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Dr. Harry Boutis, Denise Marino, and Janet Russell and Melissa Negrin-Wiener from Senior Dreams Come True are all smiles after Marino’s new dentures were ready. Photo from Senior Dreams Come True

Thanks to Stony Brook dentist Dr. Harry Boutis, Denise Marino can smile again.

Boutis donated his services to replace Marino’s dentures. The two were connected through the elder law firm Genser, Dubow, Genser & Cona’s Senior Dreams Come True program, which grants the wishes of low-income seniors. Marino, 75, a former corrections officer, said her 45-year-old dentures, top full and bottom partial, were extremely worn down, and when she heard that her wish to get new dentures was going to be granted, she was thrilled.

“Having a full set of teeth is of the utmost of importance due to function for chewing and eating, facial support and soft tissues. Just as importantly the patient’s mental well-being and self-confidence.”

— Dr. Harry Boutis

“I was very surprised, and I thought, ‘Gee, I’ll try it and see what happens,’” she said in a phone interview.

Boutis, who helped with a previous wish, said he became involved with the program through his patient Melissa Negrin-Wiener, a partner in the Melville law firm and one of the founders of Senior Dreams Come True. Marino said she heard about the organization from her niece, who told her all she had to do was write a letter to the nonprofit.

Marino said before receiving the new dentures she was hesitant to smile, and it looked like she didn’t have any teeth and her top lip was sinking in. Boutis, who has been practicing dentistry for 23 years, said a full set of teeth is required for much more than smiling.

“Having a full set of teeth is of the utmost of importance due to function for chewing and eating, facial support and soft tissues,” the dentist said. “Just as importantly the patient’s mental well-being and self-confidence.”

The dentist said Marino needed to visit the office eight times for appointments that lasted 30 to 45 minutes long. During the time Senior Dreams Come True was helping Marino get her dentures made, the great-grandmother said she was also having car problems so the firm’s legal assistant Janet Russell would pick her up and take her to all her appointments.

Marino, who raised six children and got her first dentures when she was 30, said she is a “chicken” when it comes to going to the dentist but Boutis made her visits pleasant ones.

Dr. Harry Boutis and Denise Marino before the dentist began her denture work. Photo from Senior Dreams Come True

“Dr. Boutis is such a wonderful, wonderful man,” she said.” He makes you feel so comfortable and he talks to you, and he’s just a real person.”

Marino said after receiving her new dentures she can’t stop smiling.

“It’s so wonderful to have teeth,” she said.

Boutis said he was also pleased with the outcome.

“I was ecstatic with the result we achieved for Denise,” the dentist said. “Being such a nice person that she is, her happiness and new smile are the rewards that make practicing this profession what it’s all about,” the dentist said.

Negrin-Wiener said Senior Dreams Come True started after she and her fellow elder law attorneys, who are involved with many different medical causes such as Alzheimer’s research, realized there weren’t any organizations to raise money for seniors’ basic needs.   

The lawyer said in order for a person to qualify for a wish they must be over 65 years old, and a couple cannot make more than $2,000 a month and a single person can make no more than $1,500. The organization just asks the hopeful wish-recipient to write a paragraph about his or her life, and they also look for people who have been involved in their communities. 

“What they’ve done for me is just amazing. They’re my little guardian angels.”

—Denise Marino

She said when it comes to requests, “They aren’t asking for lavish things.”

The attorney said people have wished for simple items such as mattresses and ramps, and dentures have been a popular request. She said the program will even help pay for a trip, which was the case with a Smithtown woman who couldn’t afford to go see her new grandchild.

The program also brought Marino’s car to a mechanic to get it repaired. Negrin-Wiener said there are no limits on the amount of granted wishes one can receive.

“We fundraise throughout the year, and we grant wishes on a rolling basis,” she said. “It just depends what the wishes are, if we get help from the community. What we are able to do financially in that point of time.”

Marino said she has been telling everyone she knows about Senior Dreams Come True and handing out pamphlets.

“I couldn’t have done it without them, because I’m on Social Security,” Marino said. “I just get a little over a $1,000 a month to live on, and what they’ve done for me is just amazing. They’re my little guardian angels.”

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The Port Jefferson Free Library, 100 Thompson St., Port Jefferson will present its 4th annual Job Fair on Tuesday, June 6 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Presented by the Suffolk County Department of Labor’s One-Stop Employment Center, the event will feature representatives from over 35 Long Island companies including A Gentle Touch Senior Care, ACLD, Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Attentive Care, Club Demonstration Services, Comfort Keepers, Dollar Tree, East End Disabilities, EPIC LI, Express Employment Pros, FREE, Gutter Helmet, Home Depot, Home Instead Senior Care, Jefferson’s Ferry, Lowe’s, New Vitality, NRL Strategies, NYS Civil Service, Precious Lambs Child Care, Qsac, Suffolk AHRC, Suffolk County Civil Service, Suffolk County National Bank, UCP of Suffolk Urban League Mature Workers Program, US Postal Service, Utopia Homecare and WindowRama.

Attendees are encouraged to bring copies of their resume and to dress to impress. Questions? Call 631-473-0022.

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Dr. Kourtsounis, center, and his staff cut the ribbon in front of their new Centereach location as Councilman LaValle, center in back, and Leg. Muratore, far right, look on. Photo from office of Leg. Muratore

GRAND OPENING: On May 21, Legislator Tom Muratore (R-Ronkonkoma) and Brookhaven Town Councilman Kevin LaValle (R-Selden) joined Dr. Paraskevas Kourtsounis and the staff at Dental Smiles 4 Kids at their Grand Opening celebration and Ribbon Cutting event for Dental Smiles 4 Kids in Centereach. To commemorate the event, the legislator presented Kourtsounis (“Dr. K.”) and his staff a Certificate of Recognition and a warm welcome to the community.

Dental Smiles 4 Kids is a team of professionals whose goal is to offer quality dental care to children and adolescents in a safe, nonthreatening environment. In addition to the new Centereach location at 7 Mark Tree Road, they have offices in Whitestone, Ronkonkoma and Astoria. “I love welcoming new businesses to the community,” stated Muratore. “I wish Dr. K. and the friendly staff at Dental Smiles 4 Kids much success.

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Shoreham-Wading River high school students and Long Island business owners connect during the school’s first School-to-Community meeting in April. Photo from Shoreham-Wading River school district

High school students within Shoreham-Wading River are getting a head start on real-world job opportunities, thanks to a new community networking initiative rolled out by the district.

The School-to-Community Program, which held its first meeting April 3 and a second May 16 at the high school, helps students of all grade levels and interests prepare for postschool jobs by providing access to business leaders from local community organizations who discuss job tours and shadowing opportunities.

Participating students include those in the school’s science research program; AP Capstone program; science, technology, engineering and math program; and special education population, all of whom are in search of mentorships and internships.

They’ve connected with business leaders representing a wide range of companies like ASRC Federal, a service provider that resolves challenges within federal civilian, intelligence and defense agencies; the Tesla Science Center, a not-for-profit working to develop a regional science and technology center in Wardenclyffe; and Island Harvest, a hunger-relief organization that serves both counties. Representatives from Brookhaven National Lab and the North Shore Youth Council have also been involved.

The two meetings held so far will be the first of many in a continued development between the school and community, according to Amy Meyer, director of STEM for grades K-12 at the district.

“We want all of our students to have access so they have a little bit more real-world experience that will go on to help them choose what they’re going to do.”

— Amy Meyer

“We’re preparing students for jobs in industries and areas where it’s changing so much because of technology and everything else … it’s really important to stay current with what’s happening in those industries in order for students to know what they should expect and what areas they should target,” Meyer said. “We want all of our students to have access so they have a little bit more real-world experience that will go on to help them choose what they’re going to do.”

During the April meeting, 26 business representatives, 17 educators and nine students met to brainstorm programs and events that would accomplish the district’s goal for authentic learning experiences, according to the school.

The May event was an annual STEM symposium — a fair-style gathering that brought awareness to 21st century careers. Students showed off their STEM-related projects, which included robotics, while community leaders spoke from exhibit booths about how their industries are involved with STEM and what educational measures students can take to break into specific industries.

John Searing, an ASRC Federal employee and engineer by degree and trade, got involved in the program through a presentation he made in his daughter’s AP Science class at the school. The teacher of the class recommended he get involved as someone adept at dealing with the students in regards to career and STEM opportunities.

“I think it’s an absolute opportunity to work with the kids as they head into college or some other field, especially technical, and teach them some of the soft skills and nuances about the workplace that can help them along,” Searing said. “I’ve suggested working with them an hour or two every week in a classroom setting to bring some real-world problems we find in the workplace and let them try and solve them.”

A career plan is already in place for next year, Meyer said, which will focus on specific growth industries on Long Island.

“One of the thoughts is that if students know what is available here on Long Island, they may be more apt to stay on Long Island and focus their career on those things,” she said.

The School-to-Community initiative, which has the full support of the school board, curriculum and instruction team, was first proposed in March of this year, and approved right away to lay the groundwork for it to be firmly established next year.

“The school and district want to work together to provide learning and growth opportunities for our students,” Shoreham-Wading River High School Principal Dan Holtzman said in an email. “It is an important step in bridging the community and district together to educate students on career paths and exploration.”

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Does your business sell products made in the U.S.A.? Tell our readers about it in the upcoming special feature issue of Made in America, which will appear in all six of our papers in Arts & Lifestyles on June 29. Send high-resolution photos of your American-made products with a short paragraph about your business to [email protected] and we’ll publish it for free. Deadline is June 22. Questions? Call 631-751-7744, ext. 109.

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Pictured from left, Councilwoman Valerie M. Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station); Councilwoman Jane Bonner (C-Rocky Point); Councilman Kevin LaValle (R-Selden); Supervisor Ed Romaine (R); Macy’s employees Christine Trent, Kelly Christou and Michelle Young; Town Clerk Donna Lent (R); Councilman Dan Panico (R-Manorville); Councilman Neil Foley (R-Blue Point); Town INTERFACE Coordinator Josephine Lunde; Councilman Michael Loguercio (R-Ridge); and Youth Bureau Executive Assistant Frank Petrignani. Photo from Town of Brookhaven

At the May 11 Town of Brookhaven Board meeting, Councilman Kevin LaValle honored Macy’s at Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove as the Business of the Month for May in Council District 3. The award is given each month to a business deserving special recognition for the positive impact it has on the community.

Recently, Macy’s donated $1,000 in gift cards to the Town of Brookhaven’s Youth Bureau to purchase cosmetics for its Prom Program. In addition to its donation to the town, Macy’s frequently participates in community outreach programs including the Smithtown Food Pantry, Adopt a Family, the American Heart Association, Make-A-Wish Foundation and more. Macy’s also decorates nursing homes for the holidays and provides shopping sprees and makeovers for sick children. Macy’s employs more than 250 local residents at the Lake Grove store.

“We often think of Macy’s as a big national company, but the people who work there are local residents who really care about our community,” said LaValle. “I thank Christine, Kelly and Michelle for their support of our Prom Program and for all they do to make life better for so many people in need.”

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Pindar Wine Shop. Photo by Kevin Redding
East End Shirt Company. Photo by Kevin Redding

This past Saturday, May 13, a total of 19 businesses throughout the Port Jefferson Village, north of the Long Island Railroad tracks, participated in the second annual “Port Jefferson On Sale!” shopping crawl. Coinciding with Mother’s Day weekend, this year’s crawl was part of an ongoing initiative by the Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce to help boost traffic for local retailers.

Participating stores, including The Amazing Olive, Sea Creations, Knitting Cove & Yarn Shop, Max & Millie, Pindar Wine, Crazy Fish Bar & Grill and Yogo Delish, offered 10 and 20 percent off sales and free items for customers.

The Knitting Cove & Yarn Shop. Photo by Kevin Redding

The crawl started with a free cup of coffee at Starbucks and anybody who made three purchases at three different businesses in the village could bring their receipts to Tommy’s Place for a free drink. A “Spring Thing Raffle” offered $200 worth of local merchants’ gift certificates.

Although Saturday’s heavy rain kept many shoppers at home, chamber director of operations Barbara Ransome said it’s an initiative worth continuing.

“It’s one of those events you have to keep doing to gain momentum,” she said. “We want to get people out there and familiar with the stores. We’re actively involved to help promote the [businesses] because that’s important…we’re really working hard, I was out on Saturday with my umbrella handing out cards and going into businesses.”

Mary Joy Pipe, the owner of East End Shirt Company, offered customers who spent $75 at her store a free $20 hoodie.

East End Shirt Company. Photo by Kevin Redding

“The chamber asked for our input as retailers as to what would help us,” Pipe said. “It encourages people to walk the village and experience new stores that maybe they’ve never gone into before. Being a retailer, you’ve got to keep trying and trying.”

Other participating stores included Port Jeff Liquor, The Crushed Olive, Sue’s Place, and Diva’s Den.

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From left, Randi Shubin Dressner, CEO and president of Island Harvest; John Rooney, co-director, St. Edward’s Ministry Food Pantry; Donna Zaino, co-director, St. Edward’s Ministry Food Pantry; Russel Kendell, St. Edward’s volunteer; and Greg George, vice president of operations for quick casual and specialty concepts, Doherty Enterprises. Photo from Panera Bread

Panera Bread presented a check for $61,607 to Island Harvest, Long Island’s largest hunger relief organization, on April 5. The funds were collected from generous guests at register donation boxes throughout 2016 at all 33 Panera Bread locations on Long Island. In addition to the money raised from the coin collection, nearly 71,000 pounds of nonperishable food was donated in 2016.

Participating Panera Bread locations owned and operated by Doherty Enterprises included Bay Shore, Bellmore, Bohemia, Bridgehampton, Carle Place, East Meadow, East Northport, Farmingdale, Garden City, Glen Cove, Hauppauge, Hampton Bays, Hicksville, Huntington Station, Huntington Village, Island Park, Lake Grove, Lake Ronkonkoma, Lawrence, Little Neck, Massapequa, Mineola, New Hyde Park, North Babylon, Patchogue, Plainview, Port Jefferson, Riverhead, Rockville Centre, Selden, Syosset, Valley Stream and West Babylon.

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Ivan Albert, owner of Sweet ‘n’ Savory and Ralph’s Italian Ices & Ice Cream on Main Street in Port Jeff, says a group of unsupervised teenagers are disrupting business. Photo by Kevin Redding

Port Jefferson is a walkable, waterfront village that attracts members of its own community and neighboring ones regularly, especially when the weather improves and schools are closed. In theory it should be an optimal environment for business owners thirsty for more foot traffic on Main Street, but at least one is not enjoying the influx of customers.

Ivan Albert, owner of Sweet ‘n’ Savory and Ralph’s Italian Ices & Ice Cream on Main Street in Port Jeff, says a group of unsupervised teenagers are disrupting business. Photo by Kevin Redding

Ivan Albert is the owner of two shops on Main Street in Port Jefferson Village: Ralph’s Italian Ices & Ice Cream, and Sweet ‘n’ Savory, a café that specializes in gourmet crepes. He said throughout the course of the last year an ongoing situation has developed in the two stores involving a group of about 60 teenagers — Albert speculated in an interview at Ralph’s that most of the offenders are 14 or 15 years old — who use profanity, enter and exit the store repeatedly in large groups, are rude to employees and other customers, smoke from vaporizers within the stores, and even occasionally steal items or damage property.

“This year it has gotten really bad,” Albert, a Mount Sinai resident, said. “It just seems like the thing to do is for parents to just pull up and drop their kids off in Port Jeff and say ‘I’ll pick you up at 11 at night or midnight, have fun with your friends.’”

Albert said he has tried to approach the group nicely to convey his message that he believes their behavior is bad for business, but it hasn’t worked.

“They’re having fun with their friends, and I’m good with that, I was once young and having fun with your friends is great,” he said. “When a family comes in with young kids, or any family, looking to have a nice time, they don’t want to hear cursing. And then there’s fighting and throwing stuff and breaking stuff — it’s horrible.”

Albert said he repeatedly has called village code enforcement and the Suffolk County Police Department to complain and report issues. He said he believes the constables in the village “have their hands tied” and aren’t able to make any meaningful changes, and county police often take too long to respond to calls about teenagers causing a nuisance for businesses.

“Out of control — and business people can’t cope with rudeness, vulgarity and profanity,” Port Jefferson Village code chief Wally Tomaszewski said in a text message of the unsupervised teenagers walking the streets most nights that aren’t followed by school days. “My officers do all they can at night to try and control them.”

The SCPD did not respond to a request for comment in time for print.

“It deters people from coming. I feed my family with these businesses.”

— Ivan Albert

An employee at Sweet ‘n’ Savory, a 20-year-old Port Jefferson resident who asked to be identified only as Chris, said he doesn’t feel the kids present a tangible threat, but their presence is bad for business.

“They’re not really dangerous or a threat just because they are so young, they’re just obnoxious,” Chris said. “They light firecrackers outside of the doors, they harass the people that walk by them. It’s annoying for the business because customers don’t like it. They don’t want to be bothered, so some people are just like, ‘Well if this is how it is I’m not coming back here.’”

Albert said he’s gotten complaints from the parents of his employees, who tend to be in the 17- to 25-year-old range, about the environment their kids are forced to work in. He said his wife tried to spread the message to parents in the area by posting on Facebook about the problem last week, while many of the local schools were on spring break.

“I would just like to reach out as a mom above and before being anything else,” the post said. “There is an extremely large group of kids high school age that hang out around Main Street in Port Jeff. If you are allowing your sons and daughters to spend their free time roaming the streets there I would like to inform you about what goes on. They are totally disruptive, rude, obnoxious and out of control.”

Albert said the post was shared several times, and his plan is to record more incidents on his cellphone and post them on social media going forward in the hopes that parents might see it and lay down the law with their own children.

“The kids aren’t going to stop on their own. I need to bring awareness to the parent that’s dropping them off,” he said. “It deters people from coming. I feed my family with these businesses.”

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From left, Valerie D. Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station), Jane Bonner (C-Rocky Point), Richard Baer, Ed Romaine (R), Brian Jablonsky, Neil Foley (R-Blue Point), Kevin LaValle, Dan Panico (R-Manorville), Michael Loguercio (R-Ridge) and Town Clerk Donna Lent (R). Photo from Town of Brookhaven

From left, Valerie D. Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station), Jane Bonner (C-Rocky Point), Richard Baer, Ed Romaine (R), Brian Jablonsky, Neil Foley (R-Blue Point), Kevin LaValle, Dan Panico (R-Manorville), Michael Loguercio (R-Ridge) and Town Clerk Donna Lent (R). Photo from Town of Brookhaven

At the April 6 Town Board meeting, Councilman Kevin LaValle (R-Selden) honored Albert’s Pizza as Business of the Month for March in Council District 3. The award is given to a business deserving special recognition for the positive impact it has on the community.

Owned by Richard Baer and Brian Jablonsky, Albert’s Pizza has been an outstanding community partner for many years, providing jobs for local residents. Baer, who has lived in Ronkonkoma for over 30 years, recently launched his “Imagine the Pizzabillities” campaign. It is a “pay-it-forward” program where people come in, buy a pizza, decorate the box and have it sent to someone in the community to brighten their day.

“Rich and Brian have made a big difference in the lives of so many people, and that is what community is all about. I am happy to recognize them and all the folks who work at Albert’s Pizza as the CD 3 March Business of the Month. It’s a well-deserved honor,” said LaValle. Albert’s Pizza is located at 601-9 Portion Road, Ronkonkoma, in the Lake Shore Plaza. For more information, call 631-467-4674.

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