GIVING BACK: Sachem Public Library, 150 Holbrook Road, Holbrook will host a Volunteer Fair on Saturday, March 31 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Over 20 organizations will be in attendance including:
All About Pets Rescue
Alzheimer’s Caregiver Support Initiative at Parker Jewish Institute
Art Without Walls
Bideawee
Canine Companions for Independence
Cradle of Aviation Museum
EAC Chance to Advance
Family and Children’s Association
Family Service League Long Term Care Ombudsman Program
Federation of Organizations/ Senior Companion Program
Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society
Friends of Sachem Library
Girl Scouts of Suffolk County
Great Strides LI
Holtsville Fire Department
Kids Need More
Literacy Suffolk, Inc.
Long Island Maritime Museum
Mercy Haven Inc.
New York Blood Center
Parker Jewish Institute
Rebuilding Together Long Island
Retired Senior Volunteer Program – RSVP Suffolk
Ronkonkoma Fire Department
Sachem Community Youth Services
Save-A-Pet Animal Rescue
SeniorNet at FSL, L.I.
… and more.
There is a volunteer opportunity for every type of interest. Adults and older teens welcome to attend this free event. No registration required. Call 631-588-5024 for more information.
The Ammerman campus of Suffolk County Community College, 533 College Road, Selden will hold its 30th annual Health Fair in the Babylon Student Center on Wednesday, April 4, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Visit the many SCCC resource tables including Nursing, Paramedic/EMT and Dietetic Technician, along with more than 30 vendors offering free healthy snacks, raffles, giveaways, Reiki, massages, health screenings including: carbon monoxide, body fat to muscle ratio, cholesterol, blood pressure and STD and HIV testing, and much more. Open to the public. Free admission. Questions? Call 451-4047.
Anthony Frasca of Old Field recently snapped this photo of a well-camouflauged great horned owl, one of a nesting pair, in his backyard using a Nikon D40 with a Nikon telephoto lens. He writes, ‘The owls have a nest in a pine tree in my backyard and I frequently see one or the other flying off at dusk to hunt.’
The last decade has taken a toll on Suffolk County’s economy. Stock photo
By Peggy Olness
Note: This article builds on the information contained in the TBR newspapers on March 2. www.tbrnewsmedia.com/making-democracy-work-suffolk-county-government-revenue/.
The $3.06 billion 2018 Suffolk County Adopted Operating Budget is an action plan to fund the county to provide services for its 1.5 million residents and to detail how revenue will be spent by the various departments and agencies during the fiscal year.
The County Executive’s Recommended Operating Budget is submitted to the Suffolk County Legislature whose Budget Review Office (BRO) reviews the budget to ensure that the projections for revenues and expenses are reasonable.MIt is the BRO’s job to look for possible problems and help develop a budget that the Legislature can adopt. Given the possibility of unforeseen events, the county government (the executive and Legislature) has over the years built up reserve funds to handle unexpected events that impact revenues such as the Great Recession of 2008-09 or impact expenses such as major hurricanes or nor’easters. Unfortunately, these funds do not completely cover major disruptions.
The last decade has taken its toll on the county’s economy. Since the Great Recession, the county sales tax revenue has not recovered enough to cover its previous percentage share of the county’s operating expenses, and current sales tax projections do not indicate a sufficient increase in future years to reach that percentage share of the county’s revenue total.
The annual property tax increase is restricted to a 2 percent maximum for some of the factors used in the complex calculation of the total property tax. However, the actual calculation brings the total property tax to slightly more than 3 percent above the previous year countywide.
During this last decade, county government has made a number of changes to cut costs. The county now contributes reduced funding to the nine health centers through community benefit grants, most of which will expire within two or three years, and the county nursing home has been closed and the building sold for less than expected.
The county executive’s recommended budgets for the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years eliminated the Public Health Nursing Program (budget cost less than $1 million). This would negatively impact prenatal and postpartum care services as well as Child Protective Services to Suffolk County residents in need. There are no other certified home health agencies in Suffolk County qualified to provide such services to high-risk mothers and children.
The Health Education and Tobacco Control Program (budget cost about $50,000) was also recommended for elimination. That would impact the tobacco cessation and education courses, sexually transmitted disease prevention programs, anti-bullying programs, diabetes prevention programs and reduces the support for 3,000 teachers trained in the HealthSmart curriculum.
There is concern that while cutting further programs saves money, the negative impact on a large number of residents’ health and welfare is not worth the savings. Both the Public Health Nursing program and the Health Education and Tobacco Control Program have been put back into the budget by the Legislature each year. Removing these programs would also lose approximately $400,000 in New York State Public Health Aid to Municipalities.
In the past decade our county government has used short-term borrowing to close the budget gap, expecting that the sales tax and property tax would rebound with enough surplus to cover the loans. This has not happened; since 2014, the county has borrowed $166.3 million and in 2018 the county must begin paying back this loan.
The search for additional revenue has led the county to impose other forms of “taxation” in the form of fees and charges; the county has increased the motor vehicle surcharge, and the tax map certification fee, and in 2017 a new mortgage administrative tax was added.
Suffolk County is facing a serious financial problem. Make your voice heard by doing research and educating yourself further, talking to your Suffolk County elected officials, and thinking deeply about the balance between community needs and community willingness to pay.
Peggy Olness is a board member of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. For more information, visit www.lwv-suffolkcounty.org, email [email protected] or call 631-862-6860.
Season allergies are triggered by pollen from trees, grass and weeds. Stock photo
By David Dunaief, M.D.
Dr. David Dunaief
After winter ends, we look forward to mild temperatures. The days get longer, trees and flowers bud and bloom, and grass becomes lush and green. It seems like heaven. But for people who suffer from seasonal allergic rhinitis, hay fever, seasonal allergies or whatever you would like to call it, life can be downright miserable. You probably can rate an allergy season with your own built-in personal barometer, the sneeze factor. How many times are you, your friends or your colleagues sneezing?
Approximately 20 million U.S. adults have had a diagnosis of seasonal allergies within the past year, just a little over 8 percent of the population, and an additional 6.1 million children have this disorder, or about 8.4 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1). Sadly, considering the number of people it affects, only a paltry amount of research has been published.
The triggers for seasonal allergies are diverse. They include pollen from leafy trees and shrubs, lush grass and beautiful flowering plants, as well as weeds, with the majority from ragweed (mostly in the fall) and fungus (summer and fall) (2).
What sparks allergies within the body? A chain reaction occurs in seasonal allergy sufferers. When foreign substances such as allergens (pollen, in this case) interact with immunoglobulin E (IgE), antibodies that are part of our immune system, it causes mast cells in the body’s tissues to degrade and release inflammatory mediators. These include histamines, leukotrienes and eosinophils in those who are susceptible. In other words, it is an allergic inflammatory response.
The revved up immune system then responds with sneezing; red, itchy and watery eyes; scratchy throat; congestion; sinus headaches; postnasal drip; runny nose; diminished taste and smell; and even coughing (3). Basically, it emulates a cold, but without the virus. If symptoms last more than 10 days and are recurrent, then it is more than likely you have allergies.
Risk factors for seasonal allergies are tied most strongly to family history and to having other personal allergies, such as eczema or food allergies, but also may include cigarette exposure, being male and, possibly, diet (4). If allergic rhinitis is not properly treated, complications such as ear infections, sinusitis, irritated throat, insomnia, chronic fatigue, headaches and even asthma can result (5).
To treat allergic rhinitis, we have a host of medications from classes including intranasal glucocorticoids (steroids), oral antihistamines, allergy shots, decongestants, antihistamine and decongestant eye drops and leukotriene modifiers (second-line only).
The best way to treat allergy attacks is to prevent them, but this is an arduous process that can mean closing yourself out from the enjoyment of spring by literally closing the windows, using the air-conditioning, and using recycling vents in your car.
The guidelines for treating seasonal allergic rhinitis with medications suggest that intranasal corticosteroids (steroids) should be used when quality of life is affected. If there is itchiness and sneezing, then second-generation oral antihistamines may be appropriate (6). Two well-known inhaled steroids that do not require a prescription are Nasocort (triamcinolone) and Flonase (fluticasone propionate). There does not seem to be a significant difference between them (7). While inhaled steroids are probably most effective in treating and preventing symptoms, they need to be used every day and are not without side effects.
Oral antihistamines, on the other hand, can be taken on an as-needed basis. Second-generation antihistamines include loratadine (Claritin), cetirizine (Zyrtec) and fexofenadine (Allegra), and they have less sleepiness as a side effect than first-generation antihistamines.
Surprisingly good news
Seasonal allergic rhinitis may actually be beneficial for longevity. In a study involving more than 200,000 participants, results showed that those who had allergies had a 25 percent reduction in the risk of heart attacks, a 19 percent reduction in strokes, and a whopping 49 percent reduction in mortality (8). Remember two things: this is an observational trial, which means that it is not the best of trials, and don’t wish allergies on yourself. This effect may be at least partially attributable to the type of white blood cell expressed in the immune system.
In other words, type 2 T helper (Th2) lymphocytes (white blood cells) are elevated with allergies instead of type 1 T helper (Th1) lymphocytes. Why is this important? Th2 is known to decrease cardiovascular disease, while Th1 is known to possibly increase cardiovascular disease. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about asthma, where cardiovascular events are increased by 36 percent.
Alternative treatments
Butterbur (Petasites hybridus), an herb, may not be just for migraines. There are several small studies that indicate its efficacy in treating hay fever. In fact, in one study, results showed that butterbur was as effective as cetirizine (Zyrtec) in treating this disorder (9). This was a small, randomized, controlled trial involving 131 patients.
In another randomized, controlled trial, results showed that high doses of butterbur — 1 tablet given three times a day — was significantly more effective than placebo (10). The side effects were similar in the placebo group and the butterbur group. The researchers used butterbur Ze339 (carbon dioxide extract from the leaves of Petasites hybridus L., 8 mg petasines per tablet) in the trial. The authors concluded that butterbur would be potentially useful for intermittent allergic rhinitis. The duration of treatment for this study was two weeks.
Still another study, this one a post-marketing study done as a follow-up to the previous study, showed that with butterbur Ze339, symptoms improved in 90 percent of patients with allergic rhinitis (11). Interestingly, anti-allergic medications were co-administered in about half of the patient population, with no additional benefit over butterbur alone. There were 580 patients in this study, and the duration was two weeks. Gastrointestinal upset occurred as the most common side effect in 3.8 percent of the population.
The caveats to the use of butterbur are several. First, the studies were short in duration. Second, the leaf extract used in these studies was free of pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs); this is very important since PAs may not be safe. Third, the dose was well-measured, which may not be the case with over-the-counter extracts. Fourth, you need to ask about interactions with your prescription medications.
Diet
While there are no significant studies on diet, there is one review of literature that suggests that a plant-based diet may reduce symptoms of allergies, specifically rhinoconjunctivitis, affecting the nose and eyes, as well as eczema and asthma. This is according to the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood study in 13- to 14-year-old teens (12). In my clinical practice, I have seen patients who suffer from seasonal allergies improve and even reverse the course of allergies over time with a vegetable-rich, plant-based diet, possibly due to an anti-inflammatory effect.
While allergies can be miserable, there are a significant number of over-the-counter and prescription options to help to reduce symptoms. Diet may play a role in the disease process by reducing inflammation, though there are no formal studies. There does seem to be promise with some herbs, especially butterbur. However, alternative supplements and herbs lack large, randomized clinical trials with long durations. Always consult your doctor before starting any supplements, herbs or over-the-counter medications.
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.
Cynthia Baxter, one of our most prolific and delightful cozy mystery writers, has outdone herself with her most recent offering, a delicious confection titled “Murder with a Cherry On Top.”
Cynthia Baxter
As a longtime fan of Baxter’s work, I have read many of her books, most notably ones in the Reigning Cats & Dogs series (“Dead Canaries Don’t Sing,” “Hare Today, Dead Tomorrow,” “Who’s Kitten Who?” and “Murder Had a Little Lamb”), Murder Packs a Suitcase series (“Murder Packs a Suitcase”), as well as “Temptation,” a fascinating and wicked stand-alone novel (written as Cynthia Blair). They are all truly entertaining works, with fun and engaging heroines who are smart, independent and wholly original.
In her latest outing, “Murder with a Cherry On Top,” the Three Village resident sets us down in the fictional Wolfert’s Roost, a small town nestled in the Hudson Valley. Here, the central character, 33-year-old Kate McCay, has come back to her hometown. Prior to this, Kate had been a public relations director at a large New York City firm. Returning to take care of her beloved grandmother, she has embarked on a new venture, namely being proprietress of the Lickety Splits Ice Cream Shoppe:
“After all, there are some things only ice cream can fix.”
Her love for the dessert is rooted in her childhood. She has memories of her father taking her for her third and fourth birthdays for ice cream. By her fifth, he had passed away. When she is 10, her mother dies, leaving Kate and her sisters to live with their loving grandmother:
“Then Mom passed away the summer I turned ten. Grams suddenly found herself playing the role of mother. She knew how devastated my sisters and I were, and to help us all cope with our confusion, our anger, and our intense feelings of loneliness, she did her best to keep our lives as much the same as they had been before. A big part of that was to keep our family ice cream addiction going, since it was one of the easiest and most obvious ways of linking us to the past and moving ahead with our lives.”
In Kate’s world, ice cream is deeply connected to love and caring and she brings this to her new found vocation. She delights in the work, creating the traditional flavors along with signature choices such as Peanut on the Playground (laced with jelly), Honey Lavender and Avocado and Carrot Cake. (The detours describing her frozen sweets add to the fun.)
After being open only a week, her childhood nemesis and unreformed mean girl, bakery owner Ashley Winthrop, announces that her store, Sweet Things, will begin carrying ice cream. As the bakery is directly across from the ice cream parlor, this drives Kate into a public confrontation with Ashley. Soon after, Ashley is discovered murdered and the police see Kate as a possible suspect.
Kate embarks on her own investigation, which has some wonderful twists and turns, building up to a genuinely surprising but nonetheless believable climax. At its height, the mystery becomes something deeper and eventually much more complex.
An element of the book that is particularly effective is that Kate actually uses her business to solve the crime. Unlike in many mysteries where the characters seem to have insights they couldn’t possibly have, here there is logic to her approach. She utilizes her occupation to provide her with insight as well as opportunity. She cleverly uses the collective love of ice cream as a means to certain ends. And, even as she is pursuing leads, she still is thinking about the growth of her new undertaking.
In a light-hearted way, Baxter addresses the issue of not just the difficulty in returning home but also the joys — rare in literature, which tends to fixate on dysfunction. Kate is genuinely glad to be back and wholly embraces the chapter ahead of her. She finds satisfaction in her work, a passion and a drive that help her reacclimate to Wolfert’s Roost.
The fact is Baxter is a strong writer. Throughout, she is able to articulate the modern struggle to communicate with wit and honesty:
“I wondered how any of us managed to not look bored or lonely or even uncomfortable in public places before we all had cell phones. Maybe that was why books had been invented.”
Baxter nimbly fleshes out characters who are (or at least initially seem to be) transitory. They are whole people, often created in a few crisp sentences. This is ideal in a mystery where there is the need for a parade of suspects and supporting characters.
We get to know Willow, her childhood friend, who works for her when she’s not teaching yoga. Emma, Kate’s in-search-of-herself 18-year-old niece, comes to live with her and assists in the investigation. Ashley’s sleazy ex-husband and her most recent amour, an egotistical chef, both get creative page time. Kate’s love interest, blue-eyed broad-shouldered Jake Pratt, has a past with Kate that becomes pivotal in the present — but the thorny history never bogs down the movement of the narrative. A visit to a harried mother of three is particularly vivid.
Baxter finds variety even in the rather reviled murder victim as certain pieces of her backstory are revealed, transitioning from the “she-had-it-coming” to something far more complicated. The fact that Ashley is running an illegal co-op becomes a fascinating detail in the tapestry of the crime.
All of these pieces, like the exotic sundaes Kate fashions, are rich in texture, color and invention and make for a wholly satisfying read.
Two nice little bonuses: Each chapter is headed with a “fun fact” from the history of ice cream, with sources ranging from Guinness to the International Dairy Foods Association. The appendix shares a few interesting recipes that are referenced in the book.
This first entry into The Lickety Splits Ice Cream Shoppe Mystery series is a great one. Grab yourself a bowl of ice cream, sit down and dig in.
Cynthia Baxter is the author of 54 novels. A Three Village resident for the past 25 years, “Murder with a Cherry On Top” is the first book in her new Lickety Splits Ice Cream Shoppe Mystery series with Kensington Publishing Corp. and is available online at Barnes & Noble and Amazon. Meet Cynthia at the Emma S. Clark Library’s Author Event on May 6 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. and visit her website at www.cynthiabaxter.com.
The flowering plant Amborella trichopoda is the oldest ancestral form of the angiosperms .
By Elof Axel Carlson
Elof Axel Carlson
Flowering plants are familiar to us as bouquets and garden plantings that delight us as they emerge in spring and summer. They are collectively part of the angiosperms, which also include familiar trees with generous-sized leaves that are shed in the fall.
They first appear in the fossil record about 130 million years ago. For those not familiar with how old life on Earth is estimated to be by biologists, that is about 60 million years before the dinosaurs went extinct.
Ferns, mosses and conifer trees (like gingkoes) existed long before the angiosperms. If the angiosperms are arranged in a sequence from oldest to most recent types, the oldest ancestral form of the angiosperms alive today is found in the Pacific Ocean on New Caledonia, an island northeast of Australia and northwest of New Zealand. That flowering plant is known as Amborella trichopoda.
A lot has been learned about the biology and history of Amborella. Its pollen, or ovule, has 13 chromosomes (and thus its leaf, stem and root cells have 26 chromosomes each). The Amborella ancestor gave rise to 250,000 species of flowering plants. About 75 percent of them have seeds with two fleshy modified leaves called cotyledons.
If you eat a fresh green pea from a pod and look at it before you pop it into your mouth, it has two halves, which is why you call it split pea soup when you cook a bag of dried peas.
The flower of the Amborella trichopoda
The DNA of Amborella has been worked out. It has 870 million base pairs. These are organized as 25,347 genes. Shortly before Amborella arose, it had experienced a doubling of its chromosome number. No major changes have occurred in its chromosomes since that event. Its nuclear genes have few inserted repetitive sequences. But, curiously, its mitochondrial DNA has many horizontally transferred genes from algae, mosses and lichens.
The ancestral genome of the angiosperms can be inferred because the major branches of the angiosperms share that core set of genes. This will allow botanists and chemists studying plant evolution to work out the functions of these shared genes as well as the distinctive genes that gave rise to the six major branches of flowering plants.
Quite different is the loblolly pine. It is a gymnosperm rather than angiosperm. They have a much longer history on Earth than the angiosperms. The conifers are the most familiar of the gymnosperms whose seeds are “naked” and enclosed in cones. Imagine the pine cones used in foods and compare them to the peas and beans in your soups.
The loblolly pine can live up to 300 years.
The loblolly pine, or Pinus taeda, is a common pine tree found from Florida to Texas and as far north as New Jersey. The trees can live 300 years and they are a major source of industrial lumber and paper pulp. The name loblolly is from an English idiom for food boiled in pots producing soups, broths or porridges. It has the largest known genome of any living organism, 23.2 billion base pairs (about seven times more than human cells and about 22 times that of Amborella. Unlike Amborella, 82 percent of its DNA is repetitive (formerly called junk DNA) caused by infectious insertions of tiny sequences of DNA. It has 50,172 genes in its pollen, or ovule, genome and they are located in 12 chromosomes per gamete.
One of my six students who got their doctorates with me at UCLA, Ronald Sederoff, pioneered the molecular biology of woody plants using the loblolly pine. He devised a technique to insert genes into woody plants, enabling his laboratory to study how wood is formed and how genes could be studied without waiting many years to study their genetics.
I was very pleased to learn that he was the recipient of the Wallenberg Prize, which is given by the king of Sweden for a contribution to plant biology, a field that is usually overlooked in the Nobel physiology and medicine prize. He attended the ceremony in Stockholm last October.
Elof Axel Carlson is a distinguished teaching professor emeritus in the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Stony Brook University.
The cast of 'The Wizard of Oz'. Photo courtesy of Engeman Theater
Dorothy and friends delight audiences at the Engeman
By Rita J. Egan
The John W. Engeman Theater closes out its 2017-2018 Children’s Theater with a charming version of the cherished children’s tale, “The Wizard of Oz.” The Northport venue debuted the musical on March 24, and Suzie Dunn has done an excellent job directing the eight adult actors down the yellow brick road.
Based on the children’s books by L. Frank Baum, “The Wizard of Oz” tells the story of young Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto. When a tornado sweeps Dorothy away from her home in Kansas and over the rainbow to a magical land, she meets witches, Munchkins and three charming travel companions. While the Engeman’s “Wizard” is an abridged version of the story — no poppies and less of the witch’s monkeys and guards — all the favorite characters and songs from the 1939 MGM Studios motion picture are present.
Danielle Aliotta’s portrayal of Dorothy is as endearing as Judy Garland’s was in the movie, and the actress sings a sweet “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” with strong, clear vocals.
Jacqueline Hughes and Danielle Aliotta in a scene from ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ Photo by Jennifer Tully
Her companions down the yellow brick road are just as delightful. Jacqueline Hughes (Scarecrow), Danny Meglio (Tin Man) and Andrew McCluskey (Cowardly Lion) do fantastic jobs during their respective numbers, “If I Only Had a Brain,” “If I Only Had a Heart” and “If I Only Had the Nerve.” McCluskey’s vocals are also wonderful during his solo “If I Were King of the Forest.”
Maeve Barth-Dwyer has perfected the evil shrill voice of the Wicked Witch, and Antoine Jones plays the Wizard of Oz and the Emerald City doorman with just the right amount of quirkiness. Marielle Greguski is lovely as both Glinda and Auntie Em and sings beautifully with Aliotta on the reprise of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
With no poppies to put Dorothy and friends to sleep, the witch tries to undermine their mission with the help of a tap dancing jitterbug played by Marquez Catherine Stewart, an upbeat number that was cut from the original motion picture to shorten it. While the song and dance routine may not have been fitting for the perilous journey in the movie, it is perfect for a live production for children. Stewart, Aliotta, Hughes, Meglio and McCluskey do a fantastic job with this refreshing number.
Danielle Aliotta, Danny Meglio and Jacqueline Hughes in a scene from ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ Photo by Jennifer Tully
Young audience members at the Sunday show were thrilled to see the actors walk through the aisles while they were on their way to the Emerald City to see the Wizard. Costume designer Jess Costagliola has done a wonderful job replicating the character’s costumes, especially Glinda’s pretty pink gown, and a few of the actors dressed in giant hats with big googly eyes are adorable as the Munchkins.
Sponsored by Bethpage Federal Credit Union, the Engeman’s “The Wizard of Oz” is a special treat for audience members of all ages, and a wonderful tribute to a nearly 80-year-old classic that proves there’s no place like home. Running time is 90 minutes with one 15-minute intermission, booster seats are available and children can meet the cast in the lobby after the show for photos and autographs. (An autograph page is included at the back of the program.)
The John W. Engeman Theater, located at 250 Main St., Northport, presents “The Wizard of Oz” through April 29. Children’s Theater returns for the 2018-2019 season with “Shrek The Musical” from July 28 to Sept. 2 followed by “The Little Mermaid Jr.” from Sept. 22 to Oct. 28, “Frosty” from Nov. 24 to Dec. 30, “Seussical The Musical” from Jan. 26 to March 3, 2018, and ends with “Madagascar: A Musical Adventure” from March 23 to April 28. All seats are $15. For more information, call 631-261-2900 or visit www.engemantheater.com.
A view of Northport Harbor and Estate boathouse from the Vanderbilt Museum’s rose garden. Photo courtesy of Vanderbilt Museum
The Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum, located at 180 Little Neck Road in Centerport, will host its first Gardeners Showcase, “Bringing Back the Gardens,” during the spring and summer of this year. The museum invites local nurseries and garden designers to show off their skills and creativity in one of the gardens that grace the 43-acre waterfront estate, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Spots are available for nine showcases, and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
In return for their effort and contribution, participants will receive:
* Signage that identifies their business at each garden showcase site. This signage will be viewed by the more than 100,000 anticipated Vanderbilt visitors during the spring, summer and fall.
* Recognition on the Vanderbilt website and publicity on its social-media platforms (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).
* Publicity through news releases sent to regional media including Newsday, News12, Patch, and Long Island weekly newspapers.
* A one-year, Associate Membership to the Vanderbilt Museum.
To secure a spot in this year’s Gardeners Showcase, or to obtain more information, please contact Jim Munson, the Vanderbilt Museum’s operations supervisor, at 631-379-2237 or at [email protected].
Attention Long Island students! Can you carry a tune? Or is a musical instrument your specialty? If so, get your audition DVD or YouTube video submitted now for Long Island’s Got Talent 2018, hosted by the Ward Melville Heritage Organization (WMHO). Created by WMHO’s Youth Corps, the event gives Long Island students the opportunity to showcase their talents this spring.
The competition is open to students 10 to 17 years of age in Nassau or Suffolk County who must still be in high school at the time final awards are given in October of this year. Talent must be non-professional vocal or musical instrument performances. The entry deadline is April 6 and there is a $25 entry fee. Those who are contacted after submitting their audition will be asked to perform at the first round competition on Saturday, April 14 at 2 p.m. at WMHO’s Educational & Cultural Center, 97P Main Street in the Stony Brook Village Center. Finalists chosen will also be given the opportunity to perform at WMHO’s Sunday Summer Concerts series in July and August.
For full details and Official Entry Form, call 631-751-2244 or visit www.stonybrookvillage.com/what-to-do-events/.
After being open only a week, her childhood nemesis and unreformed mean girl, bakery owner Ashley Winthrop, announces that her store, Sweet Things, will begin carrying ice cream. As the bakery is directly across from the ice cream parlor, this drives Kate into a public confrontation with Ashley. Soon after, Ashley is discovered murdered and the police see Kate as a possible suspect.
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