Priya Kapoor-Lasky recently started up a business where she sets up meditation rooms. Photo from Kapoor-Lasky
Visitors to Smithtown Historical Society events are used to seeing the smiling face of Executive Director Priya Kapoor-Lasky, so the fact that she practices meditation regularly comes as no surprise.
Now Kapoor-Lasky is starting up a new business where she is setting up meditation rooms or corners for customers, when she’s not working at the historical society.
She’s always had a separate room of her own, she said, until recently when she got married and her son moved back in with her. She added that her daughter also lives with her.
The solution, she said, was setting up a meditation corner in her bedroom because she felt like something was missing without a space dedicated to the practice.
“It looked so pretty in the room that everybody kept saying that ‘you have a natural talent for this, you should do this,’” she said. “And that’s when I said, ‘OK, you know what, that does sound like a good idea.’”
It’s something that she’s done all her life for family and friends and even helping in her temple.
Kapoor-Lasky said having the space is a reminder that the practice is an important one. She said the goal of meditation is to enjoy it so much that when you’re doing it nothing else comes to mind. She added that it’s a difficult goal to achieve, even though there are benefits while trying to do so.
“What happens is the process itself is so soothing that most of your issues, most of your problems, get solved during the process, or you just feel peaceful when you’re sitting there,” she said. “It’s like your very warm and cozy area where you’re just sitting, and you feel safe.”
Kapoor-Lasky, who grew up in India and is Hindu, said her parents were religious when she was growing up and still are. They would teach her if she needed to deal with something to take a few minutes to meditate.
“That became my go-to thing,” she said. “I teach the same thing to my kids now.’
Meditation spaces are also important for offices, she said, especially after many have been working from home for a year. Kapoor-Lasky added that a designated space provides employees a way to step away from their desk to recharge or rest their eyes after looking at a computer screen for hours.
“You need some unconventional things which were not there before,” she said.
The ALS Ride for Life board of directors unanimously appointed Ray Manzoni as president of the organization.
Manzoni, of Miller Place and proprietor of Manzoni Real Estate located in Mount Sinai, replaces Chris Pendergast, a beloved community member and founder of the nonprofit, who died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in October after a 28-year-long battle.
But Manzoni said Pendergast’s legacy will live on, and he’ll be there to help see the organization through.
When ALS Ride for Life was incorporated back in 1997, Manzoni stood alongside Pendergast — a man he became good friends with.
“We had been friends for years before he was diagnosed. Then he sucked me in and here I am 28 years later,” he laughed. “I knew him well. I knew his mind. He taught me well.”
While Pendergast was still alive and spreading awareness on ALS (often referred to as Lou Gehrig disease), the new president served on the board of directors, eventually — and currently — as board chairman.
“Chris was a nationally known leader in the world of ALS,” Manzoni said. “I was proud to be his friend. I look forward to continuing his mission and that of our organization toward providing patient services, awareness and supporting research so that a cure can one day be found.”
ALS Ride for Life started when Pendergast embarked on a ride with his electric scooter from Yankee Stadium in the Bronx to Washington, D.C., 22 years ago to raise awareness about the disease and raise funds for research. After a few years, the ride was contained to New York state — from Riverhead to the Bronx — where participants stop by schools along the way that take part in the organization’s presentations throughout the school year.
Pendergast, a Miller Place resident and former Northport elementary teacher, had lived with the disease for 28 years. When doctors diagnosed him, they thought he only had a few years to live. He lived to be 71.
Pendergast became an icon and symbol for the North Shore for never giving up.
Even as he lost the ability to speak and had to communicate with an eye-to-speech device, his determination never seemed to relent. Just this year, Pendergast, alongside his wife Christine, released the book “Blink Spoken Here: Tales from a Journey to Within” about his life since his diagnosis in 1993.
The ALS Ride for Life organization has raised over $10 million for advocacy and research. Their yearly Ride for Life trips were later accompanied by visits to close to 90 school districts on Long Island.
“His story still resonates,” Manzoni said. “ALS is not gone.”
The new president is looking forward to keeping Pendergast’s legacy alive.
“We fortunately have this great team,” he said. “We held it all together and are refining in these COVID times.”
Known to visit schools and give presentations on the disease, the group had to change shape to get their word out, while adhering to coronavirus guidelines. But he is asking people to continue supporting their local nonprofits.
“The kids want this, administrators want this,” he said.
Long Island Music’s Hall of Fame announced Marc Greene as its newest 2020 Educator of Note.
Working for several decades in teaching and supervising music education, the LIMHOF explained how Greene has shown exemplary work and passion throughout his career.
“It is so very exciting and humbling to be recognized as the 2020 Long Island Music Hall of Fame Educator of Note,” Greene said. “So many of the previous honorees are esteemed music education colleagues and mentors, providing very large footsteps in which to follow and broad shoulders upon which to stand.”
After teaching for a dozen years at middle school and high school levels in upstate, New York, Greene took a job at Newfield High School, where he became the director of choral and theater activities.
Four years later, he was approached by Cecil Ramsey, former Middle Country Superintendent of Schools, who urged him to become state certified as an educational administer.
Taking on his new role, he implemented a long-term plan to enhance the Arts Education experience for Middle Country students.
In 10 years, some of the programs he established on Long Island were a string orchestra program — that enrolls over 1,100 students annually — specialized kindergarten music instruction, and a music curriculum that would feature the development of social guitar, keyboard and drumming performance skills for middle and elementary school children.
After serving his tenure at Middle County, Greene then continued to serve as a chairperson for the Suffolk New York State Council of Administrators of Music Education Honors Chorus.
He also served NYSSMA as an assistant to the Zone 14 Suffolk County representative, as a member of the statewide Curriculum Committee, and as an All-State Voice and Vocal Jazz and Choral adjudicator.
“Upon my retirement from the public sector in 2013, I immediately joined the faculty of the Ithaca College School of Music, serving as a supervisor of student teachers on Long Island and in the New York metropolitan area,” Greene said.
While continuing to work with the school districts of Long Island in a multitude of ways, Greene also manages a small voice instruction studio and provides vocal performance, as well as piano accompaniment.
“Long Island truly is a great place to make music, to teach music, and to surround oneself with a cadre of people who truly understand the power of music to embellish the lives of children and adults alike.”
And for all he did for students, not only in Middle Country, but across New York State, the honor came unquestioned.
“The Long Island Music Hall of Fame is very excited to honor such an accomplished and respected educator,” said LIMHOF Education Committee Chairman Tom Needham. “He is one of a small group of music educators who have had such a long-lasting and significant impact on so many music students all over Long Island.”
In October 2019, cousins Edmund Zarou and Alex Solounias, above, founded the business Night Light 3D last year. Photo from Edmund Zarou
Last year, two cousins took a sad occasion and turned it into a positive venture. Now the two want to share their light with others.
The pair created photorealistic nightlights like the one featuring Zarou’s father. Photo from Edmund Zarou
Edmund Zarou and Alex Solounias, part owners of the family business Zaro’s Cafe in Huntington Station, founded Night Light 3D in October 2019. The company takes customers’ photos and turns them into nightlights that project the image on a nearby surface.
Zarou said in an email that it all began after purchasing a 3D printer and making photorealistic nightlights with his dad Charlie’s image on them. His father passed away Dec. 26, 2016, after a bout with leukemia, and Zarou said it was a way to honor his dad that brought some comfort to his mother, sister and grandparents.
When friends heard about the nightlights the cousins created featuring Zarou’s father, they asked if more nightlights could be made with images of their loved ones. That’s when Zarou and Solounias decided to start Night Light 3D, extending their reach to people all across the country.
The success of the business is one that surprised Zarou at first.
“We have gotten nothing but positive feedback,” he said. “The amount of joy these nightlights bring is incredible.”
The pair now own five 3D printers to keep up with the demand. Earlier this year, Zarou used the printers to create face shields for local frontline workers who didn’t have enough on hand when the coronavirus infection first began to spike.
While customers can order nightlights with any type of photo on them, as the business grew, the cousins noticed that memorial nightlights were popular. One person told Zarou “that their loved one would continue to light up a room even though they’re gone.”
Zarou said he and Solounias decided to offer the nightlights for free for one month starting on the anniversary of his father’s passing, Dec. 26.
“Instead of us sitting here and mourning his passing, we’re going to honor his memory,” Zarou said.
Solounias said the goal is to help others, too.
“We really just hope to bring some comfort to someone in mourning,” he said.
He added that he hopes customers see that they care about their customers.
“We just want to lighten up some people’s nights with a picture of a loved one,” he said.
Both added that there is only one thing that they ask of those ordering a free memorial nightlight — to email a brief story of their loved one that will be posted on their social media.
“This is our way of keeping their memory alive,” Zarou said.
Starting Dec. 26 for one month, customers can order a free memorial nightlight. When visiting the website www.nightlight3d.com, customers can use the coupon coded “CHARLIE” at checkout. Shipping charges still apply.
Zarou said they are excited about making the memorial nightlights for everyone.
“We are grateful to be in the position to do this, and I know my father would want nothing more than for us to honor him this way — giving back,” he said.
Owner Brian Baker cuts the ribbon at Bellport Brewing’s grand opening Dec. 3, while the Turners — John, Travis and Georgia — on the left look on. The event was attended by Brookhaven Town Councilmen Michael A. Loguercio Jr. and Dan Panico, County Legislator Rudy Sunderman, members of the Bellport Chamber of Commerce, family and friends. Photo from Leg. Sunderman’s office
People may be surprised when they hear that Setauket resident and environmentalist John Turner and his wife, Georgia, have entered the brewery business, but the new venture is all about family.
Georgia and John Turner, investors in the brewing company, and owner Brian Baker. Photo from Leg. Sunderman’s office
Turner said his son, Travis, 29, a few years ago began working with Brian Baker, who opened Bellport Brewing on Station Road in the South Shore village Dec. 3. The father said his son developed quite an interest in brewing beer while working with Baker and became an assistant brewer. When Baker thought about opening a brewery in Bellport, the Turners decided to become investors in the new business and support their son’s career dreams.
“Kind of the stars aligned right, and we decided for that reason and a few others, to take the plunge,” Turner said.
Baker, a former IT network administrator turned brewer, agreed that everything fell into place regarding going into business with the Turners, and the location that he spotted seven years ago finally became available. He credits his wife, Danielle, for being “absolutely amazing” during the process and is grateful for the Turners who he described “like a fairy godmother.” He said he couldn’t have done it by himself.
“I’m grateful for everything that everybody has ever put into this brewery to make me a success and to make this brewery a success,” he said.
Turner said the brewery is in an ideal spot as those walking around the village may pass by and drop in to check it out.
“We hope to get a lot of people just walking on the street during the summertime,” he said, adding he hopes walk-ins combined with social media will provide a good following.
Turner, who is the Town of Brookhaven’s open space program coordinator on a consulting basis, said he and Georgia hope in the future to become more than investors in the brewery, maybe even part owners. Leading up to the grand opening, he said his family enjoyed working with the Bakers in helping to get the building, the former Rooster’s Cafe, ready.
In the future, Baker said he would like to have an outdoor space and a food truck, maybe even cornhole and bocce ball games.
For now, Turner said he and his wife are learning a lot about beer making. From first boiling the water to opening the tap to pour it out, there are certain steps one must go through carefully that he compared to chemistry.
“If any one of those steps isn’t followed completely, you’re not going to turn out with the beer with the alcohol content, and the flavor and the character and body that you hope to have,” he said.
Baker agreed that creating a beer recipe is similar to a chef’s job.
“You need to know what the malts will do by themselves and how they work with others,” he said.
The brewer added Long Island was once one of the best locations to get hops from.
“The soil is everything for the hops environment,” he said. “When you have great soil and great farmers you get great hops and malt.”
Turner said the family has enjoyed helping Baker to shape the flavor and character of the business as well as speaking with potential customers to see what they like.
“It’s exciting but there’s also some trepidation because obviously the brewery opened up in the middle of a pandemic,” Turner said.
Despite the challenges the pandemic has created for businesses, Baker said both families are grateful for what they have today, even though they don’t know what tomorrow may bring. At the same time, they are aware of the current business climate and public health crisis.
“Today we have a brewery,” he said. “Today we have our health. Today we have our family. You know, let’s focus on that and not so much of what’s going to happen tomorrow.”
Rena Sylvester along with dozens of volunteers prepare and deliver meals to Suffolk County veterans. Photo from Rena Sylvester
Helping veterans is something one Stony Brook resident does all year long.
Volunteer Michelle Hahn and her daughters deliver to veterans in their neighborhood. Photo from Michelle Hahn
Rena Sylvester, 55, has been cooking and preparing meals in her home for local veterans since earlier this year, and the volunteer effort has become known as Cooking for Long Island Veterans. Sylvester said she recently filed for CFLIV to become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which should be finalized this month.
For Sylvester, building a nonprofit organization that helps vets through providing meals came naturally. She said she’s always had a soft spot for veterans and is proud of those in her family tree, which include a grandfather who was in the Spanish-American War, and a great-great-grandfather who fought for the North in the Civil War. She said she remembers bringing her great-great-grandfather’s photo into school in seventh grade and has a steamer trunk from a great uncle who fought in World War I.
She first started cooking for Marine Corps League Detachment #247 in Bay Shore while she was a home economics teacher in the East Islip school district. After her retirement from teaching a couple of years ago, she said she continued to cook for the group and other veterans organizations.
Earlier in the year, a few vets reached out to Sylvester to see if she knew what happened to a woman who started a GoFundMe page to deliver meals to veterans. Sylvester contacted the woman, who told her she was unable to keep up. That’s when Sylvester rose to the occasion and started cooking in her own kitchen.
What started as cooking for a few vets has turned into delivering meals to more than 50 throughout Suffolk County. Through Sylvester’s previous connections with vets and veterans organizations, many reached out to her during the pandemic and the number of vets receiving meals increased. Currently, CFLIV has a waiting list.
“We are totally experiencing growing pains,” she said.
Rena Sylvester delivers meals to a veteran. Photo from Rena Sylvester
Fortunately, she said the number of volunteers who make up Cooking for Long Island Veterans has grown from a few to around 40, many of whom live in the Three Village area or Islip. Sylvester said it’s not only cooks she needs. Those who have offered to drive have also been a big help. She is now looking for people who can create a website, make copies and do some light housekeeping. Also, with a garage renovation underway to create cooking space, the organization can use help with lighting fixtures, electric hot water heaters, flooring and shelving.
Sylvester said every bit helps. She has a few volunteers who commit to a certain amount of time each month or a set amount of money. She said one volunteer is at her home every Thursday without fail and every month she can count on one local couple to spend $100 on CFLIV. There is also one volunteer who comes from Manhasset once a month to pick up food from Sylvester and then deliver to homes west of Stony Brook.
Some volunteers even get their families involved like Michelle Hahn. She and her two daughters, Anna, 7, and Gabriella, 5, have been delivering food to vets near her Stony Brook home for about a year.
“My girls love the idea of helping those who keep us safe and free,” Hahn said.
The mother said there are several senior veterans in her neighborhood, and when she and her family discovered Sylvester and volunteers were preparing and delivering meals to them, they wanted to get involved.
“We donate time when we can by cooking meals, making deliveries, recruiting volunteers or helping Rena in her busy house,” she said.
Sylvester said one way she increased the number of volunteers was reaching out to Three Village Wine Fairies, a Facebook group where people deliver wine to strangers after hearing about it from Bobby Hebert who owns Hamlet Wines & Liquors in East Setauket. She realized if they were willing to spend money on and deliver wine to strangers, maybe they would be open to helping out veterans. She reached out to the members and was right, gaining a few more volunteers.
Vets receive three each of breakfast, lunch and dinner per visit, according to Sylvester, sometimes more but never less. Each veteran receives the names and contact information of those who cooked the meals and delivered them to give the ex-servicemembers the opportunity to thank them. Sylvester said the ‘thank yous’ are important to let the volunteers know they are appreciated.
Hahn said she appreciated the calls of appreciation.
“I once had a senior vet call me and say, ‘My own family doesn’t help me out the way you all do,’” she said. “[It] melted my heart.”
In addition to volunteers, CFLIV accepts financial donations, gift cards and food donations from restaurants and supermarkets. Sylvester said she’s received help from businesses such as Panico’s Community Market in Smithtown, Rolling Pin in East Setauket, Rocco’s Pizza in St. James and others.
“We aren’t looking for anyone to give us 80 meals a week or anything,” she said. “We’re looking for a little help.”
Rena Sylvester, right, picks up donations from Panico’s Community Market in Smithtown. Photo from Rena Sylvester
On Nov. 10, Bliss restaurant in East Setauket held a fundraiser event for the organization. For every to-go dinner, the restaurant gave CFLIV 25% of the sale.
Christine Reardon said her parents, Frank and Eleanor, who live in Stony Brook have received meals from the volunteers. She called the service “a godsend.”
“It is just amazing to know that an abundance of food arrives weekly at their doorstep,” Reardon said. “Mom and dad, who is a Korean War vet, are both in failing health and to have this for my parents is appreciated beyond words.”
Richard Ehrlich, an 89-year-old Korean War vet who lives in Stony Brook, said he enjoys the meals. When he heard the organization could use more funds, he said he decided to donate what he could once a month.
“It helps me from running around a lot and shopping,” he said.
Sylvester said they are open to helping veterans who may not need financial assistance, but who may have physical limitations or are hesitant to shop during the pandemic. They are asked for a donation of whatever they could afford toward the cause.
“We are here to serve the needy veterans,” she said. “If a veteran is physically needy — but not financially — we need their financial support to keep running. Without financial support we will not be able to keep up with the demand.”
Those who are interested in volunteering for Cooking for Long Island Veterans or donating, can email Sylvester at [email protected].
Harlan Fischer, above, stands by two of several pieces of artwork displayed in his Setauket office. Photo by Rita J. Egan
Setauket recently welcomed a new financial services office to the area, but the company’s president is no stranger to the Three Village community.
Fischer along with his Branch Financial Services associates Stephanie Gress and Kristen Domiano. Photo from Branch Financial Services
Harlan Fischer, president of Branch Financial Services, recently moved his offices from Smithtown to Setauket. His business, which was located on Route 111 for 25 years, and before that, for 21 years in Hauppauge, has now found a home at 21 Bennetts Road.
The Head of the Harbor resident and his wife of almost 47 years, Olivia, are known for their involvement in the art community across the North Shore, and both are familiar names at The Jazz Loft in Stony Brook. For the past three years, the couple has sponsored a monthly concert series at the music venue and museum, which is currently closed due to the coronavirus.
Loft founder Tom Manuel said the Fischers were its first donors. The musician still remembers the day in 2015 when he was in Stony Brook village performing to raise money for the renovation of the venue’s future home. He said a man with a dog walked up to him and they began talking about jazz. The man turned out to be Fischer.
“I was just thinking, ‘Wow, how interesting that there’s this guy that kind of digs what we’re trying to do,’” Manuel said. “Little did I know he’d already read about us, and he came there on purpose. I just thought he was passing by.”
He said Fischer gave him an envelope with a check inside, but Manuel didn’t open it until he was home, thinking it was maybe worth $50. Later he opened the envelope and found the check was for $1,000.
“My eyes were as big as saucers,” he said.
The Jazz Loft founder said that with Fischer’s interest in jazz and the couple’s love of art, the venue is a perfect match for them.
“They’re doing it because it’s a passion,” he said. “It’s not just that they’re looking for a place to make a tax-deductible donation.”
Fischer and his wife’s philanthropy goes beyond The Jazz Loft. While the financial adviser spends the day discussing finances with clients — people from all over Long Island as well as 26 states — his interests lie elsewhere when the workday has ended. Both he and Olivia through the decades have developed a shared love of art.
Fischer said, for him, it began after a 1988 car accident when he was hit by a drunk driver. He realized he could have been killed, and up until that point his life was mostly about work.
“All of a sudden it got me in touch with my mortality,” he said.
“All of a sudden it got me in touch with my mortality.”
— Harlan Fischer
He was talking to his physical therapist who told him about the Rotary club. Not only did he join the organization, but he also went on to become the president of Smithtown Rotary from 1997to 98. Through the Rotary he became involved in various community projects, but when a friend told him how the Smithtown Township Arts Council was looking for a board member, that’s when he found one of his true passions. Fischer told his friend he knew nothing about art, but it turned out the board was looking for a businessperson like him. Fischer decided to join and a year later became its president.
During his five-year tenure, he said he learned a lot about art, thanks to Norma Cohen, who was director of the council back then. He and his wife began collecting artwork, especially contemporary studio art glass pieces that fill the couple’s Head of the Harbor home.
Olivia Fischer said the couple’s interest in art grew together and the two began raising money for various organizations, including hosting fundraisers in their home.
Through the years, the Fischers have been members of many art organizations as well as sponsored many events. Among their philanthropic activities have been being members of The Long Island Museum’s Directors Advisory Circle and sponsoring the East End Arts Music Masters Mentorship Program for high schoolers. The financial adviser is also a former board president of the Art League of Long Island, and in 2000, he was named The Times of Smithtown Man of the Year in Business.
In addition to their work in the world of the arts, the Fischers have rescued dogs and are in the process of adopting their 11th one. In late 2018, the Town of Smithtown recognized them for their $7,600 donation which enabled the Smithtown Animal Shelter to build a dog park that bears their name, the Olivia and Harlan Fischer Recreational and Development Park. The Fischers have also backed Little Shelter Animal Rescue’s annual Pet-A-Palooza in Huntington.
Fischer, who is in his early 70s, said he feels 10 years younger and has no plans to retire, especially in his new office that features some of his art collection. He added that he’s fortunate to work with good people too, which helps with leading a busy life.
“I can’t ask for more than that,” he said.
Success and enjoyment in life are something he believes people find when they feel passionate about what they are doing. He also believes in good timing, which has become a common theme in his life not only with finding ways to give back but also in his career life.
After spending four years in the Air Force and almost a year in Vietnam, he wound up in retail despite having an engineering degree from Northeastern University. He was running the Levitz Furniture & Showroom in Farmingdale when he told someone he no longer wanted to be in retail, and it was recommended he consider the financial field.
“Timing is everything in life,” he said. “Just being at the right place at the right time and saying the right thing. You make a right turn instead of a left turn, your whole life can be different.”
Hope Kinney, second from right, during her induction into the Rotary of Stony Brook in 2017. Photo from Rotary
Despite the pandemic, it’s been a busy year for one East Setauket resident.
Hope Kinney took over the reins as president of the Rotary Club of Stony Brook July 1. Many in the area know her as branch manager at Investors Bank, formerly Gold Coast Bank, at its Setauket location on Route 25A.
Hope Kinney collecting donations for The Salvation Army last year. Photo from Hope Kinney
Kinney said she was nominated president at the Rotary’s holiday party, and so far 2020 has been an interesting one for the club. Members have been going about business differently due to the ongoing pandemic with Zoom meetings, and most recently, holding a socially distanced lunch. Rotary members have been working on ways to keep up with their fundraising efforts after having to cancel events such as their annual spring pancake breakfast at the Setauket Fire Department’s main station.
The new Rotary president said next month the group will host a virtual online fundraiser for the Port Jefferson-based nonprofit Give Kids Hope, which provides food and clothing for local residents in need. The Rotary is also working on an idea for an online fundraiser in November and is looking for another nonprofit to help.
“It’s challenging to try to raise money in a way that we would normally do,” Kinney said, adding that members have been trying to be creative.
She said they are also working on possible socially distanced activities for the near future such as a lunch with Tri-Spy Tours of Setauket and a clambake in September.
The Rotary president said the members are working with Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) to come up with more ideas to get involved in the community and with the Stony Brook University Rotaract Club. Earlier this year, Hahn nominated Kinney for Suffolk County Woman of Distinction in the 5th Legislative District.
In the nomination letter, Hahn listed Kinney’s contributions to the community. In addition to the Rotary Club, the legislator cited the East Setauket resident’s involvement in the Three Village Chamber of Commerce, the Walk for Beauty committee, the Three Village Industry Advisory Board, the Three Village Kiwanis Club and the Long Island Museum.
“Ms. Kinney has dedicated her time, efforts and influence toward encouraging local businesses to thrive while also volunteering on many local boards serving as both a member and leader and lending her voice and expertise to making community events happen,” Hahn wrote.
In the letter, the legislator listed Kinney’s accomplishments such as her working on the career fair at Ward Melville High School with the 3V industry advisory board, and helping on the Three Village Electric Holiday Parade with the Kiwanis Club, among others.
“She is an inspiration to us all, dedicating so much of her time and energy into making our hometown a better place,” Hahn wrote. “With only 24 hours a day, Ms. Kinney has donated hundreds of hours to community service and continues to give to her community each day in any way she can.”
“She is an inspiration to us all dedicating so much of her time and energy into making our hometown a better place.”
— Kara Hahn
In 2020, Kinney also became a member of the Three Village Community Trust board, and in addition to her volunteer work, she has been busier than ever at the bank. Gold Coast merged with Investors, and the staff has been helping local business owners acquire the recent Paycheck Protection Program loans.
She said dealing with the PPP loans was a huge undertaking, but everyone who applied at the bank got the loan.
“It was a relief to help the community, that was my goal,” she said. “I felt an obligation. I need to make sure everyone gets this loan which is going to be forgiven for most people. It was challenging. It was long days and weekends, but for everybody we accomplished what we set out to do.”
She said Investors Bank recently held an online concert fundraiser where Investors donated $25 for every employee who viewed it and $10 for every family member. Kinney said one of the benefactors of the fundraiser was St. James R.C. Church, raising $3,000 for a stove for their soup kitchen. The bank recently also donated $100,000 to Stony Brook University Hospital and hopes to be able to make a check presentation soon. Kinney said she feels lucky to be part of a business that helps her local community.
Kinney started her banking career at Capital One in 2004. When the bank had layoffs in 2018, she was recruited by John Tsunis, Gold Coast’s founder, as branch manager. Tsunis described her as an extrovert with a good personality.
“She’s very interested in working with the community,” Tsunis said. “That’s a big positive as far as I’m concerned.”
Kinney juggles her career and volunteerism with spending time with her family, which includes her husband, Joseph, and three children Justin, Michael and Rachel. To handle all her responsibilities, she said she tries to stay organized and not get overwhelmed.
“I take it day by day,” Kinney said. “I put it on the calendar, and I’m able to look at the calendar and then I go day by day … I guess that’s the secret — work with each day.”
Baseball cards feating Lawrence Rocks and baseball player Paul DeJong; DeJong and Burton Rocks and DeJong
By Leah Chiappino
Three Village’s Lawrence Rocks and his son Burton Rocks have both made history in the world of baseball.
The son, a sports agent and attorney, negotiated a record-breaking $26 million contract for St. Louis Cardinals’ shortstop Paul DeJong in 2018.Soon after, his father, a world-renowned chemist and a professor emeritus at Long Island University in Brookville, worked with DeJong, who was a biochemistry major at Illinois State University, experimenting on the best temperature to throw a baseball. They found due to its elasticity, 75 degrees is the best.
Last year, Topps card company issued official cards for both father and son as part of their Allen and Ginter series, making it the first time in the company’s history that a scientist appeared on the back of a card.
This year, as part of their Topps of the Class Program, the company is partnering with various hobby shops issuing a free baseball card, featuring the Rocks to any child that shows theirreport card. Three different cards will be included in the program, each highlighting a different subject.
One card features Lawrence Rocks and DeJong in lab coats, but the senior Rocks isn’t stopping his mission to promote education there. At 86, he is working on producing a TV show for children about science with DeYoung and has launched the hashtag, #WeatherStationMoon, a grassroots initiative he created and debuted to MLB network radio July 20 last year. This is to advocate for the U.S. to have an unmanned weather station on the moon to accurately measure climate change, something he says will have a heavy impact on baseball and sports analytics.
“I don’t want to be political,” he said. “I want to be scientific. I want kids to think. All you need to understand science is imagination and curiosity. We want kids to make their own experiments like Benjamin Franklin did when he discovered electricity.”
Another card has Burton Rocks and DeJong, with the caption “DeJong Rocks Reading” to promote literacy.
Burton Rocks saidthe mission of the initiative is to have kids idolize education same way some
idolize sports.
“With the salaries so high in baseball today, I wanted to make kids think scientists are cool, teachers are cool and people around them are cool,” he said. “We want athletes to appreciate those that educated them.”
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, DeJong had original planned to visit local hospitals during spring training to gift children cards. Instead, he participated in Topps 2020 virtual tour via social media.
The plan was something that is personal to Burton Rocks. Growing up, he suffered from life-threatening asthma that proved to be stubborn and difficult to cure, causing many code-blue scares.
“Being a kid 40 years ago, the world was so different in approaching anyone with a disability,” he said. “As a kid, one of the earliest things I remember was doctors telling my father if he could invent something, they would use it. The research wasn’t there and there was no cure for what I had. It was uncharted territory.”
Lawrence Rocks, who was influential in creating the U.S. Department of Energy and received his doctorate from Vienna University of Technology, worked with his son’s pediatrician on figuring how drugs interact tocreate the best possible result, before deciding that a specific combination of low-dose, long-term antibiotics, worked the best. The father said it was one of the worst cases the doctors had ever seen.
Burton Rocks, who now resides in Manhattan, said he is shocked when he comes to the area to visit his parents by the strides the community has made in medicine and embracing those with disabilities.
“When you look at the Ronald McDonald House at Stony Brook, it’s unbelievable to see,” he said. “When I was growing up, you had to go to St. Charles because they were the only ones that were even equipped to deal with kids, let alone open a children’s hospital or resources for their families.”
He recalled moments from when he was as young as 3 or 4, having to spend a night alone in the hospital when parents were not allowed to stay. However, his mother, Marlene, who quit her job as a Spanish teacher in New York City to care for him, protested and became a makeshift nurse, administering his IVs and medications.
Describing growing up in the area as “extremely trying,” the younger Rocks said he was badly bullied in school for his disability.
“It was a lot of painful memories,” he said. “I’ve tried myself to block out most of my life after kindergarten until high school, because if I didn’t, I would have to remember some of the most horrific things. Can you imagine somebody beating a kid down on the ground, and taking their inhaler away during an asthma attack and getting away with it today? To me it was relentless and happened repeatedly. The joke was hiding my inhaler during recess.”
He recalled another incident of a teacher being annoyed by him wheezing during an asthma attack, and then forcing him to sit by an open window as punishment, making it significantly worse.
“Despite all that I try to have a sense of humor and bring the positivity of my parents with me,” he said.
Burton Rocks said he never let those obstacles hold him back, graduating from Stony Brook University Phi Beta Kappa in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in history and Hofstra University School of Law in 1997 with a juris doctor. In Law School, he went on scouting missions with Clyde King, a special advisor to George Steinbrenner and a friend of his father. He subsequently co-wrote books with King and former baseball player Paul O’Neill, before he founded the C.L. Rocks Corporation, his sports agency.
Despite a recent setback, mornings still look bright for one East Setauket resident.
A familiar voice on Long Island radio for more than 30 years, Mark Daniels was notified he was being let go as co-host of WALK/97.5FM’s “Mark and Jamie Mornings” right before Thanksgiving.
But with the start of a new year, the radio host embarked on a new adventure Jan. 2, launching the podcast, “Breakfast with Mark Daniels,” right from his East Setauket home.
Daniels said the 10-minute installments will be Long Island focused and told in a storytelling format. Subjects will range from pizza to the railroad.
“I always try to relate something to Long Islanders that Long Islanders call their own, and I think keeping it that way and keeping it local provides that relatability that folks in Nassau and Suffolk have to one another and to living here,” Daniels said.
A recent podcast featured the radio host’s recent adventure into the city on a day when the Ronkonkoma Branch railroad line was undergoing construction. He said he and his family headed to the Babylon station, “but so did the rest of the planet east of Babylon.” Fortunately, they were able to get a parking spot.
The idea of a podcast came about when some friends suggested he reinvent himself. In the future, Daniels said he hopes to build a big enough base to attract advertisers.
“It’s evolving every day,” he said.
An East Setauket resident for 21 years, Daniels and his wife Marianne have three children, Mark, Brian and Allison, who have grown up in the Three Village school district.
The radio host originally commuted to Patchogue for his on-air duties for WALK, and then after Connecticut-based Connoisseur Media purchased the station, he traveled to their Farmingdale studios.
While the commute may have been longer for Daniels once the studio was moved to Farmingdale, it was a job he always enjoyed.
“It is a lot of fun to be on the air and to talk to your co-host about topics, and the immediate listener response is just incredible,” he said. “It’s just so much fun. It was like a playdate every time I was on the air. I’m trying to keep that going on the podcast.”
He said among his favorite memories is collecting donations for the food bank Long Island Cares, where listeners would often contribute so much there was no room to store the contributions at the station. He also loves appearing in The Ward Melville Heritage Organization’s Walk for Beauty in October. He said the community’s response to such causes is overwhelming.
“To me, that’s what radio is really about,” the broadcaster said. “It’s about people. When you put out a call to attend and support, people show up, and people show up in large numbers.”
While Daniels said he is not at liberty to comment on his exit from WALK/FM, he added he wasn’t surprised when he heard at the end of the year that WALK would broadcast the same morning show as Star 99.9, “The Anna & Raven Show,” which is broadcast from Connecticut.
“It’s a business decision and that’s what they chose to do, and that’s what I have to live with, and I have to pick up and move on,” he said.
This week Connoisseur Media also announced Daniels’ most recent co-host, Jamie Morris, will now head K-JOY’s morning show.
Daniels said he couldn’t believe the amount of support he received on social media after the news of his dismissal was announced, and he admitted it gave him goose bumps.
“I really only think of myself as just a guy that goes in, does a job and has a lot of fun with it and enjoys it, and then I’m home,” he said.
The radio host said his podcasts can be found every weekday on the “Breakfast with Mark Daniels” Facebook and Instagram pages, Spotify, Apple podcast and Buzzsprout.com.
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