s function lost from donating the other one.

A donor can live anywhere and have initial blood work and urine testing done by their own doctors and lab services, according to the doctor. However, if they pass initial tests, in the case of Orlik, they must travel to Florida to meet her doctors. A patient’s insurance will usually take care of the donor’s medical expenses for anything involved with the donation, including up to three years of follow-ups.

Frank Orlik said during his mother’s medical crisis he has learned so much about organ donations. For example, he found out about kidney swaps where a living donor is incompatible with the intended recipient, but exchanges kidneys with another donor-recipient pair. Discovering this aspect has made him even more hopeful that his mother will get a kidney.

“I’m praying for a miracle that someone will be able to be a living donor for her,” he said.

Teresa Orlik said her son using social media to spread the word about her search has made her optimistic.

“It gives me tremendous hope that we’ll be successful,” she said.

Anyone interested in helping Teresa Orlik can contact her case coordinator, Tita Bordinger-Herron, at 904-956-3259.

Lions edge New Field Wolverines in final seconds

by Rita J. Egan - December 20, 2018

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By Bill Landon

Newfield went toe to toe with West Islip Dec. 18 in a home game that wouldn’t be decided until the final seconds. The Wolverines fell just short losing a League III matchup 27-26 at home.

Sophomore guard Chinelle Nelson led her team in scoring, netting five points from the charity stripe along with a field goal for seven points. Freshman guard Megan Spina along with senior forward Oliva Bond, both banked triples and a field goal for five points apiece.

The Wolverines are back in action when they hit the road against Huntington Dec. 20. Tip-off is at 4 p.m.

Romaine announces Brookhaven receives AAA bond rating

by Rita J. Egan - December 19, 2018

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Romaine-stateoftown-petroski-040318w — Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine announced Dec. 12 that the town received the AAA long-term rating on general obligation bonds from S&P Global. File photo by Alex Petroski

Brookhaven is on solid footing when it comes to its finances.

On Dec. 12 Town of Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) announced that S&P Global Ratings, an American financial services company, assigned its top-tier AAA long-term rating to the town’s series 2018A and 2018B general obligation bonds. The municipal bond is one that is secured by a local government’s pledge to use legally available resources, such as tax revenues, to repay bondholders.

“Our financial team has worked hard to achieve this AAA stable rating, but the real winners are the taxpayers who will save millions of dollars in the years ahead,” Romaine said. “We owe it to them to spend their money more wisely.”

S&P Global also affirmed the same rating on the town’s existing bonds. Based on recent local municipal bond sales, it’s been estimated this rating and bond sale has resulted in a $1.65 million savings for taxpayers, according to a press release from Brookhaven township. The town plans to finance construction of ambulance buildings, open-space acquisitions and other infrastructure projects with the bonds. The $20.8 million general obligation bonds will be amortized over 20 years, according to the release.

S&P cited in its AAA ranking a very strong economy, with the town’s access to a broad and diverse metropolitan statistical area and a local stabilizing institutional influence; strong management, with strong financial policies and practices; and solid budgetary performance with operating surpluses in the general fund and at the total government fund level in fiscal 2017. There was also budgetary flexibility and strong liquidity, among others.

According to S&P’s rating announcement, the Brookhaven’s rating is higher than the U.S. 10-year Treasury note. S&P believes “the town can maintain better credit characteristics than the U.S. in a stress scenario.”

Councilwoman Jane Bonner (C-Rocky Point), who is the board liaison to the town’s Department of Finance, said the rating is due to the town’s fiscally conservative ethos.

“The AAA Stable rating is clear evidence that our conservative fiscal policies have made a significant impact, saving taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars,” Bonner said. “I am proud to continue working with Supervisor Romaine and the finance team to help build on the success that we have already achieved.”

Town Councilwoman Valerie Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station) credited the board with working toward balancing the budget and responsible fiscal management.

“We tackle this process with the goal of continuous improvement,” Cartright said. “Receiving the highest bond rating, once again, is a reflection of this effort.”

Evelyn Berezin, computer pioneer, dies at 93

by Rita J. Egan - December 14, 2018

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Evelyn Berezin, formerly of Poquott, died Dec. 8 at the Mary Manning Walsh Home in New York City. She was 93 years old.

She was a computer pioneer who built and marketed the first computerized word processor and the founder and president of the tech start-up Redactron Corporation, which manufactured and sold word processors.

Among the honors she received in her lifetime were inductions into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame in Los Angeles in 2011 and the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, in 2015.

In an interview with The Village Times Herald in 2015, Berezin said when she was younger she thought she would pursue a career in physics, not computer science.

“I got into it by accident,” Berezin said. “It was so early in the game, I didn’t know what it was.”

Berezin was born April 12, 1925, in the Bronx. She was 15 years old when she graduated from high school and went on to study at Hunter College where she developed an interest in physics. She said the day after Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941, her high school physics teacher offered her a research job. Since she was 16, she had to lie about her age in order to get the position.

“Every boy in the country was given a number to be drafted,” Berezin said. “I happened to be there at the right time.”

Berezin worked in a lab while attending college at night and went on to study math at Brooklyn Polytech, physics and chemistry at New York University and English at Hunter. In the April 10, 2015, Village Times Herald article, Berezin said while talking to a recruiter about a government job she discovered that there weren’t many positions in physics, so she asked about computers, something she admitted she never heard of at the time.

Berezin went on to work for a few companies designing computers before opening Redactron.

“In 1969 I decided I would never get to be vice president because I was a woman,” Berezin said. “I decided to start my own company.”

From 1969 to 1975, Redactron grew to employ 500 workers. In 1976, she decided to sell the company to the Burroughs Corporation and joined the company as president of its Redactron division, a position she held until about 1980. After leaving Burroughs, Berezin became involved in a number of start-up companies and moved to Long Island.

Berezin became a member of the Stony Brook Foundation in 1985, according to the Stony Brook University website. She served on the investment committee and was a member of Brookhaven Science Associates, served on the board of overseers of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of New York University and held a board position with the Sion Power Corporation. She became a member of the John S. Toll Heritage Society at Stony Brook and established the Berezin-Wilenitz Endowment.

“I feel that Stony Brook has given and continues to give a great education to children from low income families and particularly to children of immigrants,” Berezin is quoted as saying on the SBU website. She and her husband of 51 years, Israel Wilenitz, a chemical engineer, also funded the Sam and Rose Berezin Endowed Scholarship, named after her parents.

“Evelyn Berezin spent a lifetime defying expectations and pushing the boundaries of what is possible, and her guidance and generosity have helped empower Stony Brook University and its students to do the same,” SBU President Dr. Samuel L. Stanley Jr. said in a statement. “Her friendship has made Stony Brook a stronger institution, and we will forever be grateful to her.”

Berezin’s husband predeceased her in 2003. Funeral services were held Dec. 11 at the Riverside Memorial Chapel in New York City.

Community members work with SBU to reinstate family hosting program

by Rita J. Egan - December 12, 2018

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Harold Metcalf, right, poses with a few students from India, China and Lithuania he and his wife have hosted through the years as volunteers with Stony Brook University’s Host Family Program. Photo from Harold Metcalf

A Stony Brook University program is taking a gap year of sorts, and residents are working together with SBU representatives to reinstate it.

“We are very excited about the prospect of this relaunch, and are grateful to be working with community members who are engaged and interested in supporting this program.”

— Lauren Sheprow, SBU spokesperson

For more than 40 years, Stony Brook University’s Host Family Program has been providing opportunities for international students to learn about the United States and the local area by having them develop relationships with volunteer families. Formerly under the direction of Rhona Goldman, of Stony Brook, the program was put on hiatus this year. Several members are in discussions with SBU representatives to bring the program back in the fall of 2019.

According to a statement from the university’s spokesperson Lauren Sheprow, “Stony Brook University’s Host Family Program has been relocated within the Division of International Academic Programs & Services, and thus is being reconfigured to adjust to the expressed needs of our international student population. The evaluation and new configuration should conclude within this academic year, and the program relaunched in preparation for students coming to Stony Brook in the fall of 2019.”

“We are very excited about the prospect of this relaunch, and are grateful to be working with community members who are engaged and interested in supporting this program,” she added.

Harold Metcalf, a Stony Brook faculty member, and his wife, Marilyn, have been hosting students since the early 1970s. He said the number of students a family hosts is usually about one or two an academic year but sometimes more. The majority are graduate students at SBU, but every once in a while an undergrad takes part in the program. Metcalf said host families help with a variety of activities like taking students to social events, driving them to the mall and even helping them navigate the U.S. banking system and postal service, adding that many of the graduate students haven’t traveled outside of their countries or even seen snow.

“We bring students to our houses for dinners and celebrations and all kinds of things, and in exchange we have the culture of the world brought into our homes.”

—Harold Metcalf

“One student said, ‘If I go out when the temperature is below freezing, I’m afraid my blood will freeze,’” he said.

Metcalf said the students and host families benefit in turn from the program.

“We bring students to our houses for dinners and celebrations and all kinds of things, and in exchange we have the culture of the world brought into our homes,” he said.

Once a student is assigned to a family, it is up to them as to how much time to invest in activities with their host family. Metcalf said many of the students he has hosted through the decades have become a part of his family, and he is still in touch with many of them. Recently he visited with a student he hosted in the ’70s and had the opportunity to meet the man’s grandchildren.

“That’s how long these relationships last,” he said, adding from time to time he’ll receive a letter or email from someone asking if he remembers him or her.

Based on discussions with university representatives, Metcalf is optimistic the program will return, but he said there are no guarantees.

Forrest McMullen, of South Setauket, said he and his wife Doris Anne started participating in the program in 1986 and just recently stopped hosting students. He said they have shared their stories with SBU representatives and hope to see the host program reinstated. Some of his fondest memories include walking a former student down the aisle at her wedding, and he remembers one young man who brought a new girlfriend to his house to meet them, and then asking him what he thought of her.

“For some of these students, it’s just a lifelong thing,” McMullen said. “We feel we have international grandkids now, because some of them have had children.”

Three Village parade lights the way to the holidays

by Rita J. Egan - December 10, 2018

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Setauket was filled with merriment and lights Dec. 9 as hundreds lined Route 25A to catch a glimpse of the Three Village Electric Holiday Parade.

More than 30 participants including schools, Scout troops, musket men, dancers, the Stony Brook University Marching Band and Wolfie, SBU’s mascot, marched along the route or rode in floats decorated with holiday lights. This year John Tsunis, owner of the Holiday Inn Express in Stony Brook, a partner at Tsunis Gasparis, LLP and chairman and CEO of Gold Coast Bank, served as grand marshal.

Residents wearing Santa hats and lighted headgear and necklaces added to the festive mood. At the end of the route, attendees gathered at East Setauket Pond Park near Shore Road for a tree lighting where Santa was on hand to greet children, and Fratelli’s Bagel Express served hot chocolate to help everyone warm up after a chilly night.

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Chabad lights up Stony Brook with Chanukah on Main Street

by Rita J. Egan - December 8, 2018

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The Chabad at Stony Brook hosted its second annual menorah lighting, Chanukah on Main Street, at The Stony Brookside Bed & Bike Inn in Stony Brook Dec. 3.

Inn owners Marty and Elyse Buchman were on hand to light the menorah after a speech by Rabbi Motti Grossbaum where he explained the miracle of Chanukah. The more than 200 attendees were entertained with a fire juggling show by Keith Leaf after the lighting.

The event also included a chocolate coin “gelt drop” from a cherry picker truck, handmade menorahs by children and latkes and donuts.

The Chabad at Stony Brook is located at 821 Hawkins Ave. in Lake Grove. For more information or to learn about the new center at 360 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook, visit www.chabadSB.com or call 631-585-0521.

Ward Melville golf team celebrates successful season

by Rita J. Egan - December 8, 2018

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ward melville team 2018 championsw — Suffolk County high school golf champions Palmer Van Tuyl, Gavin Girard, Alex Korkuc, Andrew Petraco, Nick Stoecker, Mike Petraco and coach Bob Spira. Photo from Bob Spira

The Ward Melville High School golf team closed the season with a feeling that could probably be compared to a hole in one.

The team walked off the Rock Hill Golf Course in first place after the Suffolk County high school golf championships Oct. 31. In addition to the team win, senior Alexander Korkuc finished third in the individual tournament with a score of 154. The team will go on to the Long Island championship, and Korkuc qualified for the state tournament. Both will take place in the spring.

“I told them right from the beginning, ‘You guys have the talent.'”

— Bob Spira

Bob Spira, who has coached the team for some 12 years, said the golfers are looking forward to the Long Island championship. The last time the Patriots took the title was in 2016.

“This year we’re back on the map again, so it’s really nice to be back on top,” Spira said.

The coach said the six team members work well together, and he considers all top players. He said they worked hard this season and didn’t hesitate to keep practicing shots that they missed in a match, even if it meant hitting 200 balls.

“I told them right from the beginning, ‘You guys have the talent,’” the coach said. “‘It’s just putting in the time and just everything working out. Even the best golfers can have a bad round. So, don’t let it get in your head, keep moving forward.’”

Korkuc said he wouldn’t want any other coach than Spira.

“He’s a great coach,” he said. “He’s been there for me four years, and he’s always told me to keep working and it will eventually work out.”

Ward Melville junior, Palmer Van Tuyl, said he’s been playing with the team since eighth grade, and he has witnessed how the team and he have grown as players. A highlight for him this year was successfully shooting two rounds under par in matches.

“That was really big in my development to know I have the ability to have really good scores in addition to solid play all season long,” Van Tuyl said.

He said his teammates who, in addition to Korkuc and himself, include eighth-graders Gavin Girard and Nick Stoecker with eleventh-grader Andrew Petraco and ninth-grader Mike Petraco, are strong players. Van Tuyl said having skilled younger players is important for the future of team.

“To have that much depth that early is, I think, a big key to our strength.”

— Palmer Van Tuyl

“To have that much depth that early is, I think, a big key to our strength,” he said.

When it came to the team win after the Suffolk County championship and Korkuc’s qualification, Van Tuyl said it made him forget his disappointment coming in 11th place on the second day.

“The self-pity or the self-sadness was completely overshadowed by the great feeling I had for the team, and the happiness I had for my friend,” he said.

Korkuc and Van Tuyl said their teammates are like a second family. Korkuc, who hopes to take a year off from college to attend a golf academy next academic year, has advice for his fellow teammates.

“Keep working hard and everything will fall in place like it did for me,” he said.

Bethel AME receives funds to restore Eato House

by Rita J. Egan - December 5, 2018

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Current existing-Mary Eato & Rev. David Eato House front elevation — Bethel AME Church of Setauket received a $3,000 matching grant Dec. 4 to be used to restore The Eato House, which was once home to one of the church’s first pastors. Photo from Robert Lewis

Bethel AME Church of Setauket received an early Christmas present.

The New York Landmarks Conservancy, which is dedicated to preserving, revitalizing and reusing New York’s architecturally significant buildings, presented checks to the recipients of its 2018 Sacred Sites Grants Dec. 4 at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church of Northport. Representatives from five Long Island churches were on hand, including the Rev. Gregory Leonard and trustees of Bethel AME, which received a matching grant of $3,000 for the renovation of the former parsonage known as the Eato House.

“The 1917 Eato House is culturally significant to the area’s African American and Native American communities and a contributing building to the Bethel-Christian Avenue-Laurel Hill Historic District,” said Peg Breen, president of the conservancy. “The Landmarks Conservancy is pleased to be able to help with a conditions assessment of the house that will guide needed repairs. Bethel AME is important to Setauket’s history and reaches about 1,000 people a year by providing space to community organizations, the local fire department and the annual Setauket Pow Wow.”

Leonard said he was thankful for the grant, and in February or March the church hopes to start a fundraising campaign to raise additional funds.

“We’re overjoyed with it, and we know it’s a long journey to get the house totally back on its feet,” the reverend said. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.”

Robert Lewis, president of Higher Ground Inter-Cultural and Heritage Association, a nonprofit historical group working with the church to restore the former parsonage, was also in attendance for the check presentation.

“Anyone with the experience of starting a building restoration project knows the endeavor is significantly more than just filling out applications for grants,” Lewis said. “The cost in terms of years, sweat and toil is not in dollars. After seven years of work, Higher Ground and Bethel AME Church are delighted to be the recipients of the New York Landmarks Conservancy grant. The grant represents the start of a building restoration project that will reveal the history of the Eato House, and the life of two remarkable people, Mary Baker-Eato and Rev. David Eato.”

In 2017, the Eato House was added to the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities List of Endangered Historic Places. Bethel AME historian, Carlton “Hub” Edwards, said in a previous interview with TBR News Media, the house was once home to the Rev. David Eato, one of the church’s first pastors, and his wife Mary Baker, a freed slave. Baker moved to the North after being freed from slavery and settled in Port Washington where she was an organist at a church. It was there that she met Eato and, after marrying, the couple moved to Setauket, and the reverend became one of the first ministers of Setauket’s Bethel AME in the early 1900s. Mary took on the role of superintendent of the Sunday school and held the position until the late 1930s. Edwards said the members of the Eato family owned the house until the church purchased it a few years ago.

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