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 2007 |
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Annual Scholarship Awards
The Fort Salonga Association was pleased to present its
annual scholarships to two well deserving students. This year each
student received a $1,000 award.
(L to R) Richard C.
Stewart, 2007 Kings Park Graduate & Ken Kraska, President Fort Salonga
Association
The Kings Park High School recipient was Richard C.
Stewart, son of Richard and Mary Ellen Stewart. Throughout his high
school years, Richard has been an active participant in many of the
town’s fund raising events, some of which include the Kings Park Annual
Stuff-a-Bus, the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, and Save the
Sound beach clean-ups. As a lifeguard at the Northport Veterans Medical
Center he has enjoyed assisting in teaching classes to both adults and
children. In the fall Richard is planning to attend the SUNY Merchant
Marine Academy at Fort Schyler to pursue a degree in engineering.
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Michael
Naideau
2007 Northport HS Graduate
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The Northport High School recipient was Michael Naideau,
son of Harold and Janet Naideau. As a member of the Students for 60,000,
a community service club at Northport High School, Michael has been
active both locally and abroad. Having made several trips to Nicaragua,
his journeys included delivering clothing and supplies to needy families
as well as helping them to build and repair their homes. Locally, he is
involved as a volunteer tutor, providing lessons in art, music and
various other subjects. Michael will be attending Vassar College
in the fall and he is looking to obtain a degree in International
Relations, Foreign Language or the Arts.
Congratulations to Richard and Michael
and continued success in their bright futures. |
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MIDDLEVILLE CEMETERY
RESTORATION CONTINUES
The
Middleville Cemetery Restoration Project made significant progress and
benefited from two good days of weather on Saturday May 5th and Sunday
May 6th. The McGill University New York Alumni in conjunction with the
Fort Salonga Association, The Northport Historical Society, students
from the Northport schools, Huntington Town Council Member Susan
Berland's volunteers, neighbors, and Quakers joined in to continue the
restorative work. More than 30 people worked on a number of projects as
illustrated in these photos. The whole southwest corner of the cemetery
has been cleared and the ground has been leveled, ready for planting
grass. The roadside hill has been eradicated of poison ivy, mulched
with wood chips, cleared of brush, and a dozen azaleas, five
rhododendrons, and myrtle and ajuga ground covers planted. Additional
azaleas and a Japanese red maple have been planted along the south fence
crest line. The Town of Huntington under an initiative by Town Council
Member Susan Berland has arranged for the installation of a new front
fence and gates which were recently installed and add a real touch of
class to our efforts.
Much
headway was made clearing brush and catbriars on the west side of the
cemetery. The whole Quaker/wooden cross area near the back has been
cleared, now revealing six wooden cross markers, some from the 1800's.
Six trees were cut down, several large fallen trees were sawed up and
hauled away and a dumpster and 20 construction bags were filled with
branches, logs, and brush. The central pathway was relined with many
wheelbarrow loads of wood chips, making for a very attractive walkway.
The Casella family landscaped the flagpole area and lined the flower bed
with bricks, some found on site, and perhaps from the old Longbothum
brickworks. A memorial flowering crab apple tree was planted in the
front area, and should add color and beauty for years to come. Northport
Historian Phineas Fiske volunteered by cataloging and recording
identifications of grave markers. Huntington Town Historian Bob
Hughes began restoration work on the one zinc marker in the cemetery.
Several volunteers tackled the task of painting the metal Longbothum
fence enclosure. Susan Berland provided a generous supply of coffee and
donuts to all the workers.
The
Northport Historical Society will be having an exhibit at their Main
Street museum about the cemeteries of Northport this Fall. The story of
the Middleville Project will be part of that exhibit. The Middleville
Cemetery Project would like to complete the restoration in time for the
opening of the historical exhibit, and organize a cemetery
re-dedication ceremony at that time. In order to do such, there is still
a considerable amount of work to do. The plan is to organize small work
teams who would get together and work on specific tasks during the
course of the Spring and Summer. What still needs to be done is: 1)
Complete removing all brush and catbriars from the middle western and
far back western parts of the cemetery, 2) Cut down 14 ribbon marked
trees, 3) Plant grass seed, 4) Have the Town complete the installation
of both front and back fences, 5) Have the Town take down the one large
tree in the back that is decaying, 6) Finish painting the Longbothum
fence enclosure, 7) Prune low hanging and dead tree limbs, 8) Remove
remaining brush from the western edge of the roadside, 9) Arrange for
restoration, uprighting and necessary masonry repairs of markers, 10)
Haul brush and logs from the back to the front for carting away, 11)
Finish inventorying all markers, 12) Find a sign maker/ carpenter/ hobby
craftsman/scouts(?) to build and install a cemetery signboard that
will explain the history of the cemetery.
If you
would like to signup for being a part of the completion teams, or know
of a someone capable willing to volunteer for constructing the
signboard, please contact Anton Angelich, Project Coordinator at
1-718-549-4604 or e-mail:
aangelich@aol.com.
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SPRING EGG HUNT
Our Egg Hunt keeps getting better with each passing year. The 2007 FSA
Egg Hunt was once again one of the best, if not the very best, we have
ever had. The reason is simple - more eggs - three thousand eggs to be
specific. They say bunnies multiply, but let me tell you, the eggs do
too. Over the past few years we have gradually increased the egg count,
but it is worth noting, this year was remarkable as we jumped from 2,000
to 3,000 eggs. The normal stuffing procedure calls for the
association’s directors to get together one evening to perform the task.
Due to the substantial increase, this time it was decided to call upon
the youth of our community to lend a helping hand. So, we called in the
troops so to speak and utilized one of the most
 efficient
and effective powers in the known universe, the Girl Scouts, and their
smaller cohort, the Brownies. A round of applause and a big thank you to
the Girl Scouts of Cadet Troop #3818 & #2742, Junior Troop #2433 & #2744
and Brownie Troop #206 for their helping hands.
A special thanks also go to Bill Murphy, the Director of Smithtown
parks, who assisted us in obtaining the Callahan’s Beach Permit for our
community event, and to Danny, the supervisor of the park’s work crews
who had the bathrooms sparkling clean, with brand new high fashion
liquid soap dispensers along with the vital paper towels. In addition to
prepping the facilities, the crew work hard to have the park tables
refinished to such a high luster and richness of color that they looked
much better than new.
 On
the morning of the event, the directors paraded in following a jumbo
Excursion truck packed filled with over 200 bunnies, 10 prize lambs
and various special prizes. Springing
into action, these volunteers along with some of their children unpacked
and setup the site for the morning event. After dispersing over 3,000
eggs around the grounds and permutating the half dozen picnic tables
into booths, the group eagerly awaited the arrival of the 200 plus
munchkins who were looking forward to capturing as many of these candy
filled toys as they could.
 This
year the mad rush was just as mad as last year. As always, the older
children outran the younger children, collecting dozens of eggs, but
since we increased the amount of eggs from 1,400 (2005) to 2,000 (2006)
to 3,000 (2007), every child got plenty of eggs, each stuffed with two
miniature candy bars. Unlike the past, not a single child was upset or
disappointed, and that was most probably because we provided enough eggs
stuffed with chocolate to make every child happy, and every dentist in
Fort Salonga a bit richer.
The phantom bunny, Peter Rabbit, or should we say Petra Rabbit was
played by 12 year old Lee Ann Kraska. The winners of the Jelly Bean
contest (the jar held 256 beans) were: Mr. Nick Pham (253), and Miss
Anna Coticchio (256!). They each took away a giant bunny, one pink and
one blue, almost as big as they themselves.
Many Thanks to:
The Spring Egg Hunt Committee
Dick Costello, VP Chairman
Cindy & Jim Freeman & Family
Chris & Cathy Crofts
Linda & John Henninger & Family
Bob Marketta
Stu Levin
Mike Romer
Tony Geraci
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Spring Brunch
The turnout at the Fort Salonga annual Spring brunch on Sunday April
22nd broke a record once again. Last year's four inches of rain was
replaced with a near picture perfect spring day at Indian Hills Country
Club and nearly 150 area residents and invited guests mingled among the
delectable brunch offerings. Many residents offered that this is a
wonderful event to catch up with friends and neighbors in a nice,
relaxed setting.
Further highlighting the delightful setting
and culinary offerings was our guest speaker Joe Sledge from the VA
Medical Center. Mr. Sledge, a veteran of the U.S. Army, is the Public
Affairs Officer for the VA Medical Center and gave us a wonderful
history on the building and grounds. Built in the 1920's, the Medical
Center has been serving Long Island veterans ever since. It is
affiliated with the State University of New York Medical School at Stony
Brook
and it offers medical, surgical,
psychiatric, rehabilitative and skilled nursing care to Long Island
veterans. Long Island is home to an estimated 200,000 veterans and
approximately 35,000 of them utilize the services of the VA Medical
Center each year. Currently the largest population is still World War II
veterans, followed by Vietnam veterans and veterans of the Korean War.
In addition to all the services offered to Long Island veterans, the VA
Medical Center includes a public golf course and swimming pool available
to the public. At the conclusion, Mr. Sledge was kind enough to take
questions from the audience. An attendee informed the crowd of a very
special guest at the Brunch. Among the residents was Mr. Randy Kral who
resides on Fresh Pond Road. Mr. Kral served his country in the ongoing
operations overseas as Crew Chief for a Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance
aircraft. The crowd thanked Mr. Kral for his service and sacrifice with
an enthusiastic round of applause.
MR.& MRS. LAWRENCE URANA |
To wrap up the event on this beautiful day was the disbursement of the
door prizes and three raffles to area residents in attendance. The door
prizes were made up of fine wines and spirits handed out to the winners.
The raffle was conducted by Ken Kraska with special help from Gabriella
Mancuso who drew the winning tickets. The first prize of $500 was won by
Lawrence Urana of Oakmere Drive. The second prize, a camcorder donated
by Clayton Funeral Home, was won by Viola Siegmund of Dolores Lane. The
third prize, a $100 gift certificate to the IGA Fort Salonga Market
donated by Charlie Reichert was won by William Smith of Woodhollow Lane.
Congratulations to our winners and thank you to all the participants and
prize donors. It was truly a wonderful event.
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Special Acknowledgments
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(L to R) Charlie ReiChert, Ken Kraska & Ed McElhone, Sr.
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A community can only be as
good as the indivduals who comprise it and fortunately Fort Salonga has
many great people. Two residents who are always there to lend a hand and
have never let us down are Mr. Charlie Reichert from the Fort Salonga
IGA and Mr. Ed McElhone, from Clayton Funeral Home.
Through the years, with their
kind support and generosity, both of these gentlemen have demonstrated
true community spirit. At this year’s brunch we were happy to recognize
their deeds and present them with our official certificate of
appreciation.
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(L to R) Ken Kraska & Legislator Lynne C. Nowick |
When the association was
looking to produce its re-enactment of the “Battle of Fort Salonga”, the
committee visited with Legislator Lynne Nowick to see how the county
could help us commemorate the 225th anniversary of this historic battle.
Fortunately, without any hesitation Legislator Nowick took charge and
was able to secure a grant for funding the event. To her we say,
Thank You. |
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