Let creativity shine at Emma Clark Library’s first ever Bookmark Contest.
The challenge — open to all children living in the Three Village Central School District in grades kindergarten through sixth — is to create an original bookmark.The winning entries will be printed and distributed at the library throughout the year. Winners may see their artwork in the hands of their friends, and they can be proud that their creations encourage Three Villagers to read.
To pick up an official entry form and bookmark template, kids may stop by the Children’s Reference Desk or download the form at www.kids.emmaclark.org.The entry deadline is March 31.
Winners will be chosen in three categories — K to second grade, third and fourth and fifth and sixth grades — and announced on May 2 to kick off Children’s Book Week, a national annual celebration and the longest running national literacy initiative in the country, first established in 1919.Join the contest and be a part of a nationwide celebration of reading.
If you have any questions, please email [email protected] or call 631-941-4080, ext. 123. The library is located at 120 Main Street, Setauket.
Circa 1750 Hawkins-Mount House in Stony Brook at Stony Brook Road and Route 25A. Photo by Beverly Tyler
By Beverly C. Tyler
Our winter weather seems to have as much effect on us today as it did in the 19th century, even though we are well- protected from the effects of the weather in our homes and in our cars as we travel from place to place.
During the winter of 1800-1801, Dr. Samuel Thompson noted the changes in the weather as he ran the operation of his extensive farm in Setauket and cared for the sick. He wrote in his journal, “Thursday, Nov. 13, 1800. Wind [from the] west, cloudy and very thick air with smoke and so dark at nine or 10 o’clock as to light a candle to eat breakfast by – Some rain – but breaks away and the weather is cool.”
Later in the month the weather changed, “Nov. 21, wind northeast (blowing) very hard. Begins to snow long before day continues to snow all day – very cold storm.” On Saturday, the northeast wind continued to blow and on Sunday he wrote that the snow fell all day.
The life of the farmer and other residents in Setauket and Stony Brook continued to be busy through the winter months. There were no crops to tend, as in the summer, but the animals had to be taken care of and the weather seemed to make little difference in the routine.
Heat for the family home in 1800 consisted of a wood fire in the fireplace. Large amounts of wood were cut and stacked each fall, but this usually had to be supplemented by trips into the woods to gather more firewood during the winter.
Thompson’s house — the restored Thompson house on North Country Road in Setauket — has a great central chimney with four fireplaces that provided the only heat for the large saltbox-style farmhouse.
The activity at the Thompson farm continued despite the weather.
“Dec. 30 … Cloudy – snows some – weather cool – kill my cow and ten sheep. George Davis’ wife came here and bought eight pounds of flax. Mr. Green [Rev. Zachariah Green, Setauket Presbyterian Church pastor] came here said Mrs. Akerly was better … Snow this night.”
It was a normal part of the farm routine for local residents to come to the Thompson farm to buy flax, to spin and weave into cloth, or to buy hay for their animals or meat and other farm produce. Thompson and his wife would often have visitors who would spend the night at the farm and leave the next day.
“Dec. 31 … Robbin [indentured farmhand] and Franklin [his oldest son, Benjamin Franklin] cut up the cow and the sheep. Sharper [a black slave farmhand who lived on the Thompson farm] salts them. Salla [Sarah] Smith works here at taloring (sic). Makes a coat and jacket for Killis [farmhand] and a pair of trowsers (sic) for Franklin. Miss Lidda Mount and Miss Sissa Mount come here for a visit, dined here and drank tea here. Mrs. Akerly remains much [sick] so I make her the third phial of antimonial solution.”
The daily routine of life at the Thompson farm continued much the same through the winter. Friends were entertained at tea or at dinner, neighbors and relatives arrived to buy farm produce, and Thompson prescribed for the sick.
Winter weather through the 19th century did not prevent local residents from maintaining their regular activities. In 1819, Henry Hudson was teaching school in Stony Brook in the “Upper School” located on Main Street south of the millpond.
On Feb. 12, he wrote, “ South East wind, I tend school [about 40 students.] Clouds come up to snow at four this afternoon – grows cold – storms hard. I spend the evening at Benah Petty’s with company of young people. Go to Nath. Smith’s to lodge – severe storm. Feb. 13. Snowstorm – cold. I tend school – continues to storm. At four … I go to Joseph Hawkins’ and stay. Feb. 14. Clears off, snow about 10 inches deep – drifted very much. I go to Mr. Green’s meeting [Rev. Zachariah Green] – return to Nath. Smith’s then go to Charles Hallock’s. He tends the meeting and [we were] much engaged [talking about the meeting] and time pleasingly spent. Go to Jedidiah Mills’ this evening. Feb. 15. I tend school, 45 schollars (sic) – continues stormy or more hard [snow or rain] at 4 p.m. – snow goes fast – warm and wet. The company takes a sleigh ride to Setauket. I make out my school bill this evening. Return to Nath. Smith’s at eight to supper. Sloppy uncommon bad walk. Feb. 16. Pleasant sleighing – gone warm. I tend school – 42 schollars – I leave Nath. Smith’s, make three days board. I collect some school money. I make a beginning to the Wido(w) Mount’s to board on the second quarter. Feb. 17. Grows colder – blustering. I tend school. I go to the Wido(w) Mount’s. Comes on to snow at nine this evening – sharp night – some sleighing though poor in the road, considerable snow. Feb. 18. Severe cold, bluster. I tend school – 41 schollars. This cold day. This is the appointment for the bible class. Mr. Green [Rev. Zachariah] comes here at five o’clock with a missionary priest. I return to Mount’s.”
Henry boarded about three days with each family of his students while he taught in Stony Brook. His travels during the week included going, usually on foot, from the Widow Mount’s — the Hawkins-Mount house in Stony Brook — to the Setauket Presbyterian Church. As a schoolteacher on a limited income, Henry did not have a horse and would often walk great distances.
His home, until 1846 when he moved to East Setauket, was at the family’s farm in Long Pond of the Wading River area. After the quarter or half year was over, he walked back to his home, and during the following years, he taught school in South Setauket, Nassakeag, Moriches, and East Setauket often walking from home to school each week. In some years he would walk to Patchogue and back in the same day, or to Riverhead.
Life in the wintertime was hard. The cold was a constant companion and the wood fireplaces could not provide the warmth that we consider to be a normal part of our lives now.
Beverly Tyler is the Three Village Historical Society historian and author of books available from the Three Village Historical Society.
Head coach Andrew D’Eloia speaks to his team during a timeout. File photo by Bill Landon
Head coach Andrew D’Eloia has brought the Northport boy’s basketball team to its first undefeated season.
D’Eloia is in his fourth year as head coach, but he is no stranger to the halls and basketball courts at Northport High School. He graduated from Northport in 1991 and played as point guard for the boy’s basketball team.
“I’m extremely familiar with the district,” D’Eloia said in a phone interview. “I wanted to be able to give back to the community. The Northport High School basketball team did a lot for me, to help me develop — it taught me discipline, teamwork and investing in a common goal.”
D’Eloia now lives in Huntington with his family and owns AD Hoops Training, a basketball training business in Brooklyn.
Before coming back to Northport, he worked as an assistant coach at various institutions including Hunter College in Manhattan and Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School in Brooklyn. He was then offered the assistant coach job at Northport High School and D’Eloia jumped at the opportunity.
Head coach Andrew D’Eloia speaks to his team during a game. File photo by Bill Landon
After a year as assistant coach, D’Eloia became head coach, and while he said he didn’t want to bring any major changes to the team, he did want to implement some new focus points.
Among his ideas, he said he wanted to encourage the boys to set up a plan for the off-season, to stay in the best shape they could. He said he believes this helped the team’s bond become even stronger.
“The team chemistry is phenomenal,” he said. “This is one of the best teams I’ve been around in terms of the element of camaraderie, and it’s one of the most unselfish groups as well.”
Since taking over as head coach in 2012, the boy’s record is 72-14, they have won 18 playoff games and made it to the Suffolk County final four all four years. In 2013, the boy’s made it all the way to the state semifinals but fell to New Rochelle.
This was the first year since 1995 that the team has gone undefeated in the league, and D’Eloia credited that to the work of the entire team.
“They are coachable and they do right both on and off the court,” he said. “This is a team in every sense of the word.”
The head coach said that not only are the starting players key to the success of this season but also the supporting players, who have worked well to “conserve small minutes.”
Looking forward, D’Eloia said he hopes his team will continue to play at the highest level possible at every game and go as far as they can in the playoffs.
The Smithtown Library. File photo by Rachel Shapiro
Join the Smithtown Library for its bus trip to the Philadelphia Flower Show on Monday, March 7.
This year’s theme, Explore America, honors the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service and the century’s most scenic landscapes and historic sites.
The Philadelphia Flower Show is the longest-running and largest indoor flower show in the world. Visitors will be treated to fabulous design and events including live entertainment, culinary demonstrations, gardening how-to workshops and lectures by experts.
A staff member will greet everybody in the Kings Park branch parking lot to board the bus at 6:45 a.m. The branch is located at 1 Church St.
Attendees can enjoy lunch at the flower show or visit Reading Terminal Market located across the street.
The bus will depart the flower show at approximately 4:30 p.m. to return home.
Registration is required. The nonrefundable fee for this program is $79 per person, which includes all expenses and gratuities. For more information, please call 631-360-2480, ext. 235.
Joe Cognitore, commander of VFW Post 6249, dedicates much of his time to helping veterans and his local community. File photo
“He’s a gentle giant.”
That’s what Rocky Point High School social studies teacher Rich Acritelli had to say about Rocky Point’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Fischer-Hewins Post 6249 Commander Joe Cognitore.
“He’s always got the community at his heart,” said Acritelli, who first met Cognitore in 2005 when he asked the post to come down and do a color guard for one of his programs. “He’s such a gentleman, a good guy and he has a good combination of common sense, leadership and also humor.”
Cognitore, who has lived in Rocky Point since 1983, served in Vietnam from April 1969 through March 1971, where he held the ranks of acting platoon sergeant and acting platoon leader. He earned the Bronze Star and the Combat Infantry Badge, as well as the National Defense, Vietnam Service, Vietnam Campaign, and Air medals.
He first became active in the VFW in 1991, where he sent packages to troops overseas.
Brookhaven Councilwoman Jane Bonner (C-Rocky Point) first met Cognitore right after Sept. 11, 2001, when she was working with the North Shore Beach Property Owners’ Association on a planned blood drive. She said he donated cases of water and soda to the event.
“He’s one of the nicest men that I’ve ever met in my whole entire life,” she said. “He’s a very active participant in all things that make Rocky Point great, but he’s also a really big asset to us in Brookhaven. Joe’s always my first phone call for anything veteran-related.”
Since his start at the post, his role in the VFW and in the community has only continued to grow. The commander also raises money for the Joseph P. Dwyer peer-to-peer group and helped fund the building of two houses for returning veterans in Sound Beach.
Bea Ruberto, president of the Sound Beach Civic Association, met Cognitore five years ago, when she reached out to him for help with the hamlet’s Veteran’s Memorial Park. Ruberto said the plans stalled because of a loss of funding.
“He sat down with us and spoke for hours,” she said. “He’s great. He’s very, very generous with his time. Had it not been for his input I’m not sure we would’ve gone in the direction we did and got the funding for the park.”
Cognitore also worked with Acritelli on the 9/11 memorial at the Diamond in the Pines Park in Coram, helping raise more than $40,000. The two are also working on helping to plan the ninth annual Wounded Warriors golf outing.
“We raised a lot of money for local guys,” Acritelli said. “Joe personifies everything that a citizen should be. He is always working for the betterment of his community. He’s going to be a tough guy to replace at the VFW post and in the state because he does so much.”
Cognitore said he was passionate about not only doing what he can for veterans but the community at large. He has used Post 6249 to host several other events including senior, Cub Scout and Girl Scout meetings, local soup kitchens, and to raise money for local families in need of assistance and for scholarships at Rocky Point and Shoreham-Wading River high schools.
“It’s contagious,” he said. “It’s a lot of work, a lot of time and a lot of effort, and we’re all volunteers here at the post.”
This dedication earned him induction into the New York State Senate Veteran’s Hall of Fame in 2005. He received this honor from New York State Sen. Ken LaValle (R-Port Jefferson).
“I was floored,” he said of the nomination. “It was nice, and a great feeling. It recognized a veteran for their service and being a veteran, but also, for what you’ve done outside the veteran realm, and we help the community. The post is opened to mostly everybody.”
Frank Tepedino, of Saint James, who is a former MLB player for the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves, has worked with Cognitore on several fundraisers and spoke with him at different events.
“It’s unbelievable the work that he does,” he said. “A man that takes that much time to ensure that nobody is left behind — he’s always out there to help any cause. He knows a lot of people and he’s surrounded himself with good people and he can get a lot done because of it.”
Ruberto said Cognitore opened her eyes to the countless returning veterans that struggle, realizing that helping returning vets should be more of a concern that honoring fallen soldiers.
“He made me aware of the number of homeless vets that are out there, or the home in Yaphank that feeds and houses vets, so it’s because of those conversations with him that made a light go off,” she said. “He’s very passionate about doing whatever he can for veterans.”
Cognitore said he gets so much enjoyment out of what he does that it doesn’t matter how much time he puts into it, as long as the final outcome is helping someone in need.
“It’s like a full time job,” he said. “Getting everything set up and running around takes a lot of time, but it’s well worth it.”
Suffolk County is entering obscure territory this year as some sex offenders drop off the state registry and others have lost restrictions on where they can live.
Laura Ahearn has advocated for local governments to have the power to regulate where registered sex offenders live. File photo
It was exactly one year ago that the New York State Court of Appeals ruled that local laws restricting where sex offenders could live were invalid, following a lawsuit from a registered offender from Nassau County who challenged his own government’s rule that prohibited him from living within 1,000 feet from a school. Judge Eugene Pigott Jr. wrote in his decision that “a local government’s police power is not absolute” and is pre-empted by state law.
State regulations already prohibit certain sex offenders who are on parole or probation from living within 1,000 feet of a school or other child care facility, according to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, but the local laws went further. In Suffolk County, Chapter 745 made it illegal for all registered sex offenders — not just those on parole or probation — to live within a quarter mile of schools, day care centers, playgrounds or their victims. But following Pigott’s decision, that law, while still technically on the books, is no longer enforceable.
To make matters more complicated, Jan. 1 marked the beginning of the end for some of the lowest level sex offenders on the state registry.
Offenders are grouped into one of three levels based on their perceived risk of committing another sex crime. On the lowest rung, Level 1 offenders who have not received special designations for being violent, being repeat offenders or having a “mental abnormality or personality disorder” that makes the person “likely to engage in predatory sexually violent offenses,” according to the Division of Criminal Justice Services, are only included on the registry for 20 years from their conviction. The New York State correction law enacting that system has just turned 20 years old, meaning the earliest offenders added to the registry are beginning to drop off.
The Sex Offender Registration Act obligates Level 2 and Level 3 offenders, as well as those with the additional designations, to remain on the registry for life, although there is a provision under which certain Level 2 offenders can appeal to be removed after a period of 30 years.
At a recent civic association meeting in Port Jefferson Station, Laura Ahearn from the advocacy group Parents for Megan’s Law — which raises awareness about sex crime issues and monitors offenders — gave examples of offenders set to come off the registry this year, including a man who raped a 4-year-old girl, and another who raped and sodomized a woman.
But it doesn’t stop there.
“It is thousands over time that are going to drop off,” Ahearn said.
A database search of Level 1 offenders along the North Shore of Suffolk County turned up many offenders who had been convicted of statutory rape or possession of child pornography, and who had served little to no time in jail. However, there were more serious offenses as well.
“You know when an adult man or an adult woman rapes a 4-year-old, that is just shocking. That [should be] a lifetime registration.”
— Laura Ahearn
Some of the undesignated Level 1 offenders who were convicted shortly after the Sex Offender Registration Act was created include a Smithtown man, now 43, convicted of first-degree sexual abuse against a 19-year-old; a 61-year-old Rocky Point man who sexually abused a 12-year-old girl more than once; a Huntington man, now 40, who sexually abused an 11-year-old; and a Rocky Point man convicted of incest with a 17-year-old.
Ahearn’s group has argued that sex offenders are more likely to reoffend as time goes on. According to Parents for Megan’s Law, recidivism rates are estimated to be 14 percent after five years and 27 percent after 20 years.
One midnight in January, Suffolk County police arrested a 48-year-old man, later discovered to be a registered Level 1 sex offender, in Fort Salonga after the suspect was allegedly caught undressed inside a vehicle with a 14-year-old boy. Police reported at the time that the two arranged the meeting over a cellphone application and there had been sexual contact.
The man had been convicted of sexual misconduct with a 16-year-old girl in 2003 and was sentenced to six years of probation. His new charges included criminal sex act and endangering the welfare of a child.
“So it makes no sense logically” to let Level 1 offenders drop off the registry after 20 years, Ahearn said in Port Jefferson Station. She has advocated for the terms to be extended or to have offenders appeal to be removed from the registry, like Level 2 offenders can after 30 years, so it can be decided on a case-by-case basis.
It’s a “you-know-it-when-you-see-it kind of thing, because you know when an adult man or an adult woman rapes a 4-year-old, that is just shocking,” she said. “That [should be] a lifetime registration.”
Even if the offenders remain on the registry, the court ruling that struck down restrictions on where most offenders can live has made matters trickier.
Ahearn said the fact that multiple layers of local government had enacted restrictions contributed to the situation.
“What happened is it got out of control,” she said.
County and town laws previously restricted sex offenders from living near schools and playgrounds. File photo
Below the Suffolk County level, for example, the Town of Brookhaven had its own restrictions that prohibited offenders from living within a quarter mile of schools, playgrounds or parks.
There are bills floating around the state government that would tighten restrictions on where certain sex offenders could live, but the only one that has gained traction is a bill state Sen. Michael Venditto (R-Massapequa) sponsored, along with state Sen. John Flanagan (R-East Northport), that would return to local governments the power to regulate where offenders can reside.
“Local laws designed to protect children against registered sex offenders are enacted in response to unique conditions and concerns of specific communities and should act in complement with existing state law,” the bill’s summary read.
Although the bill passed the Senate last year, it died in the Assembly. But Venditto reintroduced his proposal this year.
For more information about sex offender laws or to search for sex offenders in a specific neighborhood, visit the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services at www.criminaljustice.ny.gov or the Parents for Megan’s Law group at www.parentsformeganslaw.org.
Bethel AME Church in Setauket. File photo by Alyssa Melillo
“It changed, so how can we?”
That is the question Rev. Greg Leonard of Setauket’s Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church has asked the Three Village community, and that is the question residents will have the chance to answer at a special service planned for next week. Leonard and more than 100 members of his church hosted a moving ceremony in the aftermath of June’s horrific shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Carolina, and he said Black History Month was an appropriate time to reflect.
“At the previous meeting, we started to build bridges to one another and we want to continue doing this,” he said. “And with this being Black History Month, Bethel wanted to take leadership and hold an event at which all people — because black history isn’t just for black people — can come together.”
Bethel AME scheduled the gathering for Saturday, Feb. 27 at 3 p.m. at the church, located at 33 Christian Ave. in Setauket.
Rev. Gregory Leonard leads a service at Bethel AME Church in Setauket. File photo by Alyssa Melillo
The event flyer that Bethel AME Church has been distributed promoted the hash tag #PrayForCharleston, which went viral following the June 17, 2015 shooting that killed nine African Americans at a church in South Carolina. The flyer also challenged the Three Village community with moving the dialogue forward to address racial issues and injustice across America.
“The primary issue we’re talking about is change,” Leonard said. “It’s about how this change happens on a community-wide basis, and also on an individual basis.”
North Shore native Leroy White lost his second cousin DePayne Middleton Doctor in the tragedy and said the outpouring of support from Three Village families was overwhelming in the days following the shooting.
“What we saw was a community coming together so well that it was almost unbelievable,” White said in an interview in June. “The response was so overwhelming that we were taken aback by the number of people who showed up. It showed me that this is one of the better communities in America.”
Since the shooting, Leonard said he has already seen strides made across the country to enhance the discussion about race in America. He cited the removal of the Confederate flag outside a state building in South Carolina back in July as a pivotal moment showing what could be achieved through common understanding.
“That was a revolutionary moment,” he said. “I think no matter how people might have felt, the remembrance of the tragedy and also the great grace the people had in terms of forgiveness after the fact can begin to build bridges, even to people who feel they might oppose your stance on any particular matter.”
Butch Langhorn has served his nation for decades. Above, he is pictured in uniform during his Army days. Photo from Langhorn
By Rich Acritelli
Butch Langhorn has served his nation for decades. Above, he is pictured in uniform during his Army days. Photo from Langhorn
To say that Long Island native Butch Langhorn has lived a full life would be an understatement. As a veteran and a community man, he has both seen a lot and given a lot back to the county that raised him.
From his youth, Langhorn was a gifted three-sport athlete, excelling in football, basketball and track for Riverhead High School. His impact was so great that he held the record for the triple jump for 10 years after his graduation.
In 1964, the young man enlisted in the U.S. Army and was stationed at Fort Totten in Bayside, Queens. While he worked in the personnel office, his sporting abilities allowed him the chance to play basketball within the Special Services of the Army. Langhorn competed as a 5-foot-8-inch guard against many who had experience playing semiprofessional and Division I hoops. The servicemen competing had the rare opportunity of representing their military bases in games that ranged from Maine to New Jersey.
The next year, Langhorn was deployed to South Vietnam, where he saw the earliest action of the war in Southeast Asia. In an interview, he noted the beauty of the nation and the influence of French culture on the former capital of Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City. For a couple of months, Langhorn was a gunner on a helicopter that flew into the major combat areas of South Vietnam, engaged against the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong. He was tasked with helping medical evacuation crews with the vital mission of returning wounded and dead U.S. soldiers to American bases.
As a young African-American soldier during the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, Langhorn observed the treatment of blacks in South Vietnam. According to Langhorn, he had a relationship with a local woman of French descent who took him home to meet her family. When he met her mother, the woman told him to shower and take a nap before dinner. Again he came into her presence and she wrongly believed that he was a white soldier who had too much dirt on his skin. It was one example of a different racial experience for Langhorn — he quickly learned that most of the black soldiers who were fighting against the communists in South Vietnam were not understood by the very people they were trying to protect.
Butch Langhorn has served his nation for decades. Above, he is pictured with his family. Photo from Langhorn
After more than a year overseas, Langhorn went home to finish his Army tour. By 1971, he quickly re-enlisted as an active guardsmen reservist, serving full-time for the New York 106th Air National Guard base in Westhampton Beach. For many years, he was the head of the recruiting station that brought in many fine airmen, noncommissioned officers and officers. Langhorn had a prideful hand in signing military members from different backgrounds to enhance the Air Force wing. Many of the men and women he recruited have been deployed to the Middle East to fight the war on terror, conducted massive air-sea rescues in the Atlantic Ocean, endured the rigors of the elite pararescue jumper training and deployments, and tackled the older mission of aiding space shuttle landings. Langhorn later oversaw the personnel department that was responsible for sorting out the paperwork needs of the military unit.
Langhorn may be retired after serving four decades in uniform, but he is still a dominant member of his community and has spent a lot of that time trying to help young people. He served on the Riverhead Central School District Board of Education for five years, working to keep athletics and other programs in the schools, and as a current assistant for the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, he organizes educational programs that bring high school criminal justice students to visit the county jail. In his role, he also helps guide nonprofit groups that are focused on rehabilitating inmates. In addition, former Congressmen Michael Forbes and Tim Bishop both recognized Langhorn’s professionalism, and he served as an instrumental member of their staffs to handle veterans affairs.
Since his youth, this North Shore citizen has given back to his society and to his nation. TBR Newspapers salutes him during Black History Month.
On Valentine’s Day, as Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia officiated the annual Marriage Marathon, Shantell Bennett Williams and Andre Shakeem Williams have their first kiss as man and wife. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
Love was in the air at Huntington Town Hall this past weekend as couples filed in all day for a marriage marathon.
For the past 21 years, Town Clerk Jo-Ann Raia has been hosting this event on Valentine’s Day, where she performs marriage ceremonies and vow renewals for couples who are also treated to a small celebration with gifts, desserts and flowers donated from local vendors.
“In 1995, I thought it would be romantic to begin a Valentine’s Day marriage ceremony marathon,” Raia said in a statement. “It is a privilege and a pleasure for me to unite these couples and to share in their happiness as they embark on their new lives together.”
The ceremony has gained popularity over the years, and this year one couple came all the way from Brooklyn and Westbury to say, “I do.”
Andre Shakeem Williams, from Westbury, said he came to Town Hall to do some paperwork when he saw the flyer for this event.
“He came home with the flyer and said, ‘Would you be interested in this?’ and I said ‘Sure, let’s do it,’ and here we are,” Shantell Bennett Williams, of Brooklyn, said after the ceremony. “We said ‘We’ll do something small now, and then something big later.’”
Local couple Lisa Locker Marshall and John Paul Marshall came from East Northport, where they met more than 20 years ago in junior high.
“We didn’t want to wait,” Marshall said. “We’re not big flashy kind of people, so this was right up our alley.”
Thirty-one vendors from throughout the Huntington area contributed to the event.
Harborfields High School. Photo by Victoria Espinoza
Harborfields’ boys’ basketball team has become one of the most celebrated at the high school in recent years, with the boys winning the League V title for the eighth straight year.
Although this is only John Tampori’s first year as head coach of the Tornadoes, he has been the assistant coach for the last 11 years, and has been able to seamlessly keep their tradition of domination alive.
Tampori served under Chris Agostino, who left the school left last year for Elmont Memorial High School as the school’s new athletic director.
“I’ve known the players, some of them are three- or four-year varsity players,” Tampori said in a phone interview. “They knew me as well. I knew what I was stepping into. I knew exactly what was going on.”
The transition appears to be just as easy for the players, as the team is currently undefeated in the league and look to be in a great spot in the Suffolk County playoffs, which kick off this Friday.
John Tampori has been with the Harborfields Tornadoes for more than a decade. Photo from Tampori
Tampori said he didn’t want to bring too many changes in as the new coach.
“When things are working, you don’t want to change too much,” he said. However, after losing the Suffolk County A Championship last year, he said he wanted to focus on improving shot selection on offense.
“Playing smarter was a thing I had in mind going into this season,” Tampori said. According to the head coach, that included working the ball into a shot that players are more capable of making, and better time management of the game clock.
Harborfields Athletic Director John Valente said Tampori has exceeded expectations.
“Coach John Tampori had some big shoes to fill when Chris Agostino left,” Valente said in an email. “Coach Tampori has stupendous knowledge of the game and knows all the right buttons to push for the team and players to reach all their goals this season. I couldn’t be prouder of the job he has done this season taking over from a successful coach who he served as an assistant coach to for six years. This is now Coach Tampori’s basketball program.”
For this season, Tampori said the starting five are all very special players, and have really contributed to how successful this season has been.
“They all play super hard in practice and get each other better,” he said of the five, who include seniors Alex Bloom, Dan Morgan, Malcolm Wynter and Robert Pecorelli, and junior Alex Merhige.
For what he enjoys the most about coaching the team, he says it comes down to the type of boys they are.
“We’ve always had really good students — as far as their grades — and they must come from really good families, because they’re all very respectful, polite, and just solid, good young men,” Tampori said. “Even when they get off the bus, they say thank you to the bus driver. That’s a little thing, but it still shows who they are.”
As far as the next few weeks and the Suffolk County Championship, Tampori doesn’t like to look too far ahead.
“I just talk about one game at a time,” he said. “I don’t want anybody to look ahead and forget what’s in front of us.”
Aside from boys’ basketball team, Tampori is a special education teacher at the high school, and also coaches boys’ and girls’ junior varsity tennis teams in the fall.
“I enjoy the faculty and the type of students you have,” he said of teaching at Harborfields. “You get really nice kids, they respond to what you have to say to them, it’s a nice environment to work in.”
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