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Wildcats lose heartbreaker in OT

by Bill Landon - June 14, 2021

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Liam Gregorek wins at X for the Wildcats at home, in the Class C semi-final round against Bayport-Blue Point Jun 12. Bill Landon photo

The Shoreham-Wading River Wildcats saw a three-goal lead evaporate just before the half and had to claw their way back from five unanswered goals by Bayport-Blue Point in the Class C semi-final round at home June 12.

Claw their way back they did, with just over 2 minutes remaining when Alec Gregorek scored his 5th goal of the game to tie the score at 10-10 forcing a four-minute overtime period. It was Bayport’s Gavin Locascio’s stick that put an end to the Wildcat’s season when he buried his shot two minutes into the overtime period for a 11-10 victory.

Shoreham-Wading River concludes their Covid-19 shortened 2021 campaign at 13-2.

Photos by Bill Landon

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Editorial: Andy vs. Lee in the mask game

by TBR Staff - June 14, 2021

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mask 4, kimberly brown — Parents gathered at an ‘Unmask Our Kids’ rally last week in Hauppauge. Photo by Kim Brown

The last week has been really confusing surrounding children wearing masks in schools and during recess.

With under three weeks left of classes, parents across Long Island have been rallying outside the county offices, demanding that Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) ends the mask mandates for little ones.

But it became political, fast.

We agree: Masks are annoying, and we can only imagine how it’s impacting children in schools emotionally and physically. The weather has been hot — field days and outdoor sports have been starting back up in high and humid temperatures. But public health is still a top priority. It should not be political.

And while U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY1) and Andrew Giuliani (R) held the same exact rally, in the same exact spot just a week apart, something must have worked because Cuomo announced a change in the state mandate two days after Zeldin’s gathering.

But then that changed because the state Department of Health said it isn’t time for kids to be maskless inside yet — outside they can.

Parents were confused, upset — and rightfully so. Districts had to send out letters every other day updating what was allowed and what was not allowed.

We’re all very tired. We want this to end. What we don’t want, though, is for things to happen prematurely. Is it better for the kids to spend the next few days with a mask on and then its summer break? Remember only people over 12 can be vaccinated, leaving many students in schools unvaccinated either because of age or their family’s choice.

In this case we think patience is a virtue. It’s not completely over yet. Be safe and be smart.

Miller Place takes down Half Hollow Hills West

by TBR Staff - June 12, 2021

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By Diana Fehling

It’s been a home-run of a season for Miller Place High School. The boy’s baseball beat Half Hollow Hills West 2-0 at their game on June 10.

Kai Loftin pitched a 4-hit shutout and had the winning RBI.

The win advanced Miller Place into the season’s playoffs.

Photos by Diana Fehling

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Coach Michael Bowler 1st Inaugural Tribute and Remembrance-Day

by Bill Landon - June 10, 2021

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The Bowler family at midfield prior to the first inaugural Coach Michael Bowler Tribute and Remembrance-day June 5. Bill Landon photo

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Rocky Point’s legendary boy’s lacrosse coach Michael Bowler, who passed away in December of 2019, was honored in the Inaugural Michael Bowler Tribute and Remembrance Day, Saturday, June 5, at Rocky Point High School. Bowler, who established the boy’s lacrosse program back in 1978, fielded a winning season in his first year. Bowler served as head coach for the Eagles through 43 seasons with more than 600 wins to his credit, and led his team to the New York State Championship title in 2008.

A Bowler player has attended every major college, Ivy league school and Military academy in the nation. Recently, Rocky Point lacrosse alum Peter LaSalla, a junior at the University of Virginia, won his team’s second National Championship.

Coach Bowler was named New York State Coach of the Year in boys lacrosse by the National Federation of High School sports in 2020. The award is presented to recipients who have made the greatest impact to student athletes in their respective sport.

Coach Bowler’s family and his wife, Helene, took center stage at midfield prior to Saturday’s game where the Eagles honored the late coach’s legacy with a win 13-2 victory over Kings Park.

Rocky Point captain John O’Conner escorted Mrs. Bowler to midfield wearing No. 43 to honor coach Bowler’s 43 years at the helm. O’Connor won 13 of 18 battles at face off with senior attackmen Charles Gerace scoring 5 goals and Anthony Milano netting 4.

— Photos by Bill Landon

RPSB Chamber of Commerce celebrates frontline heroes and essential workers

by TBR Staff - June 10, 2021

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rpsb chamber 5, kimberly brown — Photo by Kimberly Brown

By Kimberly Brown

Whether it is nurses taking care of COVID-19 patients, or Stop & Shop supermarket employees providing food for their community, the Rocky Point Sound Beach Chamber of Commerce felt it was only appropriate to gather residents to salute frontline heroes and essential workers last Saturday.

“To all of our essential workers, and to all who have helped our community in the midst of this difficult time, thank you, thank you, thank you,” said Gary Pollakusky, president of RPSB chamber. “You’ve helped keep things together, and now life is returning back to normal.”

A leader in the pandemic has been Stony Brook University Hospital. The doctors, nurses and physicians have spent countless hours volunteering their time, playing a pivotal role to help stop the spread.

Carol Gomes, chief executive officer and chief operating officer at SBU Hospital, credits her team as the overall backbone in response to COVID-19 in Suffolk County — which has had the lowest mortality rate across the downstate region.

“We have weathered an incredibly difficult storm, but our health care heroes rose to the occasion, not once, but twice during surges and continue to do so every day as the pandemic still does continue,” Gomes said.

According to the hospital, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 200,000 Suffolk County residents have tested positive for coronavirus and more than 3,000 have lost their lives.

“We grieve with the families that have experienced loss but, as more people become fully vaccinated, we remain hopeful for brighter tomorrows,” she added.

State Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) also made an appearance at the event to express his gratitude toward the frontline heroes and essential workers.

According to Palumbo, during the pandemic, government officials were able to continue working using Zoom. However, firefighters and police officers did not have that same option, making them true frontline heroes.

“You had to suit up and go into the belly of the beast, so when we use the phrase ‘frontlines,’ a military phrase, you were all absolutely the tip of the spear,” he said.

The ceremony concluded with a car caravan past the honorees through Rocky Point to Rocky Point Funeral Home.

East Beach retaining wall finally completed

by Julianne Mosher - June 10, 2021

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The long-awaited retaining wall at East Beach is finally done after a total makeover of the decaying former wall.

Back in March, the project was awarded to Galvin Brothers and Madhue Contracting, both of Great Neck, as a joint venture for a total of $474,830. The expenses for the structural repairs were included in the budget and were part of a bond anticipation note.

This came as part of the ongoing revitalization of East Beach, which included sand dredging, and soon a revegetation of the bluff.

According to Mayor Margot Garant, the wall was finished on time and as expected by Memorial Day weekend.

“I think the community is really happy with it,” she said. “It’s important that we got this wall completed.”

Garant said they are continuously keeping an eye on the wall and watching the upper slop to make sure everything stays in place.

“When there was a monsoon [that weekend],” she said, “Everything stayed intact.”

D. None of the Above: Close call on the highway could have been something much worse

by Daniel Dunaief - June 9, 2021

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By Daniel Dunaief

You don’t have to look hard to see them alongside the road. They aren’t even always on the sharpest curves or the steepest hills.

There, along the median or over there, by the right side of the road, are the homemade crucifixes, the flowers, the stuffed animals and the personal effects of people who never made it wherever they were going, their lives ending on or near asphalt as other vehicles collided with theirs.

My family recently took a road trip, where we easily could have become another statistic, and our family or friends could have just as easily been visiting the spot where it ended for one, two, three or all four of us.

I was driving during a recent weekend, excited by the open road and eager to remove the family from the neighborhood patterns that have defined our lives for well over a year.

My wife navigated, checked her email, exchanged texts with friends, and regularly asked if I wanted her to drive, if I needed a drink, or if I was hungry.

Our son was napping behind me, his head tilted back and to the left. Our daughter was immersed in virtual interactions with her friends, head down, a Mona Lisa smile plastered on her face.

With my peripheral vision, I traced the flow of the taller and shorter trees that passed by, the familiarity of the Texas, Indiana, Ohio and California license plates on nearby cars and trucks, and the click, click, click of the road that churned beneath our wheels.

Up ahead, the driver of one of the thousands of SUVs that dot the American landscape hit his brakes. My wife instantly saw it and closed her eyes. Unlike me, she typically hits her brakes as soon as she sees the red lights at the back of the car in front of her.

I immediately take my foot off the accelerator, where it hovers over the brake. As we rapidly approached the car in front of us, I applied the brake with some force, coming to an almost complete stop just feet before reaching the bumper.

I exhaled in relief, while immediately hitting the hazards. I wanted the cars behind me to know I wasn’t merely touching my brakes, but that I, and all the other cars around me, were stopping.

For a moment, I chatted with my wife. I have no idea what she or I was saying, when I noticed a truck coming towards at an incredible rate of speed.

“Hold on! This isn’t good!” I shouted, waking my son and drawing my daughter away from her phone.

I reflexively tapped my accelerator and drove my car directly towards the nearly stopped SUV on my right side. The truck, meanwhile, dove into the thin shoulder.

As it flew by, the truck somehow missed us completely. The car next to me honked in frustration, as the driver, who must have moved to her right, glared. I wanted to tell her that a truck might have crushed our family if the driver and I hadn’t each made last second adjustments.

Her lane kept moving, and she likely didn’t give my sudden maneuver another thought. With my hands in a vice grip on the wheel and my breathing rapid, I stared at the truck in front of me. I wasn’t sure whether I would have liked to punch or hug the driver, who didn’t notice me slowing down, see my hazard lights or leave himself enough room to stop. At the same time, though, he — and it could have been a woman, because I never saw the driver — turned onto the small shoulder, finding just enough space to squeeze past me without destroying my car, my family or my life.

For the next several minutes, I struggled to drive, as the image of the speeding truck with nowhere to go in my rear view mirror replayed itself in my head.

“Are you okay? Do you need me to drive?” my wife asked anxiously.

My family and I were okay. We weren’t a part of a sad story that ended on an American highway. Skid marks left on the road weren’t a marker for the final seconds of our lives.

We are grateful for the combination of factors that turned a close call into a near miss. Perhaps this happened for a reason beyond giving us more opportunities to extend the journeys of our lives. Perhaps one of the purposes is to provide a warning to everyone else to remain vigilant, to brake early and to stay sharp and focused on the roads.

Between You and Me: Ever heard of a white tick? Please read on

by Leah Dunaief - June 9, 2021

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By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

Here we go again. I have had another encounter with a tick, but this time, to make the story more interesting, the villain is a white tick. At least it can appear white when it is engorged with blood. My blood. Just the thought of it is enough to make one’s skin crawl, right?

Well, it’s tick season particularly now, and you don’t have to go into the woods to find them. They can be in the beautiful lawn at your house or in the bushes that you brush against when you take out the garbage. Unless you are wearing long pants that are tucked into your socks and a long sleeve shirt and hat, you could be a victim. More likely, your dog could appear to a tick as a delicious steak on four legs, and if bitten, the dog can inadvertently carry the tick into your home. I think the white tick found me as I was sitting on the cement edge of a pool and wearing just shorts and a short sleeve shirt in the recent 90-degree weather. (Chicken that I am, I found the water still too cold to jump in.)

We all know that ticks can carry Lyme disease. But there are other diseases that could potentially be transmitted through their bite. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is another, and despite its geographical designation, this malady can occur throughout the United States and yes, even on Long Island. A local internist I know tells me he has seen several cases in the course of his practice.

RSMF, as it is sometimes referred to, is a bacterial disease that typically begins with a fever and fierce headache. A few days later a rash develops, made up of small spots usually starting on the wrists and ankles. Other symptoms may include muscle pains and vomiting.

To my surprise, when I had routine blood work done for an annual check-up a couple of years ago, I discovered that I had indeed had RSMF from that previous tick bite but with no symptoms.

Asymptomatic versions do indeed occur, and I was one such example. Now I have again been bitten, and the question is whether I could get the disease again, if the tick carried RSMF, or if I have antibodies sufficient enough to make me immune. Then again, I cannot be sure that this recent tick did not carry Lyme disease or some other microbial agent of infection.

What to do?

It never helps to have a medical problem on a weekend. I apparently was bitten on Saturday afternoon and found the tick behind my right knee on awakening Sunday morning. My hand was drawn to it because of a severe itch. At first, because it was small and white, we thought it was a skin tab that had spontaneously appeared. But upon pulling, it came off and began crawling away. Since I had experience with a tick bite before, I knew to capture the tick in a plastic sandwich baggie and save for the physician to send for testing.

As the day progressed, I could feel a tiny lump where I had been bitten, and the area around the lump became red and warm, with the same intense itch that had originally drawn my attention. By Tuesday, I had an appointment with my physician, and I had more than only the tick to show him. The red area had increased from the size of a silver dollar to that of my palm. I am now taking doxycycline, the antibiotic of choice, as well as an antihistamine for what is probably an allergic reaction.

I share this with you as a cautionary tale to urge you to check yourselves daily for ticks that might have targeted you as a good meal. And further, don’t just assume a tick on you will be black and therefore readily spotted. Take heed from my experience. They can also be white.

New school mask guidelines cause confusion

by Julianne Mosher - June 9, 2021

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mask 6, kimberly brown — Photo by Kimberly Brown

By Julianne Mosher & Kimberly Brown

Parents, students and school districts had a confusing week with mask mandates for kids pre-K through 12 needing clarification from the governor.

On Friday, June 4, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said an announcement was coming to drop in-school mask mandates for children. But shortly after, the state Department of Health’s announcement didn’t align with what he said.

Health officials said they had not yet received an OK from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and on Monday, Cuomo announced the CDC would not be changing guidance for wearing masks, therefore they are still required inside schools.

According to Cuomo, school districts can lift the requirement that students must wear masks outdoors. The state’s guidance on mask use indoors remains in place, but school districts may choose to no longer require masks outdoors, for example during recess. This change aligns with guidance relating to summer camps, where even unvaccinated campers are not required to wear masks outdoors.

“Children wear masks in school inside, and when they’re outside of the school building in recess, etc., it’s hot, they’re running around, but they’re outside, there is no mandate for masks outside. We’ll leave that up to the local school districts,” Cuomo said Monday.

This came just days after rallies were hosted across Long Island, demanding that the governor “unmask our kids.”

Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-NY1) and upset parents gathered Wednesday, June 2, outside the H. Lee Dennison building in Hauppauge to demand a mask-free environment for children in schools and camps.

“This is the right decision for children across New York, who have sacrificed so much throughout the pandemic and suffered emotionally, physically and mentally from lockdowns and remote learning,” Zeldin said at the rally.

The week before, May 26, Andrew Giuliani (R) — another contender for Cuomo’s seat in 2022 and son of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) — stopped by the same spot to show his support for the same cause.

These rallies were put together by parents and advocacy groups who hoped to influence Cuomo’s decision to lift the mandate.

“It’s a parent’s right to take care of their children the best way they feel fit,” said Mike Hathaway from Long Island Loud Majority, a conservative organization. “Not the government, not for political pull, and not for control.”

Moms for Liberty, an advocacy group from Suffolk County that focuses on unifying America while educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights, has been working to get the mask mandate lifted in New York.

A member of the group, Barbara Abboud, said her children, among many others, have been suffering in school, whether that be academic, mental or physical.

“Everyone here today knows what’s at stake,” she said. “It’s more than just unmasking our children, it’s about getting our basic freedoms back.”

Zeldin also discussed his animosity with the prior COVID-19 restrictions, where businesses were forced to close at earlier hours to prevent the spread of the virus.

“There was a time when they said you couldn’t go to the gym after 10 [p.m.] because, apparently, that spreads COVID,” Zeldin said. “However, if you go at 8:30 with a whole group of people, that would mitigate the spread.”

Cuomo said virtually all restrictions can be lifted once 70% of New Yorkers aged 18 and older have received the first dose of the vaccine.

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Eagles soar into post-season

by Bill Landon - June 5, 2021

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Rocky Point senior Emmarose Hansen clears from behind the cage in a home game against Kings Park June 4. Bill Landon photo

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The Eagles of Rocky Point had a six-goal cushion at the halftime break, but Kings Park came out strong early in the second half drawing within three goals two different times when the Eagles slammed the door to win the Division II matchup 19-13 at home, June 4.

Senior Kelly Logue topped the scoring chart for the Eagles with five goals. Lindsey Lucia followed with four, and seniors Kaleigh Wilgeroth and Emmarose Hansen both had hat tricks.

A pair of sophomores led the way for Kings Park with Jaxie Cestone and Anne McGovern scoring three goals each.

Rocky Point senior Jenika Cuocco had 12 saves at net.

The Eagles finish their regular COVID- shortened season at 11-3 to ready themselves for post season play which began Tuesday June 8. Rocky Point was scheduled to play Comsewogue June 9. Results were not available at press time. Kings Park concluded their 2021 contest at 7-6.

Pictured clockwise from above left, Kings Park sophomore Anne McGovern crosses midfield pursued by Rocky Point junior Lindsey Lucia; Rocky Point junior Victoria Curreri takes possession for the Eagles; senior Emmarose Hansen pushes up-field; senior Kelly Logue sets up the play; senior goalie Jenika Cuocco with a save in a home game.

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