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Cold Spring Harbor library has a new director

by Victoria Espinoza - March 25, 2016

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R-Podellww — Rodger Podell became director of the Cold Spring Harbor Library about three months ago. Photo from Roger Podell

There’s a new director at the Cold Spring Harbor Library & Environmental Center.

Rodger Podell came on board about three months ago and is excited about the new bonds he has already made with residents of the area.

“I’ve really enjoyed meeting everyone in the community,” Podell said in a phone interview. “It’s been great to get out and meet with different parental groups. I’ve loved getting to know everyone.”

Podell is no stranger to Long Island, moving to Jericho in 1978 from New Jersey and graduating from Jericho High School. He worked as a freelance video camera operator for a few years on various television and news shows until the late ’90s, when he decided to go back to school and pursue a field that had always interested him — library studies.

“I’ve always liked that libraries serve the community and serve all ages,” Podell said. “You can see infants coming in for story time, seniors coming in for social programs and everyone else in between. This is one of the few community-based organizations that serve all ages of the community.”

He graduated with a master’s degree in library studies from Long Island University in 1996, and started working at various school districts on Long Island including Middle Country.

The director also served as the head of school libraries for Western Suffolk BOCES for a few years, where he worked with school librarians throughout the district to help provide development ideas.

Before coming to Cold Spring Harbor, Podell was working as director of the Elmont Public Library in Queens, where he said he served about 1,000 people daily.

“I saw this position [at Cold Spring Harbor] and I had worked with the Cold Spring Harbor school district while at BOCES, so I was familiar with it,” he said. “It’s not only in a beautiful location, but there is also a real dedication here toward education. I could see that right away, and I knew that must carry over into the library.”

Podell said the library is dedicated to the community, not only through many educational programs but entertainment programs as well.

The Cold Spring Harbor Library offers exercise classes, story-time classes, book discussion groups and SAT prep courses.

Podell said a few programs stick out in his mind, like the Jedi Academy, an interactive Star Wars program hosted in February, and Cinderella, a musical production performed at the library in January.

Looking forward, the director said he hopes to continue to improve the library According to Podell, the children’s room was recently changed to better utilize space.

Aside from his director position at Cold Spring Harbor, Podell is also an adjunct professor at Long Island University Palmer School of Library and Information Science, and serves on the Long Island Library Resource Council’s Board of Trustees.

Vanderbilt Museum unveils video kiosks

by TBR Staff - March 25, 2016

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Vanderbilt-Museum-kioskw — Visitors at the Vanderbilt Museum navigate through one of the new custom-built kiosks. Photo courtesy of the Vanderbilt Museum

When visitors want to know about the intriguing wild-animal dioramas at the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum, they can now travel to the Arctic, the Kalahari, India and Central America with the tip of a finger.

Details, narration and images on the screens of the museum’s new, electronic Stoll Wing kiosks teach visitors about the animals, where they live and what they eat — and show video images of them in their native habitats. The kiosks were custom built for the museum by Ninjaneer Studios of Winter Springs, Florida.

Just installed, the kiosks are part of the ongoing Stoll Wing restoration and modernization, made possible by recent gifts from Lynnda Speer through the Roy M. Speer Foundation that total $200,000. The gifts endow the future of the Stoll Wing animals and dioramas. Lynnda Speer is the granddaughter of museum trustee and benefactor Charles H. Stoll (1887-1988) of Long Island, a noted explorer, naturalist and big-game hunter.

Stoll financed the eight strikingly detailed dioramas that feature wild game he and his wife Merle brought back from around the world between 1922 and 1969.

“We wanted to attract a wider audience of visitors, including younger people who expect to interact with technology when they go to a museum,” said Chris Brown, a partner at Ninjaneer Studios.

“Here, it’s an interaction with history. We try to identify where technology can be used in an existing museum exhibit. Our goal is not to compromise, but to enhance what’s there and to make it engaging to all visitors,” he said.

Ninjaneer’s Heather Knott said they designed the kiosks specifically to fit the subject matter and the physical space: “This solution was customized for the Vanderbilt. We designed the technology to complement and to be unobtrusive.”

The kiosks have an intriguing feature. “Stoll’s family provided us with vintage on-location movie footage he and his wife shot on their safaris, when they collected these animals,” Brown said. “The film had been digitized and we were able to remaster some of it,” he said.

Knott said they create turn-key solutions. “Once the programs, video and narration were loaded into the kiosks and the system was tested, we turned it over to the Vanderbilt to operate,” she said. “Soon, visitors will be able to access the information on their mobile devices, and the museum will be able to manage the system online.”

The Stolls collected the exhibited animals in Africa, Alaska, the American West, the Arctic, British Honduras (now Belize), Canada, India and Nova Scotia. Specimens range from a blue wildebeest, polar bear, walrus and Cape buffalo, to a kudu, ostrich, jaguar, Bengal tiger and leopard.

Opened to the public in 1970, the Stoll Wing complements the natural history collections, Marine Museum and habitat animal dioramas built by William K. Vanderbilt II — all key elements of the museum’s education programs. Stoll was also a lawyer and Nassau County judge who financed and led the famous 1928 Stoll-McCracken Siberian Arctic Expedition, under the auspices of the American Museum of Natural History. He served as a Vanderbilt trustee and board president (1967-1975).

The Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum is located at 180 Little Neck Road in Centerport. The musuem and mansion are open on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. through April 12. For more information, call 631-854-5579 or visit www.vanderbiltmuseum.org.

Activists flock to Flanagan for education funding

by Alex Petroski - March 24, 2016

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Petition_Petroski_032316w — From left, Olivia Santoro, Daphne Marsh, Victoria Daza, Aaron Watkins-Lopez and Blanca Villanueva, representing advocacy groups for education funding delivered a petition to Sen. John Flanagan’s Smithtown office Wednesday. Photo by Alex Petroski

A small group of people carried the voices of thousands of New Yorkers standing up for the students across the state.

Activists representing four New York State and Long Island groups in support of education funding — especially for low income districts — dropped off a petition with more than 9,000 signatures from across New York to state Sen. John Flanagan’s (R-East Northport) office in Smithtown Wednesday. Those in support of the petition pledged their support for state Assemblymen Carl Heastie’s (D-Bronx) “millionaire tax bill,” which was introduced in February and proposed an increase in taxes to those who earn upwards of $1 million annually.

The petition was also in support of a full phase-in of the money still owed to pay off the Campaign for Fiscal Equity resolution, which ensured that $5.5 billion would be committed to mostly high-need districts in 2007, and was supposed to take effect over the course of four years. This was a result of a lawsuit started in 1993, which eventually reached the New York State Court of Appeals, which ruled that high-need districts were being neglected. About $781-million of that money is still owed to Long Island schools, according to advocates of the resolution.

The groups represented at Flanagan’s office included New York Communities For Change, Jobs With Justice, Long Island Progressive Coalition and Alliance for Quality Education as well as community members from across Long Island. Flanagan was not in his office, and a legal aide who took the petition declined to comment.

“We need to address the emotional, physical, social, needs of the child and the Senate has shown that they are not caring right now with the budget they have proposed,” said Blanca Villanueva, an organizer from Alliance for Quality Education. “We need them to represent us because they represent all of Long Island and all of New York State.”

The petition was also delivered to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s New York City office, Villanueva said.

Flanagan has said in the past that he is against the millionaire tax bill. He did not respond to a request for comment regarding the petition.

“As a constituent of Sen. Flanagan’s, I am calling on him to support the millionaire’s tax,” said Olivia Santoro, a member of the Long Island Progressive Coalition. “I valued my public school education and I want the same opportunity for students growing up in his district and across Long Island. That means that we need to fully fund our schools.”

On March 21, a group of about 40 wealthy New Yorkers in conjunction with the Fiscal Policy Institute and the Responsible Wealth Project sent an open letter to Cuomo in support of Heastie’s millionaire tax bill. Those in support included Steven C. Rockefeller and Abigail Disney, among others.

Flanagan’s proposed 2016-17 budget would eliminate the Gap Elimination Adjustment, which has cost districts across the state millions of dollars over the past several years in an effort to close a deficit. It also included almost $600 million for education, though Villanueva said at Flanagan’s office that it was not enough.

“We’ve got this Campaign for Fiscal Equity that we’ve been working very hard to support and we hope that [Sen. Flanagan] can stand with the students in making sure that they receive a quality education and the funding that’s necessary in order to deliver that,” Melissa Figueroa of New York Communities For Change said Wednesday. “We need this support, and I hope that he gets down with us.”

Figueroa is also running for a school board seat in Hempstead School District.

Signs held by those in support of the petition read, “Stand up 4 kids, NOT billionaires,” “Sen. Flanagan, who do you represent?” and “Millionaires Tax: Raise taxes on the 1% by 1% to raise billions for public school education.” The petition was launched on ColorOfChange.org, an organization dedicated to fighting institutional racism.

Kids hunt for eggs in Heckscher Park

by Alex Petroski - March 24, 2016

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Councilman Mark Cuthbertson (D) hosted Huntington Town’s annual Eggstravaganza event on Thursday, March 24 at Heckscher Park. Kids from all over town came to hang out with the Easter Bunny, hunt for eggs, get their faces painted, and color. The town also collected food donations from all participants for the local food pantry.

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Theater brings a decade of entertainment to Long Island

by Victoria Espinoza - March 24, 2016

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Engeman-theaterw — The John W Engeman Theater. Photo from Jessie Eppelheimer

The streets of Northport have come alive with music and laughter in the past 10 years — and that’s all thanks to the John W. Engeman Theater in Northport.

The Main Street theater first opened its doors in 2007 and has been providing Long Island residents with quality entertainment at an affordable price ever since.

When it comes to why theater lovers should chose the Engeman theater over a Broadway show, Director of Operations Michael DeCristofaro said the Northport venue offers an experience you could never get on Broadway.

“We don’t have the space Broadway has,” DeCristofaro said in an interview. “We don’t have wing space or fly space, so we really are able to slow these shows down and find the heart and the essence of the show. People come and see shows like they’ve never seen them before. We’re really able to get into the story of the characters.”

The theater during construction. Photo from Jessie Eppelheimer

DeCristofaro said some shows like “West Side Story,” “The Producers” and the upcoming show “Memphis” stand out as really being able to accomplish just that.

“We were told by numerous patrons, ‘better than Broadway,’” he said. “People felt that seeing it in an intimate venue like this without all the distracting flash of pizzazz and set pieces moving in and out really helped them focus on the characters and have fun and get involved.”

Another aspect of the theater that may contribute to the more intimate setting is the distance from the seats to the stage. According to Jessie Eppelheimer, the operations administrator, the back seats are only about 75 feet from the stage, “which you could never get at a Broadway show,” she said in an interview.

But there is one crucial way in which DeCristofaro thinks his theater stands shoulder to shoulder with Broadway, and that’s in the talent.

“We have a really good amount of Broadway talent,” he said. DeCristofaro listed Eddie Mekka, a Tony-nominated actor, and Michael McGrath, a multiple Tony award-winning actor, as two actors who had lead roles in previous shows at Engeman.

“If our alumni are not on Broadway, they’re in a national touring production,” DeCristofaro said. “We get some really incredible top-notch talent and it’s great for the local community to try and see that top notch talent here in Northport for half of the price they’d paid on Broadway.”

But it wasn’t always that way.

What is now a year-round full equity theater, producing multiple shows a year, was once just a small village movie house.

Originally built in 1912, silent movies used to play at the theater for 50 cents a person. In 1913, the Northport trolley helped make night shows a possibility, and by 1930, talking films came to the village. But two years later, the theater was struck with a fire that completely destroyed the establishment, forcing it to close its doors.

The new theater opened in November 1932 with 754 seats and was positioned directly next door to where the original one had stood. “Sherlock Holmes,” starring Clive Brook and Ernest Torrence, was first to be shown.

According to Eppelheimer, many of the original aspects of the 1930 theater still stand today, including the entire lobby, walls in the theater room and some of the lighting.

“People were attached to [the original design] and they tried to keep it as familiar as possible when they reopened,” she said.

In 2007, Huntington residents Kevin O’Neill and his wife Patti, owners of the theater, welcomed audiences to see real-time plays for the first time, and residents from all over Long Island have been filling in the seats ever since. The theater was named in tribute to O’Neill’s brother, Chief Warrant Officer Four John William Engeman, who was killed in Iraq in May 2006.

The theater now holds up to 400 audience members, has a full bar and lounge and shows multiple musicals and plays annually. Eppelheimer said there are about 5,000 season ticket holders and the theater has an 80 percent retention rate.

For the 10th anniversary season, the Engeman will feature a lineup exclusively of musicals, including a repeat of the inaugural show “Jekyll and Hyde.”

“We’re paying tribute to the first season,” Eppelheimer said. Other shows in the coming year include “Mamma Mia,” “Oklahoma” and “Mary Poppins.”

Over the years the theater has expanded, offering children shows, theater-school programs and hosting charity events.

“It was always intended to not just be a theater,” DeCristafaro said. “We wanted to be able to do more for the community and get children and parents involved.”

Police blotter: Suffolk County incidents and arrests, through March 21

by TBR Staff - March 24, 2016

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Jamaican me crazy, thief!
On March 19 at 5:20 p.m., police arrested a 38-year-old man from Port Jefferson Station for petit larceny. According to police, the man stole assorted tools from a store on Jamaica Avenue. He was arrested at his home.

More impaired drivers drive us crazy
A 40-year-old man was arrested on March 20 for driving while ability impaired. The Port Jefferson Station resident was driving a 2012 Mercedes when he crashed into another car on East Broadway in Port Jefferson. Police discovered the man was intoxicated and arrested him at the scene, at 1:59 a.m.
Police arrested a woman from Farmingville on March 18, for driving while ability impaired. According to police, the 24-year-old woman was driving a 2015 Jeep on Mariners Way in Port Jefferson when she ran through a stop sign. Police arrested her at 12:17 a.m.
On March 19 around 1:10 a.m., police arrested a 55-year-old man for driving while ability impaired. The Port Jefferson man was driving a 2010 Ford Explorer on Main Street in Setauket when he crashed into another car.
On March 17, police arrested a 41-year-old man for driving while ability impaired. Police said the man was driving a 2012 Volkswagen on Middle Country Road in Centereach when he failed to maintain his lane. Police pulled the man over and arrested him at the scene around 1:07 a.m.

Route to court
Police arrested a 19-year-old man from Medford for petit larceny on March 20. According to police, the man stole an iPhone from a residence near Route 25 in Selden. Police arrested him at the scene, around 12:50 a.m.

That’s not my name
A 43-year-old man from Rocky Point was arrested on March 16 for using a false instrument and intent to defraud. According to officials, the man filed for a new driver’s license while his original license was suspended. Police arrested the man at his residence around 5 p.m.

It didn’t give him wings
According to police, on March 20 around 12:48 p.m., someone stole a four-pack of Red Bull energy drink from a store on Nesconset Highway in Mount Sinai.

A cig-nature crime
On March 14 around 11 p.m., an unidentified person stole a pocketbook from a 1991 Toyota parked on Park Avenue in Centereach. Police said the thief used the victim’s credit card to buy cigarettes at a store.

You’ve been audited
Police said that on March 16 around noon, a woman on East End Road in Sound Beach received an IRS scam call. According to police, the woman gave the unidentified caller money.

Quit fencin’ around
Between midnight and 8 a.m. on March 20, someone damaged a fence at a residence on Kale Road in Rocky Point.

You don’t got mail
Between March 19 at 7:30 p.m. and March 20 around 1 p.m., someone damaged the mailbox of a residence on Dartmouth Road in East Shoreham. Police said the suspect broke the mailbox and ripped it off its wooden post.

Shop ‘til you drop
Someone stole various shirts and pants on March 15 from Bob’s Stores on College Road in Selden. Police said the incident happened around 5:15 p.m.

Gassing up
On March 15 around 4:25 a.m., an unidentified person broke a window to a gas station on Main Street in Setauket-East Setauket and stole cigarettes, cash and two cash registers.

Out of my way
According to police, two senior citizens in assisted living got into an altercation on March 19 around 8:15 a.m. Police said one citizen punched the other in the face because the individual was in their way. The incident happened on Sunrise Drive in Setauket-East Setauket. The victim didn’t press charges.

Suspended license driver stopped
A 25-year-old man from Smithtown was driving a 2000 Jeep on Amsterdam Road in Smithtown at about 5 p.m. on March 19 when he was pulled over by police. He was found to be driving with a suspended license, police said, and was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

Merchandise goes missing
At Kohl’s in Lake Ronkonkoma, at about 10:30 p.m. on March 19, a 46-year-old woman from Fort Myers, Florida, stole shoes, jewelry and other items, police said. She was charged with petit larceny.

Watch out for watch thieves
On March 19 at about 8:30 p.m., a 25-year-old man from East Patchogue was arrested in Lake Grove for stealing watches from Macy’s at the Smith Haven Mall, police said. He was charged with petit larceny.

Thief thwarted
A 20-year-old man from Hauppauge was arrested on March 18 for stealing money from a home on Stengel Place in Smithtown on Sept. 25, 2015, police said. He was charged with petit larceny.

Intentional car crash
At a home on Bridge Road in Smithtown, on Nov. 18, police said a 43-year-old man from East Patchogue intentionally drove a 1994 Honda into the bumper of another car and then left the scene of the crash. He was arrested on March 18 and charged with criminal mischief with the intent to damage property and leaving the scene with property damage.

Television taken
On March 18, a 20-year-old woman from Commack was arrested for stealing a television from a home on Fisher Road in Commack on March 7, police said. While being searched during the arrest, she was found to have a hypodermic needle and a controlled substance in her possession. She was charged with petit larceny, seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and possession of a hypodermic instrument.

Woman escapes police custody
A 21-year-old woman from Centereach was arrested in Smithtown on March 18, at about noon, on a bench warrant from another jurisdiction. While being transported, she escaped from the vehicle and fled to a nearby wooded area, police said. She was arrested again at about 1:30 p.m. and charged with escaping jail/custody.

Fake inspection
At the corner of Route 25 and Mayfair Terrace in Commack, at about 11 p.m. on March 18, police stopped a 20-year-old man from Central Islip driving a 2000 Honda Civic. According to police, his New York State inspection sticker was found to be fraudulent. He was arrested and charged with second-degree possession of a forged instrument.

Free beer and gift cards
On Nov. 9, 2015, a 31-year-old man from Smithtown used a debit card belonging to another person without permission on Route 25A in Kings Park to buy a gift card and beer, police said. He was arrested on March 17 and charged with fourth-degree grand larceny of a credit card.

Windshield cracked
Police said a 25-year-old man from Lake Grove intentionally broke the windshield of a 2008 Dodge on Route 25A in Shoreham at about 10:30 p.m. on March 2. On March 16, he was arrested and charged with criminal mischief with the intention of damaging property.

Excavator disappears
An unknown person stole an excavator from Grace LLC Industries on Route 347 in Smithtown at about 2:30 p.m. on March 18, police said.

Domestic items lifted
A Dyson vacuum cleaner, a blender and a quilt were stolen from Target on Veterans Memorial Highway in Commack at about 4 p.m. on March 13, police said.

Credit cards clipped from Chevy
At about 10 p.m. on March 18, an unknown person stole a wallet containing credit cards from an unlocked 2013 Chevy parked on the road outside of a home on Innis Avenue in Lake Ronkonkoma, police said.

Hit-and-run
A 51-year-old woman from Huntington Station was arrested on March 20 for leaving the scene of an accident at the corner of Woodbury Road and Route 108 in Huntington, police said. On March 6 at about 1 p.m., she rear-ended another car in her 2012 Jeep and then fled, according to police. She was charged with leaving the scene of an accident with property damage.

Almost got away
On East Pulaski Road in Huntington at about 4 a.m. on March 18, a 22-year-old man from Huntington was pulled over for speeding in a 2016 Audi, police said. During the stop, police determined that he was intoxicated. While at the 2nd Precinct, he ran about 40 feet away from an officer trying to reach a door, but he was stopped, according to police. He was charged with third-degree escape and driving while intoxicated.

Heroin arrest
On March 17 at about 5 p.m., a 34-year-old woman from Huntington Station was arrested on the corner of Walt Whitman Road and Overhill Road in Huntington for possessing heroin and a hypodermic needle, police said. She was charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and possession of a hypodermic instrument.

Crooked man at Crooked Rail
Police were called to The Crooked Rail on Larkfield Road in East Northport at about 11 p.m. on March 19 to deal with a drunk and unruly customer. Emergency medical personnel were called to treat a 47-year-old man from Kings Park. The man spit at and bit officers while being moved on a gurney, then flailed and kicked an officer in the head and chest, according to police. One officer suffered a broken hand as a result of the incident. The man was charged with second-degree assault with the intent of causing injury to a police officer and second-degree obstruction of government administration.

Interlocked up
On the corner of Broadway and Pulaski Road in Greenlawn at about 8 a.m. on March 18, a 27-year-old man from Brentwood was driving a 2002 Honda when he was pulled over by police. He was found to be driving without a required interlock device and was charged with circumventing interlock operation without a device.

Law-canceling headphones
A 22-year-old man from Roosevelt and a 21-year-old man from Hempstead were arrested on March 20 at Target on Jericho Turnpike in Huntington at about 7 p.m. for stealing headphones, police said. The Roosevelt man was found to be in possession of two different stolen out-of-state license plates. He was charged with fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property and petit larceny. The Hempstead man lied to police about his name when he was arrested. He was charged with petit larceny and second-degree criminal impersonation.

Unlicensed driver with drugs
Police pulled over a 22-year-old man from Huntington Station driving a 2011 Lexus on the corner of 11th Street and Lennox Road in Huntington Station at about 9 p.m. on March 20. He was found to be driving with a suspended license for the second time in about a month, police said. When searched, police found prescription drugs, marijuana and heroin in his possession. He was charged with two counts of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle.

Gas station theft
A 52-year-old man from East Northport stole items from U.S. Petroleum gas station on Larkfield Road in East Northport at about 4 p.m. on March 17, according to police. He was charged with petit larceny.

Park and ride predator
On March 19 at about 9 p.m., a 43-year-old man from Deer Park stole keys and a wallet containing credit cards and cash from a car parked on the corner of Commack Road and the Expressway’s North Service Road, police said. He was charged with third-degree robbery.

All taken vehicle
An unknown person stole an all terrain vehicle from the yard of a home on Fort Salonga Road in Centerport at about midnight on March 17, police said.

Swim team celebrates league title

by TBR Staff - March 24, 2016

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swimming_winter_1w — The Huntington-Harborfields swimmers display their league championship award. Photo from Huntington athletics

It was a championship season worth celebrating.

The combined Huntington-Harborfields boys’ swimming and diving team captured regular season and postseason championships while solidifying its roster for future campaigns.

Swimmers, divers and their parents celebrated the winter campaign during a three-hour party at the Halesite Fire Department.

The season marked Meg McConnell’s first as head coach, after she assumed leadership of the program following the retirement of Huntington’s founding swim coach, Gil Smith. McConnell had been Smith’s assistant for many years. Blue Devils alum Kaitlyn Larkin was named the new assistant coach this season.

The dinner was a festive gathering. Michael Greaves, of Harborfields, created a slideshow of season highlights.

Huntington senior and team co-captain Matthew McBride and seniors Jackson Spector and Burak Toprak were among those who spoke about the season and their teammates and coaches. Those who notched All-League, All-County and All-State honors were acknowledged.

“It was a fun, funny and a great night,” Huntington parent Patti Weber said. “They are a great group of boys who really have become one team.”

The Blue Devils finished with a 4-1 league mark and went 4-4 overall, easily winning the Suffolk County League II championships by outdistancing runners-up Northport and Connetquot, 309 and 257, while Lindenhurst (187), Central Islip (140) and North Babylon (98) trailed in the distance.

Huntington-Harborfields defeated Lindenhurst (61-39), Connetquot/East Islip (95-88), Central Islip (100-77) and North Babylon (95-54), and dropped meets to Northport (51.5-49.5), Ward Melville (93-89), Hauppauge (107.5-77.5) and Half Hollow Hills (92-86) leading up to the League II win.

In addition to McBride, Spector, Toprak and Javier Vias, the Blue Devils team included seventh-graders Kyle Kennelly and Thomas Rosselli, eighth-grader Christopher Weber, freshmen Henry Cartwright, Nathaniel Gamboa and Thomas Peer, junior Keegan Dunne and senior Ryan LaBella. Juniors Noelle Harvey and Camille Stafford were team managers.

Three Huntington swimmers were presented with special team awards at the dinner. Gamboa was named MVP, Weber earned Most Improved honors and Dunne garnered the coaches award.

Huntington’s highlights at the League II championships included Gamboa swimming the second leg on the 200-yard medley relay that placed second and capturing third place in the 100 breaststroke, Weber placing second in the 500 freestyle, Peer finishing fourth in the 200 freestyle and the first leg of the 200 freestyle relay that finished fourth, and McBride placing fourth in the 100 backstroke.

At the Suffolk County championships, Gamboa swam the second leg of the 200 yard medley relay that placed ninth, and Peer swam the fourth leg of the 200 freestyle relay that finished 13th.

With eight underclassmen returning next winter, the Blue Devils hope to put another competitive team in the pool.

— Huntington Athletics

Cartoonist showcase opens in Huntington

by TBR Staff - March 23, 2016

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Berndt Toast Gang artists celebrate milestone anniversary

AntonEmdin-HuntLibw — 'Pick-up Lines’ by Anton Emdin

By Rita J. Egan

In 1966, when two Hanna-Barbera cartoonists living on Long Island met for lunch once a month to discuss a project, they began a tradition that still exists today. The cartoonists continued meeting monthly after the job was completed, and soon other local cartoon artists, members of the Long Island chapter of the National Cartoonists Society, joined them. To celebrate the group’s 50th anniversary, the Huntington Public Library is hosting the exhibit Cartoonist Showcase featuring 60 pieces of artwork from the chapter’s prominent members, both illustrators and letterers.

Chapter chair, Adrian Sinnott, said the group, nicknamed the Berndt Toast Gang, consists of approximately 40 members. Visitors to the exhibit will find drawings of favorite characters such as the Lockhorns, Batman, Spider-Man and Wonder Woman in cartoon form as well as paintings and drawings inspired by them.

Laurene Tesoriero, the library’s art gallery coordinator, said when cartoonist Helen Murdock-Prep, creator of the comic strip “Shrinking Violet,” approached the library about the exhibit, she was thrilled to be able to display the cartoonists’ work and their legendary characters. “I feel good, because this is the library; this is where you come to see history; this is where you come to see good things,” Tesoriero said.

The art gallery coordinator said she believes after seeing the variety of work people will reflect on the cartoonists when they see their illustrations in the future. “I think a lot of times when people think of cartoons they think of comics. I think they’ll walk away seeing the variety of styles that’s there,” Tesoriero said.

Sinnott, a children’s book illustrator, explained that the chapter’s roots date back to World War II when a loose connection of Long Island illustrators would get together and visit injured soldiers at local veterans’ hospitals. Today a number of the chapter’s members continue this tradition traveling with the USO overseas to Iraq, Afghanistan and Turkey to draw for the soldiers, while others work with the Ink Well Foundation and visit patients in children’s hospitals.

Sinnott said Port Jefferson resident Walter Berndt, creator of the comic strip “Smitty,” which ran from the 1920s until the 1970s, started attending the group’s monthly luncheons when he was older. After he passed away in 1979, one of the cartoonists raised a toast to him, and said, “Here’s a Berndt toast.” The toast inspired the chapter’s nickname, and now at every luncheon the group raise their glasses to members who have passed or who are celebrating recent accomplishments.

Sinnott, who joined the chapter approximately 30 years ago, said the Berndt Toast Gang is a friendly and encouraging group where members can share ideas and give feedback. “It’s quite an amazing group because technically we’re all competitors but we enjoy each other’s company so much,” Sinnott said.

Joe Giella, who for over 40 years illustrated characters such as Batman, Wonder Woman and more for DC Comics, has also been a member of the chapter for decades. For the last 25 years, he has illustrated the “Mary Worth” comic strip.

Working from his studio in East Meadow, Giella said he looks forward to the monthly lunches, because it gives him a chance to get out of the office, and with working under the pressure of deadlines, it also helps to relieve work-related stress. “I go down there and it’s like therapy,” he said.

The lunches also give the newer cartoonists a chance to receive advice from more seasoned artists. Giella, who pursued his artistic aspirations despite his father wanting him to follow a more traditional career path such as firefighter or police officer, said his advice for aspiring artists is simple. “I tell them that if you really want it there’s nothing going to stop you,” the illustrator said.

Chapter member Bunny Hoest, letterer of several cartoon series including “The Lockhorns,” “Howard Huge” and “Agatha Crumb,” was an English teacher when she married her husband, illustrator Bill Hoest, and started in the cartoon business. After he passed away in 1988, she continued working with illustrator John Reiner, and to this day continues to write “The Lockhorns.”

‘The Original Batmobile’ by Adrian Sinnott

Hoest, who started attending the Berndt Toast Gang luncheons with her husband, said the members are incredibly humble. When she hosts a party at her house every summer, she said she can’t believe that so many talented people are assembled outside on her terrace. “I look at them and I think, ‘this terrace is so full of talent it’s just going to rise into the sky.’ These guys are so modest they don’t even know it,” she said.

Hoest said when she brought her family to the exhibit, they all enjoyed it. “It’s an up-lifting exhibit to see. We’re not talking about terrible things. You get a laugh and get a look at some great beauty. I think it’s just a great exhibit to go to,” she said.

In addition to Sinnott’s, Giella’s and Hoest’s work, visitors will see the illustrations of former Newsday cartoonist Tony D’Adamo, comic book and strip artists Don Heck and Sy Barry among others.

Sinnott hopes that visitors to the exhibit will walk away with a better understanding of cartoonists and their work. “It’s really an extension of them. When they do their work, they’re showing you a part of them. Even if they are making it up completely, it’s still a very personal endeavor.”

The Cartoonist Showcase is on display at the Huntington Public Library, 338 Main Street, in the Main Art Gallery through April 25. For more information, visit www.myhpl.org or call 631-427-5165.

Class of 1966 to award scholarship in honor of reunion

by Alex Petroski - March 21, 2016

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The-Rockw — The rock is from the Huntington class of 1966's 40th reunion and it sits at the high school campus outside the back entrance. Photo from Lucille Buergers

Huntington High School’s past is raising money for its future.

On a night in September, the Huntington High School class of 1966 will be coming together for two very good reasons. They will celebrate the 50^th anniversary of their graduation, but they will also be raising funds that will go to the class of 1966 reunion scholarship, which will award a current senior $1,966.

Lucille Corcoran Buergers, a member of the class and one of the organizers of the event, said the recipient of the scholarship won’t necessarily be an honor student, but rather a student who has overcome obstacles and has ambitious plans for the future. The scholarship winner will be selected later this year.

The Huntington class of 1966 reunion cap and t-shirt, which will be sent to those that make a $66 donation. Photo from Lucille Buergers

Huntington High School students are in the process of crafting essays, with the winner to be selected by the high school’s general scholarship committee.

In 1966, the world was just being introduced to the Beatles, the United States was still coping with the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and the Vietnam War was in full swing. Buergers, who attended Woodstock, said in a phone interview that the tumultuous events of the 1960s impacted the lives of people who were growing up at that time forever.

“People I know started to question the establishment,” Buergers said. She said that she went into social work to help people endure with life’s stresses.

The reunion will be at the Huntington Country Club. Buergers said the committee organizing the reunion believes about 150 of the 526 graduates from the class of ’66 will be in attendance so far. They are still working to locate more graduates.

“Our classmates have gone on to become successful businessmen/women, educators, entrepreneurs, other professionals, and overall good citizens,” Buergers said. “Overall the consensus is that Huntington was an ideal place to have grown up and those that have moved away are eager to return and revisit the many places that hold special meaning to them…many fond memories that we have of a time that we will always cherish.”

There will also be a silent auction at the event with works from the class of 1966. Buergers said three painters, a stained glass artist, a photographer, a basket weaver, a jewelry maker, a quilter and an author have all agreed to donate works for auction.

Tickets will be $95 at the door, though they will be less expensive if purchased in advance. Any members of the class of 1966 who have not yet purchased tickets are advised to visit huntingtonhighalumni.org.

Movie series sparks memories for those living with dementia

by Giselle Barkley - March 18, 2016

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Making-Memories_2016_02_RajTawneyw — Residents living with dementia and their care partners watch a clip from ‘The Wizard of Oz’ at a past Making Memories at the Movies event. Photo from Raj Tawney

Huntington’s Cinema Arts Centre is taking residents with dementia down memory lane with its innovative and unique program series titled Making Memories at the Movies.

The community-based event, which social worker Marcy Rhodes established last year and which returns on Monday, March 21, targets people living with dementia as well as their care partners. While the event helps these residents socialize with others, it has also helped many of them remember parts of their past.

“The idea is to invite people with dementia and their care partners into a creative environment where they have an opportunity to relate to the arts, and to engage in conversation and be inspired by the art,” said Rhodes.

Rhodes screens clips of six to eight iconic old movies or television shows that attendees may have seen during their youth. With winter winding down and spring on the way, the theme of next Monday’s program is Springtime. The event will feature clips of films like “Singin’ in the Rain.” Rhodes also mentioned “Easter Parade” as a film option before she finalized clips for the upcoming show.

She hesitated to disclose the names of all the clips as participants try to identify the film or TV show. Many of these clips include musical numbers as music helps people connect with one another, Rhodes said.

“People really get into it. They laugh, they talk, they share memories,” said the CAC’s director of publicity, Raj Tawney. “It’s just a really wonderful experience to watch.”

The Cinema Arts Centre is just one of a few places in the Town of Huntington that offers this program. While the Whaling Museum and Education Center of Cold Spring Harbor started offering a similar program in December of last year, the Heckscher Museum of Art established its program three years ago. Rhodes said word of the program spread among close-knit organizations like the CAC and museums.

Although Rhodes started the CAC’s Making Memories program, the concept of the program originated in Boston and has become an international effort that has extended from The Museum of Modern Art in New York City to the Louvre in Paris and Art Institute in Australia.

Marcy Rhodes speaks to event attendees at a past Making Memories at the Movies event at the Cinema Arts Centre. Photo from Raj Tawney

“It’s a social opportunity for people [with dementia] and their care partners to engage in an activity that is typical,” Rhodes said.

According to Tawney, many of these residents living with dementia rarely leave their homes, which further affects their mental health.

“Their minds can deteriorate if they go unsocialized,” Tawney said. “So when they come here, they get to see movies, they get to have a conversation with each other. It’s a very interactive program.”

Community members with dementia and their care partners can register for Making Memories at the Movies on March 21 at 11 a.m. at the Cinema Arts Centre, 423 Park Ave., Huntington, by calling 631-423-7611. Admission is $5 per person. Popcorn and beverages will be served.

Residents who can’t make Monday’s program will have another chance to challenge their memories on May 23 and July 25 at 11 a.m.

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