Above, the royal court of the 2018 Miller Place-Rocky Point St. Patrick’s Day Parade, from left, Queen Jordan McClintock, Lady Miranda Navas and Lady Melanie Weidman
Andrew J. Streeff is this year’s Grand Marshal
The communities of Miller Place and Rocky Point, along with the neighboring hamlets of Brookhaven’s North Shore, are gearing up for an annual rite of spring. The Friends of St. Patrick’s 68th annual Miller Place-Rocky Point St. Patrick’s Day Parade will take place on Sunday, March 11. The event will kick off at the comer of Harrison Avenue in Miller Place at 1 p.m. sharp and will proceed east along Route 25A before ending at the comer of Route 25A and Broadway in downtown Rocky Point. Route 25A will be closed to traffic at noon to prepare for the event.
The committe has named longtime committee member and co-owner and chef of the Hartlin Inn in Sound Beach Andrew J. Streeff as this year’s grand marshal.
In keeping with the tradition of recognizing aspiring young women in the community,the title of parade queen has been bestowed upon Jordon McClintock of Wading River. McClintock is a senior at Shoreham-Wading River High School and is an aspiring physician. The queen will be graciously escorted at the parade by her ladies-in-waiting Miranda Navas, a senior at Rocky Point High School, and Melanie Weidman, a self-employed model and dancer from Sound Beach.
This year’s parade will feature veteran and community groups and organizations, along with elected officials from all areas of our government. Of course, no parade would be complete without the presence of local fire departments, high school bands, Irish dancing, Scout troops and many colorful floats. Be sure to come down to cheer your favorite on! There is something on this special day for everyone, as this local parade reaches historic proportions by carrying on a 68-year community tradition.
For further information regarding parade updates, please visit www.friendsofsaintpatrick.org.
A bunch of us were hanging around waiting for the meeting to start. Sally was going through wads of tissues and cough drops and looked and sounded miserable. “Why didn’t I just stay home?” she whined. “What you need, Honey, is some nice homemade Jewish penicillin aka chicken soup,” I declared. Keiko shook her head. “No. No. Must drink broth with ginger and cabbage. Very good for chest and throat,” she countered.
When I came home, I got to thinking about these remedies and checked them out on the internet. As it happens, many doctors endorse chicken soup for its ability to open up sinus passages and fight inflammation. Does it actually have to be made by a Jewish grandmother? No medical evidence for that, but I think so because I am one!
And sure enough, I found reasonable evidence of the values of ginger and cabbage. The ginger with its spiciness helps unclog nasal passages, fights inflammation and soothes sore throats; and cabbage, loaded with vitamin C, antioxidants and sulfur is a good anti-inflammatory. Now I’m not saying these are foolproof or will cure you. But hey, I don’t think they can make you any worse and maybe they really can make you feel better.
Chicken Soup
Chicken Soup
YIELD: Makes 8 to 10 servings
INGREDIENTS:
One 5-pound roasting chicken
1 large onion, peeled
2 celery ribs, with leaves
8 to 10 carrots, peeled and cut into thirds
1 handful parsley
Salt and freshly ground white pepper, to taste
Chicken bouillon cubes, to taste (optional)
DIRECTIONS: Place all ingredients in a large stockpot. Add 8 to 10 cups water and bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, one hour. Remove chicken from pot and peel off white meat; coarsely shred, place in a container, cover and refrigerate. Return remaining chicken and bones to pot and simmer, covered, another hour. In a colander or wire mesh strainer, strain entire contents of pot. Return broth and carrots to pot.
Separate bones, gristle and skin from dark meat and discard; refrigerate or freeze dark meat for another use. Cover and refrigerate broth and carrots; once fat has risen to top and hardened, gently remove it and discard or reserve for another use. When ready to serve soup, ladle a few cups of the cold broth and add the cold chicken breast into a smaller pot. Simmer that and the large pot of broth until barely boiling. Place hot chicken breast pieces, carrots and broth into soup bowl.
Serve immediately with separately cooked noodles, rice or matzo balls.
Ginger Broth with Cabbage
Ginger Broth with Cabbage
YIELD: Makes 6 servings
INGREDIENTS:
8 scallions, green part removed, trimmed and sliced
8 cups chicken broth
1/4 head cabbage, washed and shredded
One 4-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch pieces
4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS: In a large pot combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes; strain and remove all solids except cabbage. Serve hot with rice, soba noodles or shredded chicken.
MEET LOGAN! Logan is a very handsome 2-year-old, domestic long-haired cat who was recently turned in to Kent Animal Shelter. His owners were moving and couldn’t take him with them.
Logan is a very easy going guy and would be an awesome addition to any household. He comes neutered, microchipped and is up to date on all his vaccines. Look how he’s waiting for his next adventure. Could that be with you?
Kent Animal Shelter is located at 2259 River Road in Calverton. The adoption center is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day. For more information on Logan and other adoptable pets at Kent, visit www.kentanimalshelter.com or call 631-727-5731.
Symptoms of a concussion can be as subtle as mild lethargy to as severe as coma.
By Matthew Kearns, DVM
There is so much attention recently on the effect of concussions on the human brain. Starting with the studies run through the NFL, we parents are now looking at the risks and long-term effects of concussions on children that play contact sports. My son Matty is only in the ninth grade and before he can participate in lacrosse this spring, he has to take a test that evaluates his brain function. If, during the season, he sustains a head injury, he will retake the test to see if he did receive any brain injuries that may require he sit out for a while.
We don’t have specific tests for dogs or cats, but there are ways to evaluate your pet for a possible brain injury. Starting the process of evaluating our pets for concussions requires we, as owners, know what the most common causes of brain trauma and injuries are. These include brain injuries from vehicular accidents and all sorts of blunt trauma to the head like getting hit with a baseball or baseball bat/blunt instrument, a fall from a porch or deck, getting kicked by an animal or running into something like a tree or wall. Smaller dogs can get these injuries falling from their owners arms, rough housing with larger dogs or being attacked by larger dogs (where the smaller dog is picked up and shaken).
The initial injury comes from a decrease in the blood flow to the brain secondary to brain edema (swelling) or bleeding. Unfortunately, this increase in pressure leads to a secondary increase in arterial blood flow/pressure to the brain and decreased venous blood drainage. This combination of initial swelling after trauma and the body’s response to the increased pressure is what leads to cell death and long-term effects.
Symptoms can be as subtle as mild lethargy to as severe as coma. More subtle symptoms are squinting, reluctance to move, decreased appetite and sleeping more. Your veterinarian may be able to pick up additional symptoms related to pupil size, reactions to stimuli (light, sound), systemic blood pressure, heart rate and temperature.
Depending on the severity of the symptoms, either your veterinarian or an emergency veterinarian can also give you an idea of prognosis of recovery and possible long-term complications.
Head injuries need to be seen immediately. If your pet is very lethargic or comatose, make sure to be careful moving your pet. Also try to keep your pet’s head above the rest of its body to improve drainage. More severe cases of head trauma require hospitalization, intravenous fluid therapy, supplemental oxygen and medications to regulate blood pressure and reduce intracranial edema.
In conclusion, if a head injury occurs, please monitor your pet closely or, better yet, have it evaluated by your veterinarian ASAP.
Dr. Kearns practices veterinary medicine from his Port Jefferson office and is pictured with his son Matthew and his dog Jasmine.
A 2013 study found that when taken together, iron and calcium supplements increase the risk of developing glaucoma. Stock photo
Some supplements may increase risk
Dr. David Dunaief
By David Dunaief, M.D.
Glaucoma is the second-leading cause of blindness in the world, behind cataracts. It is neurodegenerative (deterioration of the optic nerve) with increased intraocular pressure (IOP) — pressure inside the eye — as an indicator that nerve damage is more likely. The most common types of glaucoma are open angle and angle closure. Open-angle glaucoma represents about 90 percent of U.S. cases and is caused by clogging of the eye’s drainage canals over time (1). Because it develops slowly and over time, its symptoms are not always obvious.
Glaucoma initially causes peripheral vision loss and then works its way inward to the central vision. If untreated, it can lead to irreversible blindness (2). The occurrence of this disease is rising, with an estimated three million Americans affected and a predicted level of roughly 3.4 million in the U.S. by 2020.
Fortunately, there are treatments. Some revolve around reducing fluid production in the eye, such as beta blockers and carbonic anhydrase inhibitors. Others work to increase fluid drainage, such as cholinergics and prostaglandin analogs. Still others do both (1). None of these treatments reverse lost vision or damage. They only slow or halt its progression to preserve your remaining sight. Therefore, prevention and early detection are crucial.
Glaucoma risk factors include age — starting at 40, although those over 65 have higher risk and those over 80 have the highest risk —and race, with African-Americans at a five-times higher risk than those of European ancestry. In the Baltimore Eye Survey, a family history of the disease dramatically increased risk, with siblings having greater probability than offspring of developing the disease (3). Other risk factors include steroid use, including asthma inhalers, eye injury, nearsightedness and hypertension. Finally, the higher the IOP, the greater the risk for progression in open-angle glaucoma (4).
Effect of increased visual field testing
In the Advanced Glaucoma Intervention Study, it was found that visual field testing by an ophthalmologist every six months for patients at higher risk was better at predicting disease progression than annual testing (5). The result was that, with more frequent testing, the researchers were 50 percent more likely to detect progression of the disease, if it were to occur.
Interestingly, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force currently does not recommend screening for open-angle glaucoma, since it feels there is insufficient evidence (6). The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends screening every two to four years starting at age 40, with increased frequency of every one to three years starting at age 55 and every one to two years for those 65 and older. More frequent screening is recommended for those who have more risk factors (7).
Preventative steps
There are several steps that may be valuable, including reducing chronic diseases associated with glaucoma such as type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s and erectile dysfunction. If we reduce their incidence, there may also be a reciprocal decline in glaucoma. In addition, avoiding or reducing supplementation with iron and calcium, while potentially increasing magnesium, may decrease incidence of the disease.
Diabetes and high blood pressure
In an analysis of two studies, diabetes increased the risk of open-angle glaucoma by greater than 200 percent (8). In the same analysis, however, systemic hypertension (high blood pressure) increased the risk by a meager 7 percent. This is yet another reason we need to control or prevent diabetes to preserve eye health, aside from diabetic retinopathy (disease of the back of the eye).
Erectile dysfunction association
Those with erectile dysfunction (ED) had an almost threefold increased risk of also having open-angle glaucoma, compared to those without the disorder (9). There may be vascular symptoms associated with open-angle glaucoma as demonstrated by the increased association with ED. The study suggests that the mechanism of action that both disorders have in common is endothelial dysfunction (inner lining of the blood vessels), which involves a decreased level of nitric oxide, a potent vasodilator, which enables the vessels to expand and relax. ED was also associated with high cholesterol and blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. It is not unusual to find that many diseases have a common underlying pathology.
Supplements
A 2013 study found that supplementation with calcium and iron, looked at separately, increases risk of normal-tension glaucoma (NTG), glaucoma without increased pressure (10). The calcium and iron came from a variety of sources, including antacids, multivitamins and prescription and nonprescription supplements. Roughly one-third of glaucoma patients have NTG (11). Among Japanese patients, a study found that this number increases to two-thirds (12).
The supplementation study results showed that participants who took a composite of 800 mg daily of calcium were at an almost 2.5-times increased risk. Those who took 18 mg of iron on a daily basis were at an even higher risk, 3.8 times, of developing the disease. When taken together, iron and calcium increased risk by a resounding 7.2-fold. Interestingly, dietary sources of iron and calcium were associated with lower odds of glaucoma.
The good news is that a dose of 300 mg of magnesium citrate in patients with NTG showed a benefit in visual field over one month, compared to those who did not take magnesium (13). Although this was a randomized-controlled trial, it was also very small with only 30 patients.
While there are risk factors — such as family history, age and ethnicity — that can’t be changed, there are a number of modifiable factors as well. Glaucoma may be brought on by factors that are related to those causing systemic diseases. Therefore, it’s important to maintain good health overall to reduce the risk for glaucoma and its effects.
Dr. Dunaief is a speaker, author and local lifestyle medicine physician focusing on the integration of medicine, nutrition, fitness and stress management. For further information, visit www.medicalcompassmd.com or consult your personal physician.
Anil Yazici, center, with Eren Ozguven, right, and Ayberk Kocatepe, left, who worked in Ozguven’s lab as a doctoral student, at a conference in Florida last year.Photo from Anil Yazici
By Daniel Dunaief
Anil Yazici wants to help the elderly population with transportation, public safety and emergency services and housing.
An assistant professor in civil engineering at Stony Brook University, Yazici is organizing a series of meetings to address the needs of the elderly. He is recruiting a host of speakers from around the world and is inviting the public to listen and participate in roundtable discussions for a two-day event at the Hilton Garden Inn at Stony Brook as a part of a Research Coordination Network.
The workshop schedule with a list of speakers will be available around mid-March. Those interested in attending can visit the website https://you.stonybrook/edu/agingpopulationrcn/events/rcn-workshops/.
Yazici received a $499,999 four-year grant from the National Science Foundation last fall to develop a way to study the connection between smart and connected communities and areas with varying resources and population densities. The group will host workshops at the University of Michigan and at Florida State University.
Anil Yazici, right, with Harold Walker, left, a professor and chair in the Department of Civil Engineering and Laura Coronel, center, a member of the class of 2017.Photo by Erin Giuliano
The goal is to maintain mobility and access to services for the aging population. “Our focus is to involve aging populations within smart and connected communities … which generally employ technology to address mobility and access,” he explained in an email.
Yazici would like to get the government, communities and researchers to work together to address these issues. Groups involved in the effort will produce white papers, which can provide a proposal to help governments and community organizations plan various services.
Jacqueline Mondros, the dean of SBU’s School of Social Welfare and assistant vice president for Social Determinants of Health, described housing and transportation as “two of the most problematic issues of older adults, particularly in suburbia and rural areas.”
Mondros, who will be giving one of the talks in April, hopes the tech sector and engineering dedicate more attention to this area. She believes this effort will provide a greater understanding of the kind of connectedness that will help seniors and their caregivers. She also hopes the initiative helps people learn “about the intersection between connectivity and technology and social intervention.”
The funding for this effort is designed to create networks and develop ideas. Further work to develop projects, however, would require additional financial support.
Developing a broad plan in an area such as transportation will require flexible and location-specific solutions. Indeed, Long Island reflects such varying dynamics. Areas in or closer to the city have higher population density and a deeper transportation infrastructure, with subways, buses and trains offering transportation throughout the area. Further out east, however, the population density drops considerably, limiting such options.
“Once you don’t drive” when you’re in suburbia “it’s almost impossible to get around and go where you need to go,” Mondros said. People end up in “social isolation [which] clearly creates poor health outcomes and depression.”
Presenters will include people with expertise from Europe and Australia who can bring the solutions they have developed through smart and connected communities. Some locations have developed a system to help the aging population with routine transportation.
Anil Yazici after he went spearfishing for Mediterranean parrotfish in Turkey.Photo by Meliha Yazici
In one community, Yazici learned about a personal network in which people call each other to provide rides for regular travel, like weekly doctor or hospital visits. The network, which was organized through a church, involved calls to find rides through church members.
Eren Ozguven, who met Yazici in high school in Turkey and is a collaborator on the project, plans to do a presentation at Stony Brook on the challenges the aging population faces during hurricanes.
That includes a look at “how the technology usage is shaping this and how [to] provide better accessibility and safety during evacuations and sheltering,” Ozguven, who is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at FAMU-FSU College of Engineering in Tallahasse, Florida, explained in an email. “We are hoping to have very fruitful brainstorming sessions with practitioners, researchers, students and the public.”
More broadly, Yazici’s work is focused on the resilience of various civil engineering systems, such as transportation.
Organizational networks require contact among all the various infrastructure agencies, he said. They need to keep in contact and make decisions through context. He is working on a way to measure resiliency, so that when storms break communication links and disrupt power grids, the agencies in charge of those systems can restore them to previous levels.
He would like to see how to make an agency’s response to a disruption more efficient. Resilience can be improved through developing sound models for a physical infrastructure response.
A resident of Harlem where he lived during his postdoctoral training, Yazici has had to create his own system to ensure a successful commute. He leaves early, before much of the reverse commuting traffic builds, and returns home late. Yazici, who has been at Stony Brook since the fall of 2014, said he appreciates the opportunity to contribute to a new and growing department.
Yazici moved eight times when he was younger, as the family followed his father Mesut, who was also a civil engineer, from projects including water treatment plants to industrial waste processing. His father tried to dissuade him from following in his footsteps. His academic position, however, doesn’t require Yazici to follow projects from one place to another.
Starting in his first year in college, Yazici played bass in a band. He performed mostly ’70s Turkish progressive rock. He enjoys making music and plans to start an ensemble with his students to have a live music event after graduation.
As for his work, Yazici appreciates the opportunity to study areas that cross disciplines and that help people. “What drives me and most of the academics I know is to make a difference in people’s lives,” he explained in an email. “This could be through teaching and seeing students evolve personally and professionally or researching a topic to solve a problem and improve someone’s life.”
The University Orchestra at Stony Brook University is preparing to take audience members on a one-hour musical adventure. The ensemble will present its annual family orchestra concert, Adventures in Orchestral Music, at the Staller Center for the Arts on March 6.
Conductor Susan Deaver said the orchestra is planning a night filled with concertos from a variety of composers from all over the world such as America, Russia, Germany, England and Argentina. The list of songs include Mikhail Glinka’s overture to “Ruslan and Lyudmila,” Aaron Copland’s “Hoe-Down” from “Rodeo,” Morton Stevens’ “Hawaii Five-O” and John Williams’ “Star Wars Epic, Part II.” “They all sound different from one another, so it’s kind of different palettes of orchestral color,” Deaver said.
The conductor said the 70-piece orchestra consists of strings, brass, woodwind and percussion sections. While most of the musicians are college undergraduates, three are high school students who are part of the Stony Brook Young Artists Program. There are also a few graduate students who are nonmusic majors and five teaching assistants. The students’ majors range from music to biology, math and biochemistry. “The common thread is that they’ve all seriously studied music at some point,” Deaver said.
The night will feature a solo by 16-year-old violinist Mariana Knaupp, the winner of the 2017 Stony Brook Young Artists Program Concerto Competition. Mariana will perform the first movement of Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto in G Minor, the piece she played for the competition, with the orchestra. “She sounded great, and she had a lot of poise as a performer; she played really, really well,” Deaver said. “We have a competition, and they’re all playing really well, but there’s something that usually points to one person.”
Mariana, who lives in Huntington and is homeschooled, has studied violin for 11 years with Thalia Greenhalgh and is part of the Stony Brook University Young Artists Program. The violinist is a member of the string ensemble Metrognomes, which performs a few times a year at nursing homes, sports venues and holds benefit concerts for disaster victims. For seven years, she also has been a part of the Gemini Youth Orchestra and has played at Symphony Space and Lincoln Center. She said she’s excited about her first time playing with a full orchestra and was surprised when she won the competition.
“I didn’t really expect to win because there were a lot of really good players involved,” Mariana said in a recent phone interview. “It was a really nice surprise that I won, and I’m very excited to actually play with an orchestra because I’ve wanted to for several years now.”
Mariana said when her violin teacher asked her what she wanted to play for the competition, she knew she wanted a romantic concerto. She has been playing her chosen piece for a year now and said it’s a beautiful concerto that she’s looking forward to sharing with the family concert audience.
“I would just like to be able to play the concerto as the composer intended it and just convey what he would have wanted in a performance,” Mariana said. The violinist has enjoyed rehearsals with the orchestra and said when she attends college she hopes to major in math, English or neuroscience. She plans on taking music classes as electives and playing with a university orchestra.
Like past family concerts, Deaver said the orchestra members will interact with the audience, talking with them about the different instruments and music. The musicians also have some surprises in store for attendees. “Myself and the orchestra, I think we are always energized by the audience because we’re interacting with them more, and it kind of breaks down any barriers that you might have,” Deaver said. “They’re really part of the concert almost, the audience since we’re interacting with them, I think we all feel really energized from it.”
The University Orchestra at Stony Brook University presents Adventures in Orchestral Music on March 6 at the Staller Center for the Arts, 100 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook at 7:30 p.m.. All tickets are $5. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 631-632-ARTS (2787) or visit www.stonybrook.edu.music.
Thirty-five years after it first stunned audiences and critics with its unprecedented visions and mythic storytelling, Jim Henson’s 1982 epic fantasy-adventure “The Dark Crystal,” co-directed by Henson and Frank Oz, will return to big screens nationwide in a special presentation from Fathom Events, The Jim Henson Company and Universal Pictures.
Newly restored in 4K “The Dark Crystal” is a visually spectacular tale of a young hero who must find a legendary relic in order restore harmony to the universe. A watershed in fantasy filmmaking produced by Gary Kurtz (“Star Wars, A New Hope,” “The Empire Strikes Back”), “The Dark Crystal” will play in select theaters on Saturday, March 3 and Tuesday, March 6.
The event will feature a brand-new introduction with Lisa Henson, CEO and president of The Jim Henson Company, who will reflect on the making of the one-of-a-kind film and the legacy of her father, Jim.
Gelflings Jen and Kira in a scene from ‘The Dark Crystal’ Photo courtesy of Fathom Events
The ambitious story of “The Dark Crystal” takes place in the world of Thra, which has been torn asunder by a fracture in a great magic crystal, causing two races to be created: the tranquil Mystics, or urRu, and the evil Skeksis, who all but destroyed Thra’s native species, the Gelflings. Now, the Mystics have summoned Jen, one of the last surviving Gelflings, to find the lost piece of the crystal. The quest sends him on an unbelievable adventure that can restore harmony and peace to Thra.
“The Dark Crystal” features performances by Jim Henson as the Gelfling Jen (voice of Stephen Garlick), Kathryn Mullen as the Gelfling Kira (voice of Lisa Maxwell), Frank Oz as the astronomer Aughra (voice of Billie Whitelaw) and Dave Goelz as Fizzgig (voice of Percy Edwards), with Henson, Oz and Goelz also performing as the Skeksis. Kiran Shah also performs the body of Jen, Kira and Aughra. With a screenplay by Dave Odell (“The Muppet Show”), “The Dark Crystal” also features a majestic score by Trevor Jones (“Excalibur,” “Labyrinth”).
“Jim Henson created a truly one-of-a-kind experience with ‘The Dark Crystal,’ one that is rarely seen on the big screen,” said Tom Lucas, Fathom Events vice president of studio relations. “Fathom Events could not be more excited about the privilege of working with The Jim Henson Company and Universal Pictures to give movie lovers the chance to see the visual splendor of ‘The Dark Crystal’ in movie theaters.”
The participating movie theater in our neck of the woods will be AMC Loews Stony Brook 17, 2196 Nesconset Highway, Stony Brook at 2 p.m. on March 3 and at 2 and 7 p.m. on March 6. To purchase your ticket in advance, visit www.fathomevents.com
From left, MPMS Historical Society members Nancy and Dick Pav, picture framer Eric Grotz, photographer Michael Eamotte, Leg. Sarah Anker, MPMS Historical Society Treasurer Gerard Mannarino and MPMS Historical Society members Margaret Cibulka and Antoinette Donato
HONORING HISTORY On Saturday, Feb. 10, Legislator Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai) attended the Miller Place-Mount Sinai Historical Society’s gallery opening at the historic Daniel Hawkins House in Miller Place. The reception included wine and cheese and a display of beautiful photographs portraying local sites by artist Michael Eamotte, of Michael Ray Images, encased in frames donated by Rustic Frames by E.G.
“Thank you to the members of the Miller Place-Mount Sinai Historical Society for their hard work and dedication to preserving out local history,” said Anker. “The photo gallery reception was an amazing opportunity to visit the Hawkins House, and to see photographs from a local artist who cares about the rich history of our community. I encourage everyone to visit this historic site and to support the historical society’s preservation efforts,” she said.
The goal of the Miller Place-Mount Sinai Historical Society is to ensure that historic landmarks are remembered and preserved for future generations. Help preserve history by volunteering or making a donation to this important organization. All monetary donations will help the society renovate the historic Hawkins House and Miller House. For more information about the society and its upcoming events, please visit www.mpmshistoricalsociety.org.
From left, Swiper and Dora. Photo courtesy of Kent Animal Shelter
MEET SWIPER! What kind of a name is Swiper for a sweet and loving cat like me? I’m a handsome 2-year-old black-and-white cat and I promise the only thing I will swipe is your heart! That’s me on the left. I’m here with my sister Dora, and we would just love to have a home where we can stay together. We are both spayed/neutered, microchipped and up to date on all our vaccines. Why not drop by and say hello? We’ll be waiting. Kent Animal Shelter is located at 2259 River Road in Calverton. For more information on Swiper, Dora and other adoptable pets at Kent, visit www.kentanimalshelter.com or call 631-727-5731.
There is so much attention recently on the effect of concussions on the human brain. Starting with the studies run through the NFL, we parents are now looking at the risks and long-term effects of concussions on children that play contact sports. My son Matty is only in the ninth grade and before he can participate in lacrosse this spring, he has to take a test that evaluates his brain function. If, during the season, he sustains a head injury, he will retake the test to see if he did receive any brain injuries that may require he sit out for a while. 
The night will feature a solo by 16-year-old violinist Mariana Knaupp, the winner of the 2017 Stony Brook Young Artists Program Concerto Competition. Mariana will perform the first movement of Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto in G Minor, the piece she played for the competition, with the orchestra. “She sounded great, and she had a lot of poise as a performer; she played really, really well,” Deaver said. “We have a competition, and they’re all playing really well, but there’s something that usually points to one person.”
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