Visitors express their enthusiasm for Stony Brook. Photo by Donna Newman
Stony Brook was on display as a destination on a global scale this past weekend.
A group of travel product developers — those who design tours for the luxury market in mainland China — visited the Village Oct. 22 as part of a “familiarization (or fam) tour” of Long Island.
“We don’t have time to showcase the entire island, so we choose some places that are special,” Joan LaRosa, director of sales for the Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau said of the visit. Evidently Stony Brook is one of those.
The tours encourage designers to add Long Island stops to their itineraries. She said five “fam” tours are going on right now, hosted by United Airlines, which provided the plane tickets.
A second entity participating in this travel sales pitch is the New York State Division of Tourism via its I Love NY campaign.
Anna Klapper, a manager for global trade development for Washington, D.C.-based Brand USA, is one of the guides accompanying the group on their journey.
“They flew into New York Oct. 19 and have been visiting places on Long Island,” she said. “Tomorrow morning we’ll ferry to Connecticut and make stops in New Haven, Mystic [Seaport] and Mohegan Sun.”
Visitors enjoy craft beer at Brew Cheese in Stony Brook Village. Photo by Donna Newman
Klapper pointed out that she and colleague Philip Joseph have noticed that their guests are constantly online posting everything on social media — adding value to their sales efforts.
Brand USA is an organization that markets the United States as a destination to travel product developers worldwide. Its goal is to increase international tourist visits, thereby fueling the nation’s economy and enhancing its image abroad, as stated on the organization’s website.
The website further states it is “the nation’s first public-private partnership to spearhead a globally coordinated marketing effort to promote the United States as a premier travel destination and communicate U.S. entry policies. Its operations are supported by a combination of contributions from destinations, travel brands, and private-sector organizations, plus matching funds collected by the U.S. government from international visitors who visit the United States under the Visa Waiver Program.”
The visitors from China are also accompanied by Tina Yao, Brand USA’s Shanghai office director.
Gloria Rocchio, president of the Ward Melville Heritage Organization, made the arrangements for the visitors and was on hand to greet them.
“The LI Convention and Visitors Bureau picked Stony Brook for this visit,” she said. When asked if she knew why, she speculated, “perhaps because we have a 21st century, world-class university and a picturesque, historic village on the water?”
Rocchio invited Yu-wan Wang, associate dean of international admissions at Stony Brook University, to meet the group, talk about the university and answer any questions they had about it. She also served as an interpreter, and when she asked William Wang of Shanghai to tell what he liked best about Stony Brook, she translated:
“I love the fresh air and to be so close to the ocean.”
Following a sampling of lavender and espresso cheese and craft beers, the party of 16 made their way across the street to The Jazz Loft for a musical evening.
St. Charles Hospital nurses and other staff wear pink bracelets as a sign of support for Desiree Bielski-Stoff, who is battling breast cancer. Photo from Bielski-Stoff
By Rebecca Anzel
Registered nurse at St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson Desiree Bielski-Stoff knows what a lump feels like — she had a small one removed from her left breast when she was 20. Since then, she performed self-examinations regularly and, coupled with her medical knowledge, thought she was “pretty good” at self-assessment.
In September, Bielski-Stoff, who is now 37, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Less than a month later, she had a double mastectomy at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan.
Bielski-Stoff waits to enter the operating room before her double mastectomy Oct. 4. Photo from Bielski-Stoff
“I was looking for something like that mass in my left breast, something I could feel,” she said. “It wasn’t like a lighted sign going ‘Bling Bling, you have cancer — you have a mass in your breast,’ and I think that’s what we think we’re supposed to be looking for.”
October is national Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Bielski-Stoff has been sharing her story with friends and family in the hopes they will not have to go through what she experienced. Every two minutes, a woman in the U.S. is diagnosed with breast cancer, a disease that kills more than 40,000 women each year, according to Right at Home, a senior care organization.
On average, women develop breast cancer at age 61. Bielski-Stoff’s diagnosis rattled her family, friends and coworkers. She has worked at the hospital since 2004.
“It’s eye-opening for all of us — I’m her age, you know? You never know,” Kim Audiino, an emergency room nurse at St. Charles Hospital and friend of Bielski-Stoff, said. “I think people need to open their eyes and be more alert about checking themselves.”
Bielski-Stoff was getting dressed after taking a shower in August when out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her right breast collapsed when she lifted her arm. Her first thought, she said, was that it was due to the 10 pounds she recently lost for her sister’s upcoming wedding. Bielski-Stoff conducted a brief self-exam, finding nothing out of the ordinary — nothing was swollen and she did not feel any lumps.
She showed her gynecologist that Wednesday. Bielski-Stoff said the doctor cocked her head, commented that it looked like a dimple and gave her a script for a mammogram and an ultrasound. The doctor told her it was probably nothing but she wanted to be on the safe side.
Her appointment was Sept. 7 at St. Charles with Dr. Jane Marie Testa, a doctor her coworkers recommended after Bielski-Stoff insisted she wanted to see the best. George, her husband, had asked if she wanted him to go with her, but she said no — she did not want to make it a big deal.
“I remember driving there and pulling up in the parking lot and thinking, either this is going to go in a good way or it’s not,” Bielski-Stoff said, “like, this could be the last time I feel normal.”
The tests took a few hours. When they were over, Testa came in and said she wanted to show Bielski-Stoff a few things with the ultrasound. There was a spot on her left breast the doctor wanted to take a sample of, and one on her right. Then Testa hovered over another spot on her right breast and said she was sorry — it was cancer.
There was no question about what it was, Bielski-Stoff said. It was a classic presentation of a cancerous mass. It was irregularly shaped and had vascularity and calcifications. Questions were flying through her mind about whether her life was over, if she would be in pain and if she was going to be okay, she said.
“The feeling that comes over you when somebody says cancer is just, I started crying,” Bielski-Stoff said. “I thought, ‘How do I absorb this right now. It was everything all at once — fear, a lot of fear.”
Her sister’s wedding was that weekend, so she booked the biopsies for the following Wednesday. Then she set about trying to find a surgeon.
Bielski-Stoff’s insurance company told her there was only one in network near her, so she turned to her coworkers at St. Charles for advice. With the help of her supervisor and the head of human resources, Bielski-Stoff learned the doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering were covered.
The surgeon gave her two options: either Bielski-Stoff could get a lumpectomy with radiation or she could get a mastectomy. She opted for a double mastectomy.
“I have to live with this. This is what I can live with,” she said about her decision. “I’m young, 37. I can’t spend the rest of my life panicking that I’m getting cancer again.”
“The feeling that comes over you when somebody says cancer is just, I started crying. I thought, ‘How do I absorb this right now. It was everything all at once — fear, a lot of fear.”
— Desiree Bielski-Stoff
Her surgery was Oct. 3. Two weeks later, all the drains were out and she was sore but doing well. The support from her friends at St. Charles helped her through the experience, she said. They visited her every day, bringing her flowers and food, watching movies with her, checking her dressings, helping her bathe and delivering her medicine from the pharmacy.
“We were pretty much her nanny 24/7 while her husband was working,” Audiino said. “She was never alone, and she had more care than anyone I’ve seen because she’s so well-known and well-liked. We love her to pieces.”
Audiino and another friend, Colleen Miller, raised just about $600 selling over 150 pink bracelets around the hospital. Her Facebook page is littered with pictures of coworkers wearing their bracelets — some say Faith, others say Hope and Survivor. The funds paid for the hotel room Bielski-Stoff’s husband stayed in the night before her surgery.
St. Charles is letting employees donate their vacation time to Bielski-Stoff. She has exhausted hers between her cancer experience and working on the hospital’s negotiating team.
“All of us at St. Charles wish Desiree the best of health — I am very proud of our staff for supporting Desiree during this difficult time,” Jim O’Connor, executive vice president and chief administrative officer at St. Charles, said in an email. “Their gesture also brings awareness to this important health issue and the need for screening and early detection.”
Others have been doing what they can to show their support as well. A former patient’s family drove to her house from the North Shore to drop off supermarket gift cards, and her sister set up a GoFundMe account.
Bielski-Stoff said this experience has been traumatic because it feels like she does not just have cancer, but all her friends and family do. Her diagnosis has made the people around her aware of the importance of conducting self-examinations and going to a doctor regularly.
“It made me have a different look on life and it definitely opened my eyes to making sure that I take care of myself and my children, and that all of my friends keep up with checking for themselves,” Miller, a nursing assistant at St. Charles, said. “In the meantime, we all have to be ‘Dezzy strong,’ as I call it, and be there for her while she’s recovering.”
Bielski-Stoff found out on Halloween she’ll need four months of chemotherapy.
“That’s going to change me as well and make the fight a little bit harder,” she said.
Bielski-Stoff’s friend Jimmy Bonacasa is hosting a fundraiser for her at the Harbor Crab in Patchogue Sunday, Nov. 13, from 4 to 8 p.m. There is a suggested donation of $20.
This version was updated Nov. 1 to include Bielski-Stoff’s treatment plan.
The Suffolk County sheriff's department's emergency response team leads the racers out of the gates. Photo by Bill Landon
By Bill Landon
The annual Patriot Run is more than a fundraiser, it’s a Shoreham-Wading River community get together and healer.
On Oct. 30 at Wildwood State Park, over 400 runners gather for the second annual Patriot Run to honor Thomas Cutinella, the Wildcats football player who was fatally injured in a football game in October 2014.
The 2.54-mile run — 54 being Cutinella’s jersey number — is sponsored by the Shoreham-Wading River’s athletic club. Memorial shirts and prizes were awarded to the top finishers, and there was a barbeque following the race.
Runners stop for the National Anthem before competing.
“We don’t advertise this, and if we did, we would have a thousand people — [The event and the turnout] is remarkable and we’re happy to be here, it’s a good time,” said Frank Cutinella, Thomas’ father. “People don’t want to forget Tom, and it’s a way to stay positive.”
In a show of solidarity, the Suffolk County sheriff’s emergency response team led the race, carrying the American flag.
“We just wanted to show that the Suffolk County sheriff’s department supports the local community,” said Michael Poetta, one of the nine members to carry the flag. “We wanted to come out and honor Thomas Cutinella’s [memory].”
There were awards given out in four categories — girls and boys under 18 years old, and girls and boys over 18. Runners of all ages enjoyed the unusually pleasant temperature for the race that cost $25 to run in. All proceeds benefited the Thomas Cutinella Memorial Foundation and scholarship fund.
“It’s real nice that the community does this,” said Kevin Cutinella, Thomas’ younger brother. “It was [John] Regazzi’s idea — he put it together and it turned out well, so this is the second year the community comes out [to continue to do] good things for our family.”
Eric Dilisio crossed the finish line first. Photo by Bill Landon
Regazzi, a local community member, said he organized the event because he just wanted a nice community outing to support a worthy cause and remember Thomas Cutinella’s legacy.
“It’s a wonderful community,” Regazzi said of the area. “I wanted to bring people together to do something positive in honor of Thomas Cutinella. He was a positive person, a leader in the community, and I wanted to keep that spirit alive.”
First across the line was Shoreham resident Eric Dilisio, a sophomore at Shoreham-Wading River. He crossed the finish line in 14 minutes, six seconds, which was well ahead of the second-place finisher. The top finisher for the girls was Emily Cook, and first across the finish line for the adults was Alana Philcox and Jeff Kraebel.
Kraebel, of Rocky Point, said he only heard the race less than a couple hours before the start, and jumped on his motorcycle to cruise over, sign up and run in the race.
“I’m a firm believer in contact sports and letting the kids play, but after the tragedy I loved the community’s [response] — how everyone rallied — it didn’t terminate their season, it drove the kids to play better,” Kraebel said. “It’s the power of positivity, so it was my pleasure to drop $25 to come here and run today.”
The School of Social Welfare at Stony Brook University, the Undergraduate Social Welfare Alliance (USWA) and the Protestant Campus Ministry will welcome Alex Seel, one of six participants in a challenging documentary, “Borderland,” on Saturday, Nov. 5, in the in the Health Sciences Tower (hospital side of campus), Level 3 Galleria and adjacent Lecture Hall 5 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The final episode of the series will be screened and Seel will share his experiences and answer questions.
A scene from ‘Borderland’
In this four-part television series, six Americans from varying backgrounds are confronted with the realities of undocumented migrant labor. The participants split into three groups and go to Mexico and Central America in order to retrace the footsteps of three migrants who did not survive the journey north. They discover the circumstances which led the migrants to risk their lives; they make their way north by riding atop a cargo train know as “La Bestia” or “The Beast”; they learn about the impact of Mexico’s drug wars on immigrants; they traverse the desert in which some 2500 migrants died the previous year. The journey leaves them shaken and changed. Borderland does not provide answers to the problem of undocumented immigration, but it shows the humanity of everyone involved in the process.
Undocumented migrant labor is a compelling issue that all of us face, and the debate over immigration policies brings out deep passions, but it is divorced from our day to day experience. The show presents the full complexity of the issue, and the participants come away with something desperately needed in the debate—empathy. After viewing the documentary, you will not look at the issue of undocumented immigration the same way again. Free and open to all. For more information, email [email protected].
For Free parking:
From 25A to Nicolls Rd., Rt to West Campus on Shirley Kenny Drive,
Immediate left on Circle Rd. to the stop sign then there is an entrance to free parking. Walk through the underpass to Health Sciences tower. Go up the escalator 1 flight. Parking here on weekends is free.
(From 347, left on Shirley Kenny Drive)
For paid parking:
From 25 A, left on Health Sciences Drive and follow the signs to the main entrance of the hospital and hospital garage or use Valet parking if you wish. Enter hospital lobby and ask at the registration desk for the Health Science tower escalators.
Volunteers at a previous Dickens Festival in Port Jefferson line up for the Giant Puppet Parade. Photo by Heidi Sutton
Volunteers from last year’s Dickens Festival in Port Jefferson. Photo by Bob Savage
Here ye! Here ye! Are you looking to volunteer? Do you need community service or acting experience? The Port Jefferson Dickens Festival committee is seeking adults, teens, children and parent chaperones for street character plays and performances including “Scrooge’s Dream” and “Oliver’s Adventures” to be held at the 21st annual Charles Dickens Festival on Dec. 3 and 4. Many key roles are available including Marley’s Ghost and Tiny Tim along with student improv groups, caroling groups and Newsies.
Choose your level of time commitment. Some positions only require availability during the festival. Rehearsals for the street performances are held on either Tuesdays or Thursdays from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Port Jefferson Village Center, 101A E. Broadway, Port Jefferson.
For adult street character plays and Dickens regulars contact Karen at [email protected]. For students interested in performing and community service contact Carolyn at 631-741-6698 or Jill at 631-418-6699.
Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Jane Bonner speaks at the Organ Donor Enrollment Day kickoff event at Stony Brook University Hospital Oct. 6. Photo from Bonner’s office
By Rebecca Anzel
Registered organ donors are hard to come by in New York state compared to the rest of the United States, and for one elected official in Brookhaven, that’s not going to cut it.
Brookhaven Councilwoman Jane Bonner (C-Rocky Point) did not hesitate when her friend Tom D’Antonio said he needed a kidney. She decided right then, at the Huntington Lighthouse Music Festival in Huntington Harbor in September 2015, that she would share her spare.
She underwent comprehensive medical testing at the end of the next month to determine if she would be a viable donor — a blood test, chest X-ray, electrocardiogram, CT scan, MRI, psychological evaluation and cancer screening, to name a few.
“It’s the ultimate physical you’re ever going to have, and by the blood test alone several people were disqualified,” Bonner said. “For once in my life, it turned out that I was No. 1. And it worked out really, really well.”
Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Jane Bonner and her friend Tom D’Antonio after their surgeries to transplant her kidney into his body in April. Photo from Jane Bonner
The surgery was April 26, a Tuesday, at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Bonnor was home that Friday and missed only eight days of work. She said she just had her six-month checkup and she is in good health.
“Jane didn’t just save my life, she saved my family’s life,” D’Antonio said. “Donating an organ doesn’t just affect the person getting the organ — although certainly it affects them the most — it affects everyone’s life.”
Bonner said she takes every opportunity to share her story to bring awareness about the importance of being an organ donor.
“I want to be a living example to show that it can be done because it’s life changing for the recipient and only a little inconvenient for the donor,” she said.
There is a large need for organs in New York. More than 9,700 people are on the organ waiting list, and someone dies every 18 hours waiting for one, according to LiveOnNY, a federally designated organ procurement organization.
New York ranks last among the 50 states in percent of residents registered as organ donors, despite surveys showing 92 percent of New Yorkers support organ donation. Only 27 percent of New Yorkers are enrolled in the state registry, versus the average of 50 percent registered across the rest of the country.
Stony Brook Medicine and Stony Brook University hosted the Organ Donor Enrollment Day event Oct. 6, including Bonner, in a statewide effort to boost the number of registered organ donors.
“Our residents need to be reminded about the importance of organ donation,” Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said in a statement. “Along with stressing how one organ and tissue donor can save multiple lives, understanding and debunking the social and religious myths about organ donation are also critical to turning the tides in New York as we currently rank last in registered organ donors in the nation.”
Dawn Francisquini, transplant senior specialist for the hospital, said volunteers enrolled 571 people.
“New York has a very large population, so it’s going to take a lot to get us up to where the other states are,” she said. “But we’re making progress.”
There are two ways to become an organ donor. One is to be a living donor, like Bonner. A potential donor does not have to know someone in need of an organ to donate a kidney, lobe of liver, lung or part of a lung, part of the pancreas or part of an intestine.
“I’ve been able to accomplish really amazing things, but this is a step above that. Satisfying is not even the word to describe it.”
— Jane Bonner
“Living donation is so important because not only are you giving an organ to someone, so you’ve saved that life, but you’ve also made room on the list,” Francisquini said. “So you’ve saved two lives by donating one organ.”
The most common way is by registering when filling out a driver’s license registration or renewal form to be considered as a candidate upon death. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, though, only about three in 1,000 deceased people are suitable for organ donations.
Doctors determine whether organs like kidneys, livers, bones, skin and intestines are medically viable for a waiting recipient and they typically go to patients in the same state as the donor.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed legislation Aug. 18 allowing 16 and 17-year-olds to register as organ donors. If they die before turning 18, parents or guardians are able to reverse the decision.
“By authorizing 16 and 17-year-olds to make the selfless decision to become an organ donor, we take another significant step to grow the state’s Donate Life registry and create opportunities to save lives,” Cuomo said in a statement.
Francisquini said she thinks this new law will make a big difference. Previously, because those under-18 were not allowed to express their wishes when filling out a driver’s license form, many would not register as donors until years later when renewing their license.
Since her surgery, Bonner has shared her story in speeches, panel discussions and on social media using the hashtag #ShareTheSpare.
“I really feel like this is much better than anything I could accomplish in my professional career,” she said. “Through the support of the people that keep electing me, I’ve been able to accomplish really amazing things, but this is a step above that. Satisfying is not even the word to describe it.”
Young members of the Northport-East Northport Community Drug and Alcohol Task Force smile with their flag as they prepare to walk in a parade. Photo from Anthony Ferrandino
By Victoria Espinoza
The Northport-East Northport Community Drug and Alcohol Task Force received more than half a million dollars in a grant from the federal government to help further educate the youth in the community about the dangers of substance and alcohol abuse.
Anthony Ferrandino, co-chair of the task force, said the group has had their eyes on the Drug Free Communities grant for five years, and applied last year, so he was “ecstatic” to finally receive it.
The grant is part of the Drug Free Communities Support Program, a White House project that works to reduce youth substance use by promoting communitywide participation and evidence-based practices.
“The prescription drug abuse crisis on Long Island is symptomatic of the larger opioid epidemic that New York State and the entire country is facing, and we need to fight back now.” — Chuck Schumer
Ferrandino said the federal grant is extremely competitive, which makes him even prouder the task force was selected to receive it.
“I was so happy,” he said in a phone interview. “This is something I know Northport will benefit from.”
The task force worked with the Central Nassau Guidance & Counseling Services, a not-for-profit behavioral health safetynet organization, to help apply for, win and administer the funds. The task force will receive $125,000 per year for the next five years.
The not-for-profit will provide both administrative oversight in the future, as well as clinical and subject matter expertise on substance-use prevention and treatment.
Jeffrey Friedman, CEO of Central Nassau, and a Northport resident, said the grant helps ensure students will have a plethora of resources to help them deal with the increase in substance abuse throughout Suffolk County.
“This funding from the federal government infuses urgently needed financial resources to one of the strongest grassroots movements on Long Island — to save the lives of youth who are using drugs and alcohol, starting at very young ages,” he said in an email. “Even as heroin and prescription opioids are destroying L.I. families at unprecedented rates, this community-focused grant provides a new opportunity to break the cycle of abuse and ‘business as usual’ — and to spark community-level change.”
The federal grant enables the hiring of a full-time task force coalition leader, and supports a range of coordinated practices and evidence-supported activities aimed at prevention. The programs include parent-education, social media initiatives, pharmacist/youth collaboration and stricter law enforcement practices.
Ferrandino said the task force is currently interviewing candidates for the coalition leader position, and they want someone who can communicate and educate the community, run multiple subcommittees and manage the emotional aspects of the growing drug problem.
The co-chair said that when applying for the grant, the task force wanted to use the money to focus on two specific problems; underage drinking and prescription drug abuse.
New York legislators are proud of the progress the Northport-East Northport Community Drug and Alcohol Task Force has made.
“The prescription drug abuse crisis on Long Island is symptomatic of the larger opioid epidemic that New York State and the entire country is facing, and we need to fight back now,” U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) said in a statement. “These grant recipients have been on the front lines of combatting the disturbing drug abuse uptick among our Long Island youth and this investment will provide them with the resources they need to continue their lifesaving work.”
The task force was first created in 2006, and has designed programs to reach out to students in the Northport/East Northport community, including sponsoring a film premiere this year about drug abuse recovery, organizing Narcan training sessions, and more.
Suffolk County has statistically been one of the greatest areas of concern in New York for heroin and opioid deaths in recent years, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Suffolk County Police Commissioner Tim Sini said the county has had more than 100 opioid-related overdoses for several consecutive years.
The issue is not just in New York. According to the CDC, from 2005 to 2014, drug overdose deaths have risen by 144 percent to 2,300 deaths in New York, and 58 percent to 47,055 deaths in the nation.
'Desolate' by Alex Cartwright, Grade 11. Image courtesy of HAC
‘Pearl’ by Alex Cartwright (grade 11). Image from HAC
Just in time for Halloween, the Huntington Arts Council presents a perennial favorite, Nightmare on Main Street, a student art exhibit that opens today at the Main Street Gallery and runs through Nov. 5. Now in its fifth year, students in grades 6 to 12 were asked to submit original artwork reflecting their interpretation of Halloween, “be it dark, light-hearted or just plain scary!”
“Once again the students did not disappoint. It’s exciting to see the response from such a wide age range of students with over 80 submissions. The talent of these artists is evident across the board and shown in a variety of media choices from photography to sculpture,” stated Marc Courtade, executive director of the Huntington Arts Council.
‘Medusa’ by Melissa Roy (grade 12). Image courtesy of HAC
The exhibit was juried by Caitlyn Shea, a visual artist who “loves all things scary, sinewy and dark — and has a special love for Francis Bacon paintings.” Specializing in large, fierce paintings, Shea exhibits her work in galleries across the United States. When she is not painting, Shea works as a co-producer for East End Arts JumpstART program. “It was truly a pleasure reviewing all of the artwork submitted to Nightmare on Main Street. I was incredibly impressed by the level of achievement present in each of the submissions; it actually seemed as if I was looking at college undergraduate portfolios,” commented Shea. “I expected the submissions to be creepy, but they surpassed my expectations by also being so confrontative and exploring unexpected themes like alienation and isolation. It was difficult selecting which works to include because every single entry was powerful in its own unique way!” she said.
Forty-two students were selected as finalists including Jonelle Afurong, Sarah Astegher, Shiloh Benincasa, Rachel Berkowitz, Nathalie Berrios, Summer Blitz, Julia Bretschneider, Rebekah Buon, Elena Canas, Alex Cartwright, Ben Conner, Daniela Crimi, Eliana Davidoff, Lars Drace, Christian D’Sa, Julia Dzieciaszek, Sania Farooq, Katie Giambrone, Casey Goldstein, Michael Green, Vincent Guerrero, Ilyssa Halbreich, Michaela Hammer, Katrina Hanley, Lauren Landolfi, Cameron Matassa, Kallie McCarthy, Noelle Pluschau, Bailey Rand, Natasha Rivera, Renee Rooney, Melissa Roy, Jack Ruthkowski, Olivia Sasso, Amanda Stark, Amanda Tobin, Alex Tonetti, Alexandra Valme, Erica Vazquez, Teva Yaari, Steven Yeh and Sarah Young.
To kick off the exhibit, a costume party reception will be held on Oct. 29 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the gallery. Prizes will be awarded for Best in Show in senior and junior divisions as well as for best costume. Refreshments will be served. This is a free event and all are welcome to attend.
The Main Street Gallery, 213 Main St., Huntington is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.. For more information, call 631-271-8423 or visit www.huntingtonarts.org.
Guest speakers at LIM’s symposium, from left, Lawrence Samuel, Stephen Patnode, Christopher Verga, Caroline Rob Zaleski and John Broven. Photo courtesy of John Broven
By Heidi Sutton
In conjunction with its popular exhibition, Long Island in the Sixties, The Long Island Museum in Stony Brook hosted a symposium last Saturday that focused on how the 1960s affected Long Island in terms of suburban and economic trends such as the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, the local civil rights movement, regional architecture and music.
Guest speakers included Stephen Patnode, Ph.D., of Farmingdale State College’s Department of Science, Technology and Sociology; Christopher Verga, professor of history at Suffolk County Community College and author of “Civil Rights on Long Island”; Caroline Rob Zaleski, preservationist and architectural historian and author of “Long Island Modernism, 1930-1980”; Lawrence R. Samuel, Ph.D., independent scholar and American cultural historian and author of “The End of the Innocence: The 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair”; and John Broven, music historian and custodian of the family-owned Golden Crest Records and author of the award-winning “Rhythm and Blues in New Orleans” and “Record Makers and Breakers.”
According to Joshua Ruff, director of Collections and Interpretation at the museum, the day-long event attracted over 60 attendees and “the audience was very enthusiastic and really enjoyed the day” adding that there was “great audience participation; a few people who attended were actually former band members of prominent 1960s bands on Long Island, and they became involved in John Broven’s talk. All in all, it was a super day and we are just so very thankful for the important support from the New York Council on the Humanities which made it all possible.”
Scenes from the annual The Taste at Port Jefferson event Oct. 22 at Port Jefferson Village Center. Photo by Nicole Geddes
Scenes from the annual The Taste at Port Jefferson event Oct. 22 at Port Jefferson Village Center. Photo by Nicole Geddes
Scenes from the annual The Taste at Port Jefferson event Oct. 22 at Port Jefferson Village Center. Photo by Nicole Geddes
Scenes from the annual The Taste at Port Jefferson event Oct. 22 at Port Jefferson Village Center. Photo by Nicole Geddes
Scenes from the annual The Taste at Port Jefferson event Oct. 22 at Port Jefferson Village Center. Photo by Nicole Geddes
Scenes from the annual The Taste at Port Jefferson event Oct. 22 at Port Jefferson Village Center. Photo by Nicole Geddes
Scenes from the annual The Taste at Port Jefferson event Oct. 22 at Port Jefferson Village Center. Photo by Nicole Geddes
Scenes from the annual The Taste at Port Jefferson event Oct. 22 at Port Jefferson Village Center. Photo by Nicole Geddes
Scenes from the annual The Taste at Port Jefferson event Oct. 22 at Port Jefferson Village Center. Photo by Nicole Geddes
Scenes from the annual The Taste at Port Jefferson event Oct. 22 at Port Jefferson Village Center. Photo by Nicole Geddes
Scenes from the annual The Taste at Port Jefferson event Oct. 22 at Port Jefferson Village Center. Photo by Nicole Geddes
The Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce hosted their annual Taste at Port Jefferson event Saturday Oct. 22 at the Village Center, where visitors sampled local foods, wines and desserts from more than 35 North Shore based vendors.
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