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 2006 |
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SPRING BRUNCH
DRAWS RECORD TURNOUT
Sunday, April 23rd produced a deluge with over four inches of rain.
Indian Hills Country Club, the site of our annual Spring brunch, was
also deluged with 130 area residents who shared in terrific food and
stimulating conversations with friends and neighbors. Our brunch was
highlighted by our guest speaker, Suffolk County Exec, Steve Levy. Susan Berland representing the Town of Huntington and Michael Fitzpatrick, our
State Assemblyman and area resident Don Cantwell also attended.
After indulging in a wide assortment of delicious homemade dishes, FSA
president, Ken Kraska spoke briefly on the long tradition the FSA has
upheld in protecting our community from all the threats of suburban
sprawl and how our community has, in spite of a surge in new homes,
maintained its charm and rural flavor. He also reviewed our commitment
to maintaining that “small town flavor” through the number of community
events we sponsor. We are busy planning for October 7th when we
celebrate the 225th anniversary of the battle of Fort Slongo through a
reenactment by the Huntington militia at Callahan’s beach.
Former president Paul Graf introduced Mr.
Levy and explained how important it is to elevate our issues as a
community to the county level since Fort Salonga uniquely straddles two
towns and at the border of each may not get the focus needed. He
expressed appreciation for the County’s efforts to preserve the wetlands
adjacent to North Fork and the Makamah Beach preserve. Mr. Levy began
his comments by commenting on the beauty of our community and discussed
his plans to hold joint meetings with town supervisors to address the
impact major developments when located on the border of one town can
have on adjacent towns. A meting with Supervisor Vecchio, Petrone and
the Babylon supervisor is to be held May 1. While not preempting home
rule, the county is uniquely situated to assess the cumulative affect of
major subdivisions on adjacent towns. He emphasized the need for town
master plans to control growth and how the county can work with local
civic associations to insure Suffolk doesn’t devolve into a high density
Queens.
Mr. Levy also discussed his efforts to get the
county budget under control and appoint new department heads,
independent of party, who can bring the best expertise available to
their jobs. He expressed pride in the accomplishments during his two and
one half years in office including salary cuts, producing an actual
budget cut and an A+ bond rating. He concluded by referencing a drug
discount card available to all Suffolk residents by mid May which will
offer discounts on prescription drugs from 10 to 20%. Several questions
from the audience referencing illegal immigration were raised and Mr.
Levy discussed his opposition to illegal immigration, support of strong
border enforcement and advocacy of a temporary guest worker program
which was effective in the past.
The final activity of the afternoon was the awarding of door prizes in
the form of a bottle of wine to 15 lucky attendees and the three raffle
prize to the really lucky chance book winners. First prize was $500, won
by the CMR residence on Sunken Meadow Rd. Second prize, a digital camera
donated by Clayton Funeral home, was won by the Demarinis family and
third prize, a $100 gift certificate to IGA Fort Salonga Market was
donated by Charlie Reichert and won by David Capo. Congratulations to
our winners and thanks to our raffle participants and prize donors. Your
participation in this raffle helps support all the activities we
undertake and keeps our dues at the incredibly inexpensive $10.
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ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL SPRING EGG HUNT
With our egg hunt rained out on April 8th, Vice president
Dick Costello placed rainout signs at Callahan’s and executed our fall
back plan for the following Saturday. It proved to be, after early
 fog,
a delightful 70 degree day. Dick and a stalwart support team of
directors and spouses brought up the 10 boxes of candy stuffed eggs and
the four giant bunny boxes. Rope lines were established to separate the
picnic area by age categories and folks started pouring in. Drawings of
spring were submitted by the children for special raffle prizes,
proceeded to the jelly bean guessing contest and then queued up at the
starting line. President Ken Kraska also distributed petitions to sign
concerning our opposition to a proposed very large free standing CVS at
the corner of 25A and Bread & Cheese Hollow Road.
Our talented singing regular Big Bunny was
unavailable, but magically, a marvelous new Spring Bunny showed up,
dressed in full costume. Many parents commented upon the cute appearance and friendly
demeanor of the Phantom Bunny who was none other than Ken Kraska's son,
Kenny Jr. Ken’s brother who operates Fantasy Entertainment and provides
character costumes for DJ
 events
and parties generously donated the use of this costume.
As shown on the photos, the winners of the Jelly Bean (284) contest were
Mr. Mark Adamow (275), and Miss Leighuan Percibell (300) This year the
mad rush was just as mad as last year. Like all previous years, the
older children outran the younger children, collecting dozens of eggs,
but since we increased the amount of eggs from 1,400 to 2,000, every
child got a few eggs. Unlike previous years, only one child ended up
crying, and that was because he was bowled over by the rushing crowd.
Hope to see you all next year and thanks to all those who helped out.
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New Year's Day, 2006,
Fort Salonga, New York
In what has become a
tradition, intrepid Fort Salonga residents braved the icy waters of
Long Island Sound on Sunday, to welcome the New Year. Bob Starr, Mark
Combs, Don Galano, and Barbara Fontana (left to right in photo,
standing), of the Salonga Shores neighborhood of Smithtown, enjoyed
their outing, and were joined by 'Raisin', the newest and by far the
most enthusiastic member of the Fort Salonga Polar Bears. Under grey
skies, the water was a chilly 38 degrees, as was the air; nevertheless,
the event was a great success. A larger group is anticipated next year. |
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