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New SCCC president has big goals in new role

by Julianne Mosher - October 8, 2021

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After a long and intensive search, Suffolk County Community College has officially welcomed its new president, Edward Bonahue.

Now overseeing the college’s three campuses — Ammerman in Selden, Grant in Brentwood and Eastern in Riverhead — Bonahue said he’s excited to come back to Long Island after leaving for his education and career decades ago.

Bonahue grew up in Setauket and attended Nassakeag Elementary School, Murphy Junior High and then Ward Melville High School, Class of 1983.

“It was wonderful,” he said. “Growing up in the Three Villages was a wonderful privilege, just because it taught me about the value of education.”

Ed Bonahue graduated from Ward Melville in 1983. Photo from SCCC

As a teen, he taught swimming lessons for the Town of Brookhaven, which he cites as the reason he became so fluent in the different areas of Suffolk County.

“I had taught swimming everywhere from Cedar Beach to Shoreham,” he said. “I taught at the Centereach pool, Holtsville pool, West Meadow — it was one way of getting a sense that we live in a bigger place.”

Bonahue said he was “one of those kids” who was involved with the arts more than sports — although he did run track during his junior and senior years.

“Ward Melville was lucky to have a great arts program,” he said. “They have a great jazz program and I was in that generation of kids where I was in the Jazz Ensemble all three years.”

His love of arts and humanities led him to North Carolina upon graduating, where he received his B.A. in English Literature at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem.

After his undergrad, Bonahue took a job in Washington, D.C., working as an editor at the U.S. General Services Administration and then as managing editor for Shakespeare Quarterly at the Folger Shakespeare Library.

“That convinced me: ‘Oh, yeah, I kind of like this. And I think I’m going to go back to graduate school.’”

Bonahue enrolled at the University of North Carolina where he received his M.A. and Ph.D. in English Literature. He then moved with his wife to Gainesville, Florida, to hold the position of visiting assistant professor of humanities at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Florida.

In 2009, he was a Fulbright Scholar with the U.S. International Education Administrators Program in Germany, and in 2016-2017, he was an Aspen Institute College Excellence Program Presidential Fellow.

And while in Florida, Bonahue eventually headed to Santa Fe College, also in Gainesville, serving as the provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, along with several other roles.

But as the years went on, he decided he wanted to head somewhere new and began looking for fresh opportunities. Through networking, he heard about a post back on Long Island – a place he knew very well.

New appointment at SCCC

Bonahue took on his new role officially on June 28. Under his leadership, he oversees the current enrollment of more than 23,000 credit students and 7,000 continuing education students.

“One of the one of the opportunities for Suffolk going forward is to think about how we’re serving all of Suffolk County,” he said. “It’s no secret that the number of traditional students graduating from high school is going down every year. Over time, that’s a lot of students.”

While the majority of SCCC students are on the traditional path, Bonahue said that moving forward they need to figure out ways to do better outreach to nontraditional students.

Bonahue said one of his many goals is to converge with employers and help their workers continue their education through Suffolk or connect them with future employees while still in school. He added that in a post-COVID world where there can be gatherings, he would like high school guidance counselors to come and visit.

“I think high school students get a lot from recommendations from their teachers and guidance counselors — especially students who are underserved because of the parents haven’t been to college, they don’t have that network of what it’s like to go to college,” Bonahue said. “So, they rely on their teachers and guidance counselors for that information.”

He added that one thing that was learned during the 2020 census is Long Island is becoming a more diverse place.

“Many have not had the privilege of any exposure to higher education,” he said. “And that’s what community college is for —
providing access to educational opportunity and access to economic opportunity for folks who, without it, might be stuck in some kind of dead-end, entry-level service sector job.”

Bonahue noted that SCCC as a college needs to internalize its mission is not only to serve 19-year-old students.

Photo from SCCC

“Our mission is also to serve a mom with a baby at home, someone who’s taking care of parents, someone who’s working in a family business, could be a worker who’s already been on the job and has been displaced — those are all of our students,” he said. “I think our mission is to embrace that larger sense of community, and then on top of that there are areas of Suffolk County that have not been particularly well served, or where services are not as strong as elsewhere.”

Appointed by SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras, the SUNY Board of Trustees and the Suffolk Board of Trustees, Bonahue said that in his new role, he wants the college to be an agent of change.

“I think they wanted someone who understands that Suffolk County is a diverse place — that it has many constituencies and that the three campuses have different personalities,” he said. “So, someone used the phrase that I checked a lot of boxes for Suffolk. My hope is that also I can present pictures of best practices that are practiced in high performing community colleges across the country, and if those best practices have not been adopted by Suffolk, then I think we have huge opportunities in terms of best practices that relate to community outreach, to academic and student support services, programming, workforce development, transfers and so forth. I think I think I can make a big contribution to Suffolk in a variety of ways.”

Bonahue said he plans on being not just on Selden’s Ammerman campus, he wants to be active on all three.

“I’m going to try to celebrate Suffolk across the whole county, including being present on all three campuses,” he said. “Each college serves a slightly different demographic, but one of the things I sense is that the college is hungry for a coherent and unified strategy.”

Coming back to Long Island was an exciting moment for Bonahue over the summer, but now it’s time for work. Since school started Sept. 2, he has been busy meeting faculty, staff and students, while focusing on his plans to better the local community college.

“I loved growing up on Long Island,” he said. “And so, it’s been a pleasure to return here.”

Julianne Mosher is an adjunct professor at Suffolk County Community College.

D. None of the Above: An unusual roadkill brings relief to an anxious dog

by Daniel Dunaief - October 7, 2021

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By Daniel Dunaief

This time of year, my dog walks with relief and trepidation.

The relief comes from temperatures that have cooled off enough that his heavy fur doesn’t exacerbate the humidity and discomfort from stifling heat.

The trepidation arises out of the emergence of ominous additions to the neighborhood that change the world he knows.

The spiderwebs along fences and hanging on bushes and trees don’t bother him, but the ghosts planted in the ground, the green glow-in-the-dark skeletons and the hanging vampires terrify him, as he prefers to scamper toward the street and passing cars rather than walk near an inexplicable figure swaying in the wind, hovering over him like some supernatural predator.

And so it was, recently, that we took an early October walk through our neighborhood.

While these figures create anxiety for him, I was mulling the numerous global threats to the future for which we Americans and we humans are grappling. Global warming, debt limits, infrastructure bills, gun violence, the pandemic, partisanship, educational deficiencies, a destructive oil spill in California and everything else ricocheted around my head as I thought of the many looming crises.

A sight on the horizon snapped me out of my anxiety labyrinth. There, around the corner, appeared to be roadkill.

In the distance, I couldn’t recognize it, but I was sure that, once we got closer, my dog would pull desperately to inspect the flesh and innards of a former living creature.

Generally, when I try to pull away from decaying matter on the road, my dog seems eager to get as close as he can, like a forensic photographer or a police inspector from Law & Order, trying to figure out who might be at fault for the end of a life, whether the driver tried to maneuver away from the animal based on any skid marks nearby, or, perhaps, whether the animal contributed to its own untimely end.

I try to distract him, whistling, calling his name, tugging ever so slightly on his leash to redirect him away from these sites, hoping to keep far enough away that the flies feasting on rotting animal flesh don’t land on us.

Usually, such maneuvers have the same effect as making suggestions to my kids about what to do, like studying the bassoon because every band needs a bassoon player and many schools are lucky to have one or two such double-reeded wonders: they cause an equal and opposite reaction.

I’m sure Newton’s third law wasn’t referring to parenting, but it seems that when we say “here” they want to go “there,” and when we say “there,” they want to go “here.” My dog seems to have studied the same playbook in response to any such guidance or direction.

As we walked, I pulled left, trying to figure out what was on the road, which seemed broken into four parts. This could be a particularly unappealing mess, I thought, trying not to make a subconscious suggestion through the leash that he head straight for it.

I held my breath as a slight wind picked up from the other side of the detritus, hoping I wouldn’t smell something awful and that, somehow, neither would my dog.

As we got closer, I used my peripheral vision. That’s when I noticed something unusual. Amid the odd red and brown colors was a mixture of an orange and blue mess. What kind of animal’s innards are orange and blue? Was this a Halloween roadkill?

I deciphered letters on the ground. That was definitely not blood. It was a Burger King wrapper, with obliterated fries, a flattened Whopper and a crushed cup.

Perhaps too focused on the Halloween decorations, the dog wasn’t at all interested or enticed by the fast food roadkill.

Between You and Me: At home rapid tests can help defeat COVID-19

by Leah Dunaief - October 7, 2021

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By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

A good idea during this later stage of the pandemic is to have an at-home rapid COVID test, which indicates a result in 15 minutes. Sometimes you just don’t know whether it’s a simple cold that’s arrived and is making your throat sore, or if the situation is more dire and you need to seek help. Or perhaps you find that you have been exposed to someone who has now tested positive, and you want to check yourself accordingly. Or you are about to visit grandma and you want to be sure you are not carrying the pathogen to her.

Besides the personal value, the tests can be an important public health tool, although for the moment demand is high and they are hard to find. I was able to locate two tests at a local drug store by calling around. They can be purchased at pharmacies for anywhere from $10 to $40 a test. The following are available without a prescription, according to The New York Times article, “At-Home COVID Tests: Valuable if Used Right,” in the issue of Oct. 5, and written by Emily Anthes: Abbott BinaxNOW, the Ellume COVID-19 Home Test (although there was some issue with this one yesterday), and the Quidel QuickVue At-Home COVID-19 Test. The tests “detect small viral proteins, called antigens,” and they “require rubbing a shallow nasal swab inside your nostrils, and then exposing the swab to a few drops of chemicals,” as described by the article. OraSure also makes them, among many other companies rushing their products to market.

While the manufacturers’ tests are fairly simple, their directions have to be followed carefully in order to provide a correct answer. And while their results are correct 85% of the time, the tests can give a false negative if taken too soon after exposure. Further, the tests are more sensitive to people with symptoms, especially during the first week, and when people are most infectious and can be actively transmitting the virus, according to Anthes.

The successful detection rate goes up to 98% when the tests are used repeatedly, say every three days for screening. But again, those with symptoms may test immediately, while those who have been exposed to the virus should wait 3-5 days to let the antigens accumulate in the nose, if they are there, before testing. In the event of a positive result, people should take the usual precautions: isolation, monitoring symptoms and calling for medical help if necessary. They should also get a second test to confirm the result.

Rapid COVID-19 tests are for sale in grocery stores for one euro (a bit more than a dollar) in Germany, and in Britain a pack of seven are free. Policymakers around the world realized that rapid tests were a valuable public health aide. We here in the United States must make them available and more cheaply so that we can know who is infected, who is a carrier and where the outbreaks are. President Joe Biden (D) has recognized this need and is working to make the tests accessible and more affordable. He needs to make the rapid tests official public health tools rather than medical devices. That would only take an executive order. And it would allow global manufacturers of COVID-19 tests to enter our market and immediately increase our supply.

According to a piece on the Opinion page of The New York Times in the Oct. 2 issue, written by experts Michael Mina and Steven Phillips, “Past economic analyses predicted that a major government-funded rapid testing program that reached every American could add as much as $50 billion to the gross domestic product and save tens of thousands of lives or more,”

There is, happily, bipartisan support for making all this happen. Vaccination plus rapid testing would mean no more unnecessary isolations, no more missed holidays with families, no more randomly closed schools or businesses. We would, in effect, be able to live with the bug.

Intensive cloud study in Houston led by BNL’s Mike Jensen may improve weather forecasts

by Daniel Dunaief - October 7, 2021

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49946013481_7720d05893_k — A TRACER site similar to this one in Argentina is being constructed in Pearland, Texas. Photo courtesy of ARM

By Daniel Dunaief

Before they could look to the skies to figure out how aerosols affected rainclouds and storms around Houston, they had to be sure of the safety of the environment on the ground.

Researchers from several institutions, including Brookhaven National Laboratory, originally planned to begin collecting data that could one day improve weather and even climate models on April 15th of this year.

The pandemic, however, altered that plan twice, with the new start date for the one-year, intensive cloud, study called TRACER, for Tracking Aerosol Convection Interactions, beginning on Oct. 1st.

The delay meant that the “intensive observational period was moved from summer 2021 to summer 2022,” Michael Jensen, the Principal Investigator on Tracer and a meteorologist at Brookhaven National Laboratory, explained in an email.

Scientists and ARM staff pose during planning for TRACER (left to right): Iosif “Andrei” Lindenmaier, ARM’s radar systems engineering lead; James Flynn, University of Houston; Michael Jensen, TRACER’s principal investigator from Brookhaven National Laboratory; Stephen Springston, ARM’s Aerosol Observing System lead mentor (formerly Brookhaven Lab, now retired); Chongai Kuang, Brookhaven Lab; and Heath Powers, site manager for the ARM Mobile Facility that will collect measurements during TRACER. (Courtesy of ARM)

At the same time, the extension enabled a broader scientific scope, adding more measurements for the description of aerosol lifecycle and aerosol regional variability. It also allowed the researchers to include air quality data, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and urban meteorology, funded by the National Science Foundation.

The primary motivation for the project is to “understand how aerosols impact storms,” Jensen explained in a presentation designed to introduce the TRACER project to the public.

Some scientists believe aerosols, which are tiny particles that can occur naturally from trees, dust and other sources or from man-made activities like the burning of fossil fuels, can make storms stronger and larger, causing more rain.

“There’s a lot of debate in the literature” about the link between aerosols and storms, Jensen said.

Indeed, there may be a “sweet spot” in which a certain number or concentration of aerosols causes an invigoration of rainstorms, while a super abundance beyond that number reverses the trend, Jensen added.

“We don’t know the answers to those questions,” the BNL scientist said. “That’s why we need to go out there and take detailed measurements of what’s going on inside clouds, how precipitation particles are freezing or melting.”

Even though aerosols are invisible to the naked eye, they could have significant impacts on how mass and energy are distributed in clouds, as well as on broader atmospheric processes that affect weather patterns.

The TRACER study, which is a part of the Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement, or ARM, user facility, could “help forecast heavy rains that can cause flash flooding,’ said Chongai Kuang, atmospheric scientist and TRACER co-investigator at BNL.

The TRACER study will explore the way sea and bay breeze circulations affect the evolution of deep convective storms as well as examining the influence of urban environments on clouds and precipitation.

Several additional funding agencies have stepped in to address basic scientific questions, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s efforts to address air quality issues in Houston and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which funded a study on ozone and low-level atmospheric mixing.

“Our original TRACER field campaign provided a seed for what is now a major, multi-agency field campaign with a significantly expanded scientific scope,” Jensen explained in an email.

A joint team from BNL and Stony Brook University is developing new software to scan the precipitation radar system to select and track storm clouds to observe the rapid development of these storms. Additionally, aerosol instrumentation will help provide updated information on the precursor gases and the smallest aerosol particles at the earliest stages of the aerosol cycle, Jensen explained.

Ultimately, the data that these scientists gather could improve the ability to forecast storms in a range of areas, including on Long Island.

“Understanding sea breezes and the coastal environment is a very important aspect of TRACER,” Jensen said. “Even though it’s not the preliminary focus, there’s an opportunity to learn new science, to improve weather forecasting and storm forecasting for those coastal environments.”

Researchers chose Houston because of their desire to study a more densely populated urban area and to understand the way numerous factors influence developing clouds, weather patterns and, ultimately, the climate.

“We know the urban environment is where most people live,” Jensen said. “This is taking us in new directions, with new opportunities to influence the science” in these cities.

Researchers plan to collect information about clouds, aerosols and storms everywhere from ground-based instruments stationed at four fixed sites, as well as through mobile facilities, to satellite images.

The program operates a tethered balloon which is “like a big blimp that goes up half a mile into the atmosphere,” said Heath Powers, the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement facility site manager for Tracer from Los Alamos National Laboratory.

The tethered balloon is located at Smith Point, Texas, on the eastern shore of Galveston Bay and will do low-level profiling of aerosols, winds, thermodynamics and ozone as it is influenced by bay breeze circulation, Jensen explained.

The National Science Foundation is planning to bring a C-130 plane to conduct overflights, while the group will also likely use drones, Powers added.

The TRACER study will launch around 1,500 weather balloons to gather information at different altitudes. The research will use over four dozen instruments to analyze meteorology, the amount of energy in the atmosphere and the air chemistry.

“Clouds are the big question,” Powers said. “Where they form, why they form … do they rain or not rain. We are well-positioned to get at the core of a lot of this” through the information these scientists gather.

‘My body, my choice’ on the corner of routes 347 and 112

by TBR Staff - October 6, 2021

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By Jennifer Corr

Chants like “My body, my choice” echoed through big cities like Washington, D.C., and Manhattan Saturday as part of the Rally for Abortion Justice, and that same passion made it to what is known as Resistance Corner at the junction of Route 347 and Route 112 in Port Jefferson Station.

The national Rally for Abortion Justice movement, according to the Women’s March Network, comes after comes after the Supreme Court’s rejection of an emergency request to block the Texas Heartbeat Act.

Coming into effect Sept. 1, the bill bans abortion at the point of the “first detectable heartbeat,” which could occur as early as six weeks into pregnancy — a point that many are just finding out they’re pregnant. At least 13 other states failed to attempt enacting similar bans after being blocked by courts.

“I believe in a women’s right to choose,” said protester Bryan Campbell, who was pushing a stroller occupied by his infant. “I think it’s ridiculous what’s going on in Texas and I’m here to support the women in my life: my partner, my friends, my daughter. This is for their future and for everyone’s future.”

Campbell was one of hundreds of men, women and children who gathered on the busy corner, holding signs in protest of such laws. Some even took to dressing up as characters from the “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a best-selling novel and TV series that depicts a totalitarian society that treats women as property.

Donna Reggio was among those dressed in red robes and white bonnet.

“It’s a dystopian fantasy that’s no longer a fantasy,” she said. “We’re going backward with women’s rights and we’re here to show that we don’t want to go there anymore.”

Before Roe v. Wade — a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973 that protected a women’s right to have an abortion without excessive government restriction — only more affluent women had access to safe and legal abortions. However, it is estimated that between the 1950s and ’60s, the number of illegal abortions, either self-induced or done through often dangerous or even deadly procedures, ranged from 200,000 to 1.2 million a year.

Rally organizer Shoshana Hershkowitz, of Long Island Social Justice Action Network and Suffolk Progressives, was on Resistance Corner Saturday to make sure her daughter did not grow up with fewer rights than she was able to enjoy throughout her lifetime.

“Our own congressman [Lee Zeldin (R-NY1)] tried to overturn Roe in the past year,” she said. “We can’t just think of this as a somewhere-else situation. It was happening right here.”

That’s why the LISJAN and Suffolk Progressives joined with grassroot organizations like Long Island Progressive Coalition, Long Island Activists, New HOUR for Women & Children – LI, Show Up Long Island, NY02 Indivisible, Planned Parenthood, among others, to prevent impediments in a woman’s reproductive rights from happening anywhere — including here in New York.

“We just put out the word to the different Facebook groups and [other various groups] who are invested in keeping our rights and getting women in office,” said Kat Lahey of Long Island Rising, adding that several speakers including Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) were also in attendance. “You can see that there’s a high demand to keep women’s reproductive rights.”

But not all were in support of the movement. Along with some disapproving remarks made by drivers who were passing by, one woman stood on the other side of the highway holding a sign, with photos of babies, that read “Please love me, I love you.”

The woman would not disclose her name, however she did share that she goes to her local Planned Parenthood every Saturday morning to pray. She said she was especially upset about New York State’s allowance of late-term abortions.

Yet the 2019 law, passed on the 46th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, only allows late-term abortions when the mother’s health is in danger.

When asked about the counterprotester, Hershkowitz said that she was more than welcome to cross the road and speak with herself and other organizers. “But I’m not changing my mind,” she said.

It was not the first time that groups like New HOUR and LISJAN gathered on the corner, as they also showed up for issues ranging from gun safety to the Trump-era ban on refugees from majority-Muslim countries.

“Our community has come quite accustomed to gathering in this space and standing up for what we believe in,” Hershkowitz said. “So really, it’s like we almost have muscle memory because of having to gather here for so many years.”

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Paint Port Pink lights up Port Jeff’s downtown

by Julianne Mosher - October 6, 2021

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Mather Hospital’s annual month-long breast cancer awareness community outreach event, Paint Port Pink, kicked off this week in Port Jefferson village.

Pink lights were lit on Oct. 1 across the village and throughout surrounding communities to honor and raise awareness for breast cancer during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Several dozen local businesses are participating, adding the sparkling lights to their storefronts, windows and doors.

Lamp posts along main street in Port Jefferson shine bright pink with the goal to raise awareness about breast cancer and the importance of early detection, encourage annual mammograms and bring the community together to help fight this disease.

One in eight women will develop breast cancer during their lifetime, according to Mather Hospital. In 2021, an estimated 281,550 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 49,290 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer.

About 2,650 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in men in 2021.

As of January 2021, there were more than 3.8 million women with a history of breast cancer in the U.S. This includes women currently being treated and women who have finished treatment.

Oct. 15 is Wear Pink Day, and people are encouraged to dress themselves — and their pets — in pink and post their photos on social media with #paintportpink.

Then send those photos to [email protected] they will be included in a collage on the hospital’s Facebook page.

Wildcats take on the Panthers

by Bill Landon - October 5, 2021

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The Miller Place Panthers traveled to Wildcat country to take on Shoreham-Wading River in a non-league matchup Oct. 4 looking to sweep the Wildcats in three.

Miller Place won the first two sets 25-17 and 25-21 hoping for an early night, but the Wildcats had other ideas, stealing game three 25-22 forcing a game four.

Shoreham-Wading River took the fourth set 25-18 to even the score for a game deciding fiftth set. The Panthers struggled to stay ahead but Shoreham-Wading River slammed the door winning the tie breaker 25-22.

Kelsey Hughes the junior led the way for the Wildcats with 8 kills, teammates Paige Alessi and Morgan Truesdell had 5 kills apiece followed by Ella Marcario who killed 4.

The win lifts the Wildcats to 4-6 overall and the loss drops the Panthers to 4-7. The Wildcats retook the court Oct. 6 at home against Southampton at 4:30p.m, and the Panthers host East Hampton Oct. 8 with a 6:30 start.

— Photos by Bill Landon

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Two Rocky Point brothers reflect on their lacrosse careers after championship

by Rich Acritelli - October 3, 2021

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Rocky Point native Troy Reh, who is a member of the “Chaos” that recently won the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) Championship, said it was a “great experience.”

“It’s always awesome to play with my brother on the high school and college level of competition,” he said. “Not everyone has this opportunity, and this was extremely special for our family.”

Lacrosse runs deep within this local family that has seen generations of Reh’s dominate high school, college and professional competition. Since the fifth grade, Troy, and his twin brother Justin, have strengthened their family name in lacrosse by displaying a unique expertise in lacrosse. The love of this game began under the guidance of their father and uncles, and through the early coaching that they received in the junior Rocky Point Police Athletic Teams league.

For many years, Troy was smaller in physical stature, and he did not fully grow until his first year in college. Justin recalled that he had a limited understanding of the game as a kid who would usually follow the ball on the field. He eventually demonstrated stick handling skills and coordination at an early age by catching lefty and throwing righty.

The brothers paid their dues in playing time, as Justin did not make the varsity until his sophomore year and Troy started as a senior. Being on the varsity at an earlier age, Justin had moments of excellence and challenges. During his sophomore year, he played well against tough teams like Shoreham Wading River and Comsewogue, and he scored 50 points.

As Justin began to make a name for himself through his school and travel lacrosse teams, in the last moments of a practice during his junior season within the old “pit” field, he broke his foot. It was a difficult injury, as Justin looked forward to playing Mount Sinai, where his father is the athletic director, and he wanted to play against the difficult competition of this local team.

With treating a “Jones Fracture” for several months, Justin was unable to have any type of mobility, and was away from a game that he loved. Every day, this injured player still worked on his skills through the aid of a “pitch-back.” He sat in a chair and used both hands to throw the ball over a hundred times righty and lefty.

The Class of 2014 were an extremely close group of student-athletes that all began playing lacrosse at the same time. They watched the 2008 Rocky Point Eagles win the state championship and since they were in middle school, the Reh’s, along with their friends Pat Dallon, Brendan McGovern, Chris Johnson, Jake Clark and Chris McGreevy, all were confident that they would have a similar success in lacrosse once they became seniors.

And this estimation was fulfilled in 2014, after an early loss to Babylon, the team was reminded by the Reh boys that they always had to play hard, and Babylon was a “wake up call” that motivated this team to win the county title.

Scott Reh was an assistant coach during his son’s senior year and identified their leadership qualities as “being great teammates, that always put the needs of their team first.”

In the play-offs against Miller Place, Justin broke his ribs, but kept playing to guide the team towards victory. Against Lynbrook, Rocky Point did not play its finest game and while they were still battered from Miller Place, they lost the Long Island Championship 10-9.

Former Rocky Point goalie Patrick Dallon vividly recalled that the Reh brothers always “made you feel more confident about the outcome of a game, and as a goalie, that’s all you could ask for. They had a way of taking a lot of pressure off other players because of what they were capable of doing on the field. I miss being on the same team as them, these were some of the best memories that I have.”

Another buddy, who played with the Reh’s for many years was Brendan McGovern. He played many games with these brothers and observed that they had the “ability to always be one step ahead of everyone else, and they understood exactly where to be on the field.”

The Reh boys followed up their family’s tradition of being dominant players under the guidance of Coach Michael P. Bowler. Justin saw Bowler as one of the “greatest people that he had ever known” and that this long-time coach always stressed the need for his players to be “respectful, carry yourself in a positive manner and to be productive citizens.”

Helene Bowler recalled the immense affection of her late husband towards Justin, Troy, their father Scott, and his two brothers, that were all dominant athletes. She remembered the “unique opportunity and privilege” that her late husband had in coaching Troy and Justin, and having his former player in Scott, be next to him as an assistant coach during this successful season.

“Justin was hurt during the play-offs, that he performed at a high level to help this team win and that Troy was an excellent motivator to get the boys moving in the right direction,” she said. “And most importantly, they always carried themselves in a good manner, were excellent team first players, and they have developed into outstanding young men.”

After graduating from Rocky Point High School in 2014, the brothers were recruited and signed by the University of Albany. This was an ideal fit, as they gained a quality education, competed on a Division I team, and were close enough for their parents and family members to attend Albany lacrosse games.

Starting at Albany, Justin had poor luck, as he was sick with mono, and he re-aggravated his foot injury. Troy saw limited time in fall and spring lacrosse, but he realized that Albany had been a good fit for him and Justin.

Like that of Bowler’s tutelage, who was a father figure to his teams over the last several decades, the same type of support was presented to these boys at Albany. It was observed that their college coach Scott Marr team ran his team like a family, as they were expected to put in their work on the field, but they had a great deal of fun on this team.

As a sophomore, Troy cracked the starting line-up as a long stick mid-fielder and was a team leader until his final senior season. Justin had a tremendous season as a junior, where he was one of the highest scorers in the nation.

He gained over 50% of his shots on net as goals, where he garnered all division and conference award for his stellar play and was also honored as an academic All-American.

While they made the play-offs during their junior season, the Reh boys had a similar final year like that at Rocky Point. They were surrounded by great players that worked well together and had set their goals to being one of the finest teams in the entire nation.

Albany made it to the semi-finals and lost in the Final Four to the eventual National Champions in Yale at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts. Both Troy and Justin describe this game as if it was yesterday, and they are immensely proud of their teammates in making it only steps away from gaining a championship.

Whereas they came up a bit short, during the playing tenure of the Reh’s, this university won three American East titles and always played well against rivals like that of Hartford, Vermont and Stony Brook University. Through their sheer determination to excel, the Reh’s helped Albany reach its highest lacrosse achievements that this college ever earned.

For a once smaller player in physical stature, Troy grew into an outstanding athlete that was three time all conference player, recognized as a 3rd team All-American, and was an Academic All-American. Staying consistent with their ability to perform at different athletic levels of play, both boys would again be united, as they were both drafted by the New York Lizards.

Again, they played with some of the finest talent in the nation and had games against opponents in Dallas, Baltimore, Atlanta, Boston and Denver. Justin believed that it was an honor to learn from his former professional teammate in Rob Pannell who was a wealth of lacrosse information and expertise. This athlete was one of the most respected players in nation on the college level at Cornell and for the Lizards.

Like that of high school and college, Troy marveled at the chance that him and Justin had to play for the Lizards and play on the same fields that they visited as kids.

As a four-year veteran of playing professional lacrosse, Troy has the unique insight in helping the creator Paul Rabil of the Premier Lacrosse League expand this sport.

According to Troy, the PLL has eight teams, where players drive or fly to various cities to attend meetings, practices, and games. With a championship under his belt, Troy has also been a key figure in helping the founder of this league grow this sport across America. Troy has become an early pioneer to expand this league through his ability to run camps, organizing sales and emails to garner wide-scale interest. When they are not playing professionally or working their own jobs, the Reh boys can be seen within the fields of Rocky Point High School giving lessons, breaking down this sport and always flashing a big smile as they mentor our local players.

Since they picked up a stick in the fifth grade, these local North Shore athletes have surely made a name for themselves within lacrosse. Through drive, determination, and making it through adversity, the Reh boys are not only true ambassadors to this game, but they are genuine role models to our youth.

While they have gained a tremendous amount of success over the years, these young men always were driven to succeed and put in all of the work through a team first mentality. Rocky Point Lacrosse Coach Tom Walsh said “our current players look up to their success and visualize the possibilities of what is out there to achieve within the sport of lacrosse through hard work and dedication.”

Editorial: A sad goodbye

by TBR Staff - October 2, 2021

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This week a Stony Brook Village Center icon closed its doors for the last time after 27 years in business, and residents wonder how it will ever be replaced.

At the end of July, the owner of Pentimento Restaurant, Dennis Young, began informing customers that his lease wasn’t being renewed. Frequent visitors to his establishment started a Facebook page and petition on Change.org to save the restaurant and show their support. Many even protested in front of the business and throughout the shopping center. They also rallied in front of Gloria Rocchio’s house, the president of Eagle Realty Holdings and The Ward Melville Heritage Organization.

Unfortunately, the owner and the board of Eagle Realty, the landlord, couldn’t come to an agreement after Young forgot to give notice about his intent to renew last year, 365 days before his lease expired as specified in the agreement.

The Village Times Herald and the TBR News Media website featured five articles within the past two months on the closing and protests, and some of the stories also appeared in The Times of Smithtown. Talking to all parties involved, hearing the different sides of the issue, it was apparent there was more to the impasse than forgetting to renew a lease. A couple of matters couldn’t even be discussed because lease negotiations between private businesses are private matters.

We are saddened that something couldn’t be worked out. Especially since Young was hoping to retire in the near future and extending the lease and being able to sell the business to someone else would have meant he could have walked away with something more in his pockets.

A couple of weeks ago we wrote about the closing of Book Revue in Huntington village. Just like the iconic bookstore drew people to Huntington with its eclectic selection of books and celebrity author signings, the restaurant has done the same in the Three Village community by serving up its delicious meals and more.

As one reader wrote in a letter to the editor last week, in the last 27 years the restaurant served as the place “where we have celebrated birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and religious milestones. It’s where we have had our first dates and our first jobs.”

Regular visitors to Stony Brook Village Center would find that on the nights the restaurant was closed, the parking lot in the section of the shopping center it is located on was practically empty. When it was open, it could be difficult to find a spot.

When people come to eat in a restaurant, especially if they have to wait for a table, they’ll visit nearby stores. And, Pentimento has been a big attraction for both locals and residents from surrounding towns. As we mentioned in our editorial about Book Revue, sometimes the closing of a popular establishment can have a domino effect. We hope this won’t be the case with the village center.

We’re not quite sure what will replace Pentimento, but it will take a long time for residents to create new memories in whatever business goes into the empty space.

We thank Young, restaurant manager Lisa Cusumano and the staff for their service to the community, and we wish them all the happiness in the world.

Carnival heads to Heritage Park in Mount Sinai from Oct. 1 to 3

by Press Release - October 1, 2021

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MountSinai-Carnival-092814-KARP6 — File photo by Erika Karp

Heritage Park, 633 Mount Sinai Coram Road, Mt. Sinai celebrates fall with its Fall into Fun Carnival on Oct. 1 from 6 to 11 p.m. (fireworks), Oct. 2 from noon to 11 p.m. and Oct. 3 from noon to 7 p.m. Enjoy rides, games and food in a beautiful park. Free admission and parking. Order tickets for rides at www.newtonshows.com. For more information, call 631-509-0882.

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