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Times of Middle Country

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File photo by Raymond Janis

Curriculum literature

I recently read a book about a boy in high school.

He had a supportive basketball coach who passed along quotes like “The quality of a man’s life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence, regardless of his chosen field or endeavor.”

He had a teacher that inspired him to do more with his life than previous generations. We should all want our children to achieve more than we have. This is a key part of the American dream. As such this book is patriotic in the best sense of the word.

There are too many inspiring role models in the boy’s life to list here.

This book provides a valuable perspective of a Native American who grew up on a reservation. A perspective that would be foreign to many of us if not for books like this one.

Some passages in the book are uncomfortable to read. Like a teacher admitting at one point the goal was to kill Native Americans; not literally but instead killing their culture. It’s uncomfortable, but unfortunately that is part of our history. Those that don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and those that prevent history being taught fully intend to repeat it.

The title of this book is “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” and the 11th-grade students at Ward Melville High School are lucky to have it as part of their curriculum.

Recently, some parents accused this book of being smut because of a few sentences referring to self-pleasure. Something not unique to this book and something most students are aware of by high school if not sooner.

It’s pretty clear that based on their objectives, the so-called Moms for Liberty and those associated with them are not truly for liberty. Instead, they should be called “Moms for Tyranny.” Their goal is to take away the freedoms of other people. Whether it’s an attempt to have a book removed or it’s an attempt to infringe on others civil liberties, it’s a level of tyranny that never should have left the dark ages.

A famous ship captain once said, “No one is so important that they can usurp the rights of another.” On that note, no one should ever infringe on a student’s liberty to read a great and patriotic work of literature as part of their curriculum.

Ian Farber

Setauket

How to pay for transit improvements

A Long Island Rail Road train arrives at Stony Brook train station during rush hour. Photo by ComplexRational from Wikimedia Commons

Here is how to pay for the transit initiatives outlined in last week’s editorial [“Interconnected trails: Local transit reimagined for Long Island,” Sept. 28, TBR News Media].

Federal funding is available to pay for Long Island Rail Road electrification of the Port Jefferson Branch. The project must be included in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority 2025-2044 20-Year Needs Assessment plan and upcoming 2025-2029 Five-Year Capital Plan.

The MTA must ask for and obtain permission from the Federal Transit Administration to enter this project in FTA’s Capital Investment Grant New Starts Core Capacity Program. MTA Chairman John “Janno” Lieber, LIRR Acting President Robert Free, U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer [D-NY] and Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY] along with the next Suffolk County executive must also be on board in support.

Apply for federal and state funding to purchase smaller buses and create new services. Suffolk County Transit was created in 1980 as a county-run oversight and funding agency for a group of private contract operators, which had previously provided such services on their own.

These companies manage the maintenance and operations of their buses. Buses are paid for by grants from the FTA with the 20% local share split between Suffolk County and state Department of Transportation. Both Suffolk County and NYSDOT provide operating assistance to cover shortfalls from farebox revenues.

Suffolk County Transit and Huntington Area Rapid Transit Bus both use FTA grants to pay for buses, paratransit vehicles, fareboxes, radio communication equipment, bus shelters, bus stop signs and other capital improvements required by private operators to continue providing safe and reliable service that riders count on. They can be used to pay for additional transportation service to serve residents, especially those who reside in low-density neighborhoods.

Operating subsidies are required to establish new service or increase the level of service and reduce the amount of time one waits for a bus on existing routes. Same for adding more off-peak, evening and weekend service. Many of the less dense towns will also have to step up and provide financial assistance to help pay for new services to communities with little or no bus service.

Funding for MTA or Suffolk County Transit is a four-way dance between what riders pay at the farebox and a combination of capital and operating assistance from Suffolk County, Albany and Washington via the FTA.

Everyone needs to have skin in the game. TANSTAAFL — “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch” — or in this case, bus or train ride.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

The writer is a transportation analyst and former director for Federal Transit Administration Region 2

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We welcome your letters, especially those responding to our local coverage, replying to other letter writers’ comments and speaking mainly to local themes. Letters should be no longer than 400 words and may be edited for length, libel, style, good taste and uncivil language. They will also be published on our website. We do not publish anonymous letters. Please include an address and phone number for confirmation. Scan the QR code above or email letters to [email protected] or mail them to TBR News Media, P.O. Box 707, Setauket, NY 11733

 

 

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The Fusco Brothers perform a juggling act. Photo by Jeremy Thomas/Cirque Italia
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The Fusco Brothers perform a juggling act. Photo by Jeremy Thomas/Cirque Italia
Above, Vanessa Ferrari performs a Bubble Contortion aerialist act. Photo by Steven Green
Marcio Silver and Alex the Clown. Photo by Darin Maestas
Jose Ayala - Rolla Bolla. Photo by Tyler Whitman/Cirque Italia
Diaz Duo - Hand 2 Hand/Cirque Italia

By Kevin Redding

A time-traveling water circus is splashing into town this month to make dreams come true.

For those of all ages seeking thrills in the form of high-stakes performances, aerialists, jugglers, contortionists, trampoliners, archers, and the vibrant, multi-talented Alex the Clown at the center of a unique aquatic spectacle, Cirque Italia’s “Water Circus Gold” comes to life under a big white and blue tent at Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove from October 5 to 15. 

Cirque Italia, the animal-free, human talent-only entertainment company, which was founded in Italy in 2012, has long blended its high-caliber production values (dazzling lasers, lighting, and its “Wheel of Death” contraption!) with reverence for the history of the European circus scene. Traveling across several cities and states, the show features an elaborate stage that contains 35,000 gallons of water and 27 computers controlling it, and 17 performers spanning 10 countries, from Argentina and Brazil to Ukraine and Romania, to deliver an unforgettable visual and narrative experience.

Get ready for leather jackets, poodle skirts, muscle cars, and Elvis and Little Richard to blare from the jukebox as the show tells the story of a 1950s-obsessed boy, dressed up as Alex the Clown, who goes to sleep and dreams of living in his favorite decade. Waking up in his own vivid dreamscape, he’s guided through the 1950s by grown-up Alex the Clown.

Behind the makeup and red nose is Alex Acero, 39, of Brazil, who has been performing as a clown, ringmaster, juggler, trampoliner, and trapeze artist with Cirque Italia for seven years. In line with the show, he has been dreaming of being in this world since he was a little kid and grew up in the kind of family where he didn’t have to “run away and join the circus.” A third-generation circus performer, Acero’s grandparents on his mother’s side were circus entertainers and his parents met at a carnival and are still actively performing to this day.

“I grew up watching the circus…some kids want to play with trucks, not me. I wanted to be a trapeze artist, I wanted to be a juggler. This is our way to play,” Acero said. “I’d wake up and see elephants, tigers, lions, and camels around me. That was my childhood!”

He officially joined the circus in Brazil at 9 years old, doing a trampoline act with his brother and honing his comedian skills even then. Traveling all over, he and his family would perform in tours that ran four to six months out of the year, with eight shows a week, which meant he was enrolled in at least 12 different schools throughout his childhood. Regular kid by day, circus entertainer by night.

As he got older, he said his passion for the lifestyle never waned. “I wanted to do this since I was a kid, that was always my dream. Growing up, I still have the same dream.”

At 20, he joined Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, through which he performed at Madison Square Garden, one of his most cherished memories.

“Now I’m working at one of the best shows in the United States,” Acero said of Cirque Italia. “People can expect a lot of lasers, music, and dance. Everybody asks if we get wet, we don’t. We work around the water. It’s like a huge pool and we have a little stage in the middle.

“During the show, I walk into the audience and ask for a quarter for the jukebox. It’s a show for the whole family.”

And Acero really means it. Not only is his wife, Vanessa Ferrari, a trapeze artist in the show but his daughters, Bianca, 12, and Sophia, 4, have joined the family trade too: Bianca is a dancer and Sophia has a walk-on appearance and shares a jukebox dance with her dad.

“We like to say we are families entertaining families,” Acero said. “And I mean thousands of families!” He takes pride in kids in the crowd loving his trampoline act and taking a piece of the show home with them through little stuffed dolls of Alex the Clown. “One mother said her daughter is 4 years old and she bought a cotton candy for her and she didn’t eat it because she was so entertained watching the show…I love that.”

Another excited performer in the show is Margarita Denysova, 24, originally from Ukraine and now living in New Jersey, who specializes in aerial acts, unicyle-riding, hula hooping, handstands, and juggling. With Cirque Italia for a year and a half, she said her childhood dreams have come to life through her emergence in the circus, which began for her at 18 in the Festival International du Cirque de Monte-Carlo.

“I remember going to a circus when I was about 7,” Denysova said, “and it gave me more questions than answers at that time. Because it was like, ‘It’s not possible!’ ‘How can you walk on the wire!’”

A dancer throughout her youth, she got a taste of her future at a circus school in Ukraine. “I was like ‘Oh my God, they jump, they spin, there’s people doing unicycle…I want to do that!’” She eventually attended the Kyiv Municipal Academy of Variety and Circus Arts, where she learned pantomime, circus history, and how to excel on the circus stage. Though it took some time to convince her parents that this was a fitting path for her, and lots of bad falls in the midst of practicing on the unicycle, she’s exactly where she wants to be.

“I’m good at what I’m doing and I’m enjoying it. You’re making people impressed and happy,” she said. “It’s a cool and unique show in the United States with the water stage we have. And animals should be living a free life, so it’s really good.” Referring to her unicycle training, she laughed, “I’ve fallen so many times, and you’re flying off it and landing on your back! I put a little bit of fear in myself just to have this adrenaline. I’m like, ‘Here we go!’”

Now able to balance on four-wheeled unicycles and juggle multiple pins at the same time, Denysova enjoys making a connection with the audience during Cirque Italia performances—especially the younger members.

“Sometimes in the intermission, I see some kids already doing a walkover and some cartwheels. I’m like ‘Wow! When did you learn this?’ It’s very nice, I like it!”

Cirque Italia will be performing shows October 5th through October 15th in a Big Top stationed in the parking lot at 313 Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove. Tickets can be purchased now starting at $10 to $50 depending on availability. For more information on times and tickets, call 941-704-8572 or visit www.cirqueitalia.com. 

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METRO photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

We need people around us for a host of reasons.

We have the kind of division of labor that makes it possible for someone like me with no mechanical skills whatsoever to fix, repair, install or replace something we need, like a dishwasher or roof, to pick up the phone and call a specialist who can do the job.

We also need people to provide the kind of food we don’t grow or cook ourselves and to ship that food across the country or the world.

How would we people watch without people strutting, holding hands, barking commands on cell phones, or pausing to take a giant mouthful of hot pizza?

We also need people for social and emotional reasons.

It’s helpful to have someone who can tell you whether your shoes match your outfit, who can point out if you have food in your teeth, or who can nix your idea to share a risqué joke with your boss.

We go through stages in life when our social needs rise and fall, depending on our age, vulnerabilities, and emotional equanimity.

I have several friends whose children are living through different phases in life, entering and leaving colleges, changing jobs or location, and starting or ending serious relationships.

When people in unfamiliar settings first settle into a new routine, they can feel vulnerable, disconnected, and incredibly lonely.

Making matters worse, they see other people around them laughing with friends, moving in a group, or chatting animatedly on the phone. Social media doesn’t help, as they can see pictures of other people having the times of their lives on other college campuses, surrounded by their new friends, while they look to the vacant space to the left and right of them.

These transitionary periods can make people feel as if they are the only ones without an invitation to an incredible party on the other side of the fence. They can hear music and laughter, they can smell the barbecued chicken, and they can see the flickering lights.

It’s as if a magnetic attraction drew everyone else together, while that same force repelled them, making them outsiders in their towns and universities.

While most young people can and do find comfort from companionship, the time when they feel as if they are on their own can seem extraordinarily long.

That’s where we come in.

You see, we are surrounded by students who are going to college, have returned for a few days or longer, or who have graduated and are trying to find their place in the world.

Some of them want or need nothing from us, as they glide effortlessly between their professional or academic responsibilities and their recharging social contacts.

Others, however, may be too unnerved or unsure to ask for help or to try to get what they may not even acknowledge they need.

The cost of offering an encouraging word, of asking about a student who is rounding up grocery carts in a parking lot, is restocking shelves at a department store or who is taking our order at a fast food restaurant is low.

Most of us are creatures of habit. We tend to go to the same places to eat, to buy our food, or to get our hardware store supplies.

When we go to those stores, we might see those same familiar faces, some of whom might be hiding behind extra long bangs or appear to be staring at their phones or shoes.

We don’t have to become best friends with any of them, and we don’t need to pull up a chair and ask their life stories.

We can, however, spend more than a few seconds getting whatever we need. We can ask how school is going, about the products they are selling or about the changing weather.

Those contacts, brief though they may be, could provide the kind of connection that offers them more of what they needed than whatever we purchased for ourselves in a store.

And who knows? Maybe our awkward attempts to offer some unsolicited connection can give them a good story to tell their current or future friends.

Surrounded by people, we can sometimes feel even more disconnected than we might if we were alone. Let’s try not to be too distracted to notice what someone else might need an encouraging or supportive word or two.

Students are not like the cracks in the sidewalk or the contour of a winding road: they may benefit from something we can and should consider sharing and that doesn’t cost anything more than our time and consideration.

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A scene from 'The Golden Bachelor' Photo from Facebook(ABC/Craig Sjodin)

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

Lately, there have been numerous articles about older folks and aging in general. At least, it seems so to me. Remember Martha Stewart on the cover of Sports Illustrated? Probably the one now with the most buzz is “The Golden Bachelor,” the most recent in the long-running series of Bachelor programs shown on ABC.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to acknowledge that I have seldom watched any of the episodes on the so-called reality dating franchise. If I happened to be passing the television in my house, and one was on the screen, I might have been captured for a few minutes, especially by the beautiful settings in far away places, but it always struck me as improbably scripted.

Yes, I know there is some data showing that a few couples who met on the show actually married and went on to have children and make happy family lives for themselves. Good for those few, but it was too staged for me, and I never became hooked the way my mother, for example, was ensnared by “The Guiding Light” and other such radio soaps in her day.

It seems that television, in general, is suffering from a major drop-off in audience viewership, as people switch to streaming services. That is the case, except for older people, those above 60, who are reluctant to give up their favorite programs in favor of Netflix and hulu. So, some Bachelor television executive decided to give that older cohort more to watch, and as a result, we have been introduced to Gerry Turner, from Indiana, who is 72 years old and a widower looking for a new partner.

Now, he is not a billionaire jet-setting around the world but in need of a companion to make his life complete; rather he is retired from the food distribution industry and had a loving marriage that was cut short by his wife’s tragic bacterial infection. A father of two grown daughters and two granddaughters, who enthusiastically support his new role, he is attractive enough to hold the attention of 22 women contestants also looking for a mate. The women are between 60-75, range from divorced and widowed mothers and grandmothers, and in turn are alluring enough to put a gleam in Turner’s eye as he meets them for the first time.

How do I know? I watched the first episode, not on its Thursday night time slot but on a streaming service a couple of nights later. I admit it. I was curious enough to see what love was going to look like for the silver set.

The tone of the program was, if anything, conspicuously wholesome. What could be more wholesome than a mid-Westerner talking about how he lost his middle-aged wife of 43 years, whom he met in high school, and crying on national television? Still, Turner was called, “sexy,” and though the ladies were, for the most part, relatively restrained in their manners, the underlying message was, “Yes, older people can be attractive and still be looking for love.”

There is another message that seems to have emerged, as this quote from an article in The New York Times reveals.

“The prevailing narrative surrounding the growing number of unmarried older adults tends to focus on the risks of isolation and loneliness. [One in three baby boomers is single.] But Sindy Oh, a licensed clinical psychologist in Los Angeles, said she was struck by how different dating could be for her older clients because they had a much stronger sense of self. ‘They have accepted who they are, and they are presenting themselves as is,’ she said.”

This seems to fit what is offered by “The Golden Bachelor.” The producers note that when they cast for other Bachelor shows, intended for 20s and 30s participants, they sense that the auditioners feel they have to present a version of themselves that is what the show is looking for. But these women who responded were just themselves and could laugh about their age.

Older people still have hope.

 

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Gov. Kathy Hochul updates New Yorkers on Saturday, Sept. 30, the day after declaring a state of emergency for Long Island. Photo courtesy the New York State Executive Chamber

Flash flooding leveled much of the tri-state area last Friday, Sept. 29, prompting a state of emergency declaration for Long Island while unleashing damage and halting some services.

The National Weather Service issued a coastal flood watch for Long Island Friday, which remained in effect into the night. Heavy rainfall and intense flooding throughout the region prompted Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to declare a state of emergency for Long Island, as well as for New York City and portions of the Hudson Valley.

Heavy flooding caused roadway closures at state Route 110 in Huntington between Mill Lane and Prime Avenue near Madison Street at Heckscher State Park, according to a NWS report. In Commack, a stranded motorist on Town Line Road required an emergency service response, the same report indicated.

In an emailed statement, Town of Huntington Supervisor Ed Smyth (R) maintained that much of the town’s infrastructure and services remained undisturbed despite the heavy rainfall.

“Highway Superintendent Andre Sorrentino and the Highway Department, along with our Environmental Waste Management Department, were out in full force with pumps and tree crews clearing and cleaning,” Smyth said. “Our sewage treatment plants received more than double their normal water flow without any reported spillage.”

He added that garbage collection continued as scheduled, though the storm had disrupted and canceled numerous local events. “However, normal government operations continued without interruption. Although there were no significant issues, the town is currently assessing all departments to determine any and all issues relating to the storm.”

Joana Flores, media liaison for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, indicated that operations along the Long Island Rail Road’s Port Jefferson Branch were largely undeterred.

“Friday’s weather event did not have any impact on MTA infrastructure in the Port Jefferson area or to Port Jefferson train service,” Flores said. “With the exception of one train that was momentarily delayed due to a non-weather-related matter, the Port Jefferson Branch operated on or close to schedule.”

“Crews did perform periodic patrols of the Port Jefferson Branch to monitor conditions of the infrastructure,” she added.

Electrical infrastructure had similarly avoided major damages, according to Jeremy Walsh, a spokesperson for PSEG Long Island. “Friday’s flooding did not impact the electric infrastructure,” he said in an email. “Overall, the system performed well. While we did experience scattered outage activity, it was mainly as a result of the heavy rains and gusty conditions impacting trees and tree limbs, not flood damage.”

Given projections for more frequent and intense storm events over the coming years, Walsh added that the utility company is continuing efforts toward mitigating the associated risks to the electrical grid.

“PSEG Long Island has been storm-hardening the electric grid since 2014, including elevating equipment at some substations to protect against flooding, and this has helped reduce the impact of severe weather events,” he noted. “We continue to storm-harden the infrastructure using the best projections for future flooding and wind conditions that are available to us.”

The storm’s impacts were not limited to public infrastructure, however. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation temporarily closed much of the North Shore to shellfishing due to “extremely heavy rainfall and extraordinary amounts of stormwater runoff and localized street flooding … which may result in conditions causing shellfish to be hazardous for use as food,” a NYSDEC report said.

At a press conference the following day, Sept. 30, Hochul announced that there had been no recorded fatalities due to the flooding, thanking the public for heeding emergency warnings.

“What had been described by myself as a potentially life-threatening event ended up being a time when people listened, they reacted properly, they took precautions and no lives were lost,” the governor said.

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Stony Brook University students Anusha Siddiqui, left, and Aafia Syeda volunteer at the university’s food pantry. Photo by Marc S. Levine

Donations to the Stony Brook University food pantry, which has been providing nourishment to students who are food insecure for 10 years, tend to track familiar routines.

During food drives, people go through their pantries or head to stores, often donating helpful and necessary cans of non-perishable goods like canned vegetables.

For students who are food insecure, some of whom stop by either the main food pantry on campus or one of the two satellite locations opened within the last year, items like granola bars, oatmeal, cereal, ready-made pasta meals and mac ’n cheese are also often welcome food choices to satisfy an instant need.

For members of the university community who are food insecure, the goal of the food pantry is to provide necessities while students concentrate on their studies.

“We want to make sure our students are able to focus on what they came here for, which is being academically successful and creating an enriching student life experience without worrying about where their next meal is coming from,” said Emily Snyder, director of the Department of Student Community Development at SBU.

The food pantry, which has 31 student volunteers, distributed about 22,900 individual items during 2022-2023.

Last year, the pantry had about 2,000 visitors, with about 600 to 700 people who sought sustenance at the pantry more than once during the course of the academic year.

On a busy day, the pantries can get upwards of 15 to 20 visitors, which can increase further when the school provides targeted outreach about available perishables with time-sensitive pick up windows.

The primary location for the food pantry is at the Stony Brook Union in Suite L-20 in the lower level. Satellite locations opened last winter at the LGBTQ Center on the second floor of the West Side Dining and the second floor hallway of the Student Activities Center.

The pantry has seen a “considerable increase from year to year,” said Ashley Mercado, assistant director in the Center for Civic Justice at Stony Brook.

The Student Community Development group took over operation of the pantry in 2020, when the needs were growing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We were doing contactless delivery for residents still living on campus,” said Snyder. “The need is always there.”

Visits to the pantry have increased by 150% since 2020, with a rise of 112% in unique users since that time.

Snyder suggested that Stony Brook was focusing on “destigmatizing” the use of resources such as the food pantry. “We have really been focused on communicating that it’s OK to ask for help.”

Snyder and Mercado appreciated the support of students, university departments and the community, who have donated food items to a pantry that has become an increasingly important resource on campus.

Support for the pantry comes from the state as well as monetary and goods donations, including a recent donation of $10,000 from Stop and Shop gift cards.

Stop and Shop announces in September a $10,000 donation in gift cards to the SBU food pantry. Bottom row: Dylan Rehman, Adithya Muralli and Devin Lobosco. Middle row: Carl Lejuez, Anusha Siddiqui, Aafia Syeda, Emily Snyder, Ashley Mercado-Liegi, Rudy Foerster, Shannon Karafian, Rick Gatteau, Karman Pun and Nohemy Alfaro. Top row: Wolfie Seawolf, Ric McClendon and Daniel Wolk. Photo by Marc S. Levine

Student volunteers

Tanisa Usha, a junior from Brooklyn who started volunteering last fall, contributes eight hours a week as an undergraduate student coordinator.

She “enjoys being able to help” and appreciates the opportunity to “make sure [students] feel welcome,” Usha said.

The pantry also stocks a few hygiene products, which are popular with students. Hygiene items can include anything that’s packaged appropriately, such as razors, soaps and hair care products.

Unusual Thanksgiving items

Snyder and Mercado said donations typically increase around the holidays.

During Thanksgiving, people bring in pumpkin pie mix, stuffing and cranberry sauce.

“People assume that’s the cuisine everyone is looking for,” said Mercado. At Stony Brook University, where diversity is one of the school’s assets, students are often seeking foods that are more familiar to them.

“We have an Asian grocery store close to campus,” said Mercado. “People will buy from there and donate. Students get excited when we get products they are used to having.”

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Lori Ledek EXPO photo by Miranda Gatewood
Lori Ledek photo by Miranda Gatewood
Jeanette Candido
Jeanette Candido Granola
Jeanette Candido Granola Bars
Ashley Settle
Ashley Settle Custom Cookies
Ashley Settle Cookies
Ashley Settle Cookie Decorating

Making up more than two-thirds of Long Island’s business community, small businesses are the heartbeat of our economy. In this challenging time, it is more important than ever to shop local and support Long Island entrepreneurs. The annual Women’s EXPO at the Middle Country Public Library, in Centereach on Thursday, October 5 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. is a great opportunity to meet with and shop from some of these local entrepreneurs. 

An initiative of the Middle Country Library Foundation, this annual event doesn’t just “provide physical space for Long Island Women to sell their products, it goes beyond that,” says Alexandra Mallilo, Vice President, Commercial Private Banking, BankUnited, N.A. and EXPO Education Sponsor. 

“The entrepreneurs become part of a community of professionals, with access to subject experts on everything from photographing products for virtual sales, to determining appropriate pricing, collecting payment, social media marketing, and brand awareness. These business tools help women turn passion projects into profitable businesses.”

Small businesses support and enrich the communities they serve and the chance to meet its members is important. “The Women’s EXPO is a wonderful opportunity for the community to meet and hear women entrepreneurs tell their story and promote their businesses,” says Maryellen Ferretti, Retail Market Manager, V.P. of TD Bank, the EXPO’s raffle sponsor. “It is just part of what makes Middle Country Library a great partner with TD Bank, they create innovative spaces and hold inclusive events where strangers become neighbors—and neighbors, friends.” 

When you shop locally you often deal directly with people who genuinely care about the quality of goods and customer satisfaction. Whether it’s the corner deli, the neighborhood coffee shop, or a woman entrepreneur at the Women’s EXPO, every local purchase is a vote of confidence in your community.

Let’s shine a spotlight on some of the incredible local entrepreneurs who will be this year’s Women’s EXPO:

Jeanette Candido, The Granola Plant

Jeanette Candido

After deciding she “didn’t want to sit in an office anymore,” Jeanette Candido started The Granola Plant five years ago. She started selling her gluten free, oil free and processed sugar free granola at farmers’ markets on Long Island and it took off right away. Being an entrepreneur in these trying times is “not easy…but it’s still going,” says Jeanette. Over time she has increased her offerings, depending on the season and the location, to include hot cocoa mix, homemade marshmallows, and granola in decorative canisters. 

Like other small business owners, she is feeling the effects of the economy, although it seems to be getting better. Jeanette is looking forward to her 3rd year at the EXPO. “It’s such a fun day seeing those shoppers that visit every year.” 

When asked if she had advice for other women entrepreneurs, Jeanette said, “Don’t compare yourself to anyone else.” Words we could all take to heart but for small business owners it is especially important.

Lori Ledek, Lori’s Originals

Lori Ledek photo by Miranda Gatewood

Driving on Middle Country Road in Calverton, you might notice an interesting shop connected to J&R’s Steakhouse. Opened in 2012, Lori’s Originals features the beautiful, hand painted glassware and gifts of Lori Ledek. To round out the store, Lori sources items from local artisans to “curate a homemade & handmade look in the store.” This enables her to support local artists and put their wares in front of new shoppers.  

Shoppers love it; they appreciate the affordability as Lori tries to keep prices as reasonable as possible.  In these economic times, “it’s a dance to make things affordable,” she says, but one she is willing to do for her community.  

With a retail location, Lori is doing only a couple of shows each year. She is part of the EXPO year after year “because of the people. I love the support you give to small business owners.” 

Visit Lori at the EXPO or at her store (4364 Middle Country Road, Calverton) to see her beautiful hand painted designs and for a chance to meet her store mascot, cocker spaniel Bosco.

Ashley Settle, Sweet Legends Bakeshop

Ashley Settle

Originally from Las Vegas, Ashley Settle started Sweet Legends Bakeshop a little over a year ago. After working at a bakery in college, and loving its atmosphere she says, “I have always loved baking,” so starting a home bakery seemed like a perfect fit. Beautiful, decorated cookies are the cornerstone of Ashley’s business with many customers exclaiming, “OMG they are too beautiful to eat.” Ashley assures us they taste as delicious as they look! 

Being a new business in a new area, Ashley began attending workshops and events at the Middle Country Public Library’s Miller Business Center and “found it so helpful.”  There she not only increased her business skills, she also met other business professionals including local business owner Bertha Portalatin of Painting with a Twist in Selden. This connection has led to Ashley and Bertha partnering to offer cookie decorating classes.  

At the Miller Business Center, Ashley also learned about the Women’s EXPO. She heard from several women how great it was to be a part of a local event celebrating women entrepreneurs. Ashley is excited for the event and the chance to really meet the community. 

As a new business owner, Ashley’s advice is to cover all your legal bases from the beginning. Once you’ve done that “just start,” she says.

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The 23rd annual Women’s EXPO will take place on Thursday, October 5 at the Middle Country Public Library, 101 Eastwood Blvd, Centereach from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Snacks and lunch will be available for purchase in the EXPO Cafe. Need a break from shopping? Take a rest in the Zen Den on site. Admission is free and there is ample parking. For further information, call the library at 631-585-9393 x296 or visit www.womensEXPOli.org.

 

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Do you recognize this man? Photo from SCPD

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers and Suffolk County Police Sixth Precinct Crime Section
officers are seeking the public’s help to identify and locate the man who allegedly stole
merchandise from a Medford store this month.

A man allegedly stole a kitchen appliance from Target, located at 2975 Horseblock Road, on
September 19.

Suffolk County Crime Stoppers offers a cash reward for information that leads to an
arrest. Anyone with information about these incidents can contact Suffolk County Crime
Stoppers to submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-800-220-TIPS, utilizing a mobile app
which can be downloaded through the App Store or Google Play by searching P3 Tips, or
online at www.P3Tips.com. All calls, text messages and emails will be kept confidential.

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Public domain photo

Long Island’s fishing industry may have dodged a bullet this hurricane season, although the official season for the Atlantic Basin does not end until Nov. 30. Yet stormier seas may be brewing for the years ahead.

Local fishermen sounded an upbeat tune after a sequence of intense tropical cyclones did not make landfall. While precipitation disrupted some local events in recent weeks, fishing operations have gone along without interruption.

Eric Huner owns and operates Captain Fish Port Jefferson, a fishing charter boat based in Port Jefferson that transports tourists and locals for fishing charters.

“For me personally, it didn’t affect me at all,” he told TBR News Media. “I can’t say there’s any real loss, probably for any private fishing boat like myself.”

On the commercial fishing side, the experience was relatively similar, according to Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association.

“As far as those guys that were fishing, most guys were out fishing the next day” after Hurricane Lee brushed past the Northeast, she said. “There wasn’t really much of an impact, thank goodness.”

Difficult past, uncertain future

Those interviewed suggested the Long Island fishing industry had averted a major threat with these storms avoiding landfall.

Reflecting upon the commercial impacts of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Brady remembered it as “particularly vicious” for the shoreline, with consequences for the fishing industry as well.

However, Huner said that irregular winds and tidal patterns are increasingly commonplace, complicating matters for his business. With projections for more frequent and intense storms, Huner said his line of work is becoming less predictable, noting the increasing difficulties in deciding which days to fish and selecting departure times.

“This year was the first time I took notice of the weather patterns being very difficult to predict,” he said. There was “a lot of volatility in the wind patterns, difficult to find windows of opportunity to go out,” adding, “It was not a normal, stable summer.”

More broadly, Brady expressed reservations about the regional trend toward offshore wind, saying this infrastructure could disrupt the local fishing industry.

“Offshore wind is going to, from our perspective, industrialize the ocean beyond any kind of repair,” she said. “It’s a very frightening time for our ocean, and that’s why we’re fighting so hard against it.”

Optimistic outlook

Huner said that the fisheries remain well populated despite the climactic challenges, a positive indicator that conservation efforts are working.

He also stated that the nature of the trade requires frequent adaptation to changing conditions. “The local fisherman is a pretty experienced person on the water,” he said. “I’m constantly reviewing what the weather forecasts are, what the wind forecasts are — and that’s a big part of my job.”

He added, “It takes a little more work, and if this is going to be what we call our ‘new normal,’ then we’re just going to have to be really on top of it.”

Adding to these sentiments, Brady said local fishermen are used to adapting “to changes in the water every day.”

“Those who are good at this trade tend to be experiential learners,” she said. “Every day, the ocean can change. The tides change. The moon changes. So they learn to adapt based on living it.”

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Photo courtesy Peter Gollon
By Peter Gollon

I commend this newspaper for its thorough and balanced Sept. 14 and Sept. 21 articles on the proposed conversion of the Long Island Power Authority into a fully municipal utility that would directly operate the electrical transmission and distribution system that it has owned for decades.

LIPA, which is the country’s third largest municipal utility, is legally required now to outsource its operation to another entity. Right now that is PSEG Long Island. Before that, it was National Grid.

LIPA’s staff of 60 experienced utility professionals supervises PSEGLI’s performance according to metrics taking 207 pages to outline. Each year, LIPA pays PSEGLI $80 million for just 18 executives to plan and direct the 2,500-line call center and other workers whose pay is provided by LIPA. That’s more than $4 million for each PSEGLI-supplied executive.

There is considerable overlap between the top PSEGLI staff and the LIPA staff that supervises and grades PSEGLI’s performance. Both the Legislative Commission on the Future of the Long Island Power Authority and LIPA agree that if LIPA hired a dozen more staffers, it could run the system itself, dispensing with PSEGLI’s management and saving about $75 million each year.

This savings would be real, even if PSEGLI were doing a good job. But it hasn’t been. Their performance in storm restoration after Tropical Storm Isaias in 2020 was so bad, and their reports on the causes of the failure of the outage management system were so dishonest, that LIPA considered PSEGLI to be in default of their contract.

Beyond PSEGLI’s shortcomings, the problem is the structure of the unique and convoluted “hybrid” system itself. Besides the extra cost, the inefficiency of this two-headed structure is why LIPA is the only large municipal utility in the country to be operated this way.

As a LIPA trustee for five years, I saw the difficulties, delays and expense that this structure results in. For example, it required three months and a resolution voted by the LIPA Board directing PSEGLI to develop and implement an accurate and modern asset management system for the billions of dollars of LIPA-owned assets before PSEGLI would take such action.

The delays and inefficiency of this management structure do not show up as a specific dollar cost in LIPA’s budget, but they are there and impede LIPA’s adaptation to the new reality of stronger storms and a faster transition to a renewable energy system.

LIPA needs the simple, common municipal utility structure recommended by the state’s Legislative Commission. The Board of Trustees should be reorganized so some trustees are appointed by both Suffolk and Nassau County executives, rather than now where all the trustees are appointed by the state’s political leadership in Albany.

Locally appointed trustees should give LIPA needed credibility with its Long Island customer base and might make it more responsive to local concerns. In recent years, there has been significant hostility resulting from inadequate understanding by both PSEGLI and LIPA of the impact of changes in tariffs, and from the location and details of new facilities or even just taller and thicker poles.

Finally, one trustee should be named by the union — IBEW Local 1049 — representing the utility’s workforce to ensure that their interests are represented at the highest level.

The legal structure in which the workforce is actually housed is critical. Their transfer from PSEGLI to LIPA must be done in a way that continues their employment under federal labor jurisdiction and preserves their well-earned pension rights. Any proposal that might put them under weaker state labor jurisdiction and possibly jeopardize their pensions has no chance of passing the Legislature, nor should it.

Long Islanders should support this once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix a broken utility structure.

The writer served on the Long Island Power Authority Board of Trustees from 2016 to 2021.

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