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BEACON RECORDVolume 31, No. 23 December 31, 2015 $1.00
People Of The Year • BROOKHAVEN
By elana gloWatz
Tom Meehan is the kind of principal who would give a child the clothes off his back — literally.
When he saw an Edna Louise Spear Elementary School stu-dent was not wearing a jacket, the Port Jefferson principal took off the one he had on and gave it to the boy to wear home.
“He understands that it’s about the kids — that they’re the priority,” school board President Kathleen Brennan said, adding that Meehan goes “above the call of duty to make sure kids get what they need.”
For his dedication to Port Jefferson’s kids and the greater community, Tom Meehan is the Port Times Record’s Person of the Year.
Meehan was hired for the 2011-12 school year, originally
on an interim basis. District officials expected to hire a per-manent elementary principal, but soon found the best choice was right under their noses.
Tony Butera, a longtime kin-dergarten teacher at Edna Lou-ise Spear, has worked under a bunch of principals in his time there, but said Meehan has “a nice sense of what Port Jeff is supposed to be about.”
“He just sees it as, these are his kids,” Butera said.
Early on in Meehan’s time in Port Jefferson, there was an issue with one of the bus routes and it was running late. Brennan said the principal “got on the bus, rode the bus around the route and reassured the parents at ev-ery stop about why they were late and what happened.”
That leadership instinct is not something that can be taught, Brennan said.
“Tom has … what I call ‘horse sense’ about what school administration is about.”
One initiative Meehan started in the elementary school is a safety patrol for the fifth-graders to teach them responsibil-ity. Among their activities, they help with dismissal, making sure younger kids get onto the school buses.
School board member Ellen Boehm, a former district em-ployee, said it gives the kids a sense that “what they did was important.” And for the less outgoing kids, she added, “He built them up during their time as a safety leader.”
Meehan, a longtime volun-teer for the Port Jefferson Fire Department, was also respon-sible for starting the tradition of elementary school kids singing at the fire department’s annual 9/11 remembrance ceremony.
Brennan said the experience is significant for the kids who at-tend, and they’ve been able to see Meehan in uniform a few times.
It’s “important to see adults have other roles in the commu-nity,” she said.
Christian Neubert has worked alongside Meehan both in the school district, where he is a music teacher, and as a volunteer for the Port Jefferson Fire Department. He said the 9/11 ceremony is not the only way Meehan bridges the school and the department — he also gets firefighters involved in the school’s evacuation drills, and some high school kids now in the junior firefighter program had Meehan as a principal and look up to him at the firehouse.
Neubert, a lieutenant, noted Meehan is still qualified to fight fires inside buildings, despite
Above, Tom Meehan participates in the royal educational Foundation’s fun run through Port Jefferson village, and receives an award for his contributions to the community. above right, he is all smiles with returning students on the first day of school last year.
Meehan is the man
Elementary school principal does what’s best for kids and his community
MEEHAN continued on page A18
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Congratulations to 2015
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to continue an annual tradition of honoring members of the community who have contributed in a significant manner to its residents and institu-tions during the past year.
These are the people who go the extra mile to improve the quality of our lives. In these pages, we salute their achievements. We also realize that these men and women are not unique. They are symbolic of the many who devote their efforts to the good of our hometowns. We salute them all and thank them for their service to the community we all love.
Two years ago, we changed the format of how we honor our People of the Year. Now we have one edition for each of the three towns we cover — Brookhaven, Smithtown and Huntington — combining winners from multiple papers.
We also eliminated the categories we previously used to organize the winners, such as medicine, sports or the arts, as we found that they were limiting us in how we were able to honor people. Every winner is simply a person of the year, no matter what their concentration. And instead of
having an overall man and woman of the year gracing our front page, we will just have one overall winner, regardless of gender or affiliation.
We hope you enjoy our People of the Year issue, and that you feel an enhanced pride in our hometown.
Leah S. Dunaief Publisher
The VILLAGE BEACON RECORd (USPS 004-808) is published Thursdays by TImES BEACON RECORd NEwSPAPERS, 185 Route 25A, Setauket, NY 11733. Periodicals postage paid at Setauket, NY and additional mailing offices. Subscription price $49 annually. Leah S. dunaief, Publisher. POSTmASTER: Send change of address to P.O. Box 707, Setauket, NY 11733.
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PAGE A4 • THE VILLAGE BEACON RECORD • DECEMBER 31, 2015
By Desirée Keegan
Tracey Budd’s son died of a heroin over-dose in September 2012.
One year later, Budd, of Rocky Point, was asked to speak at the North Shore Youth Council. Since then, she’s ended up on a public service announcement, “Not My Child,” that’s shown in high schools and middle schools along the North Shore, aiding her in becoming an advocate for drug abuse prevention and rehabilitation. She also teamed up with another mother, Debbie Longo, of Miller Place, and the two have become advocates for prevention and rehabilitation along the North Shore.
It is because of their hard work and ded-ication to fighting this issue on Long Island that they are 2015 Times Beacon Record Newspapers People of the Year.
“I made the decision not to be ashamed of how he passed away,” Budd said. “Just from speaking that one time at North Shore Youth Council, it was so very heal-ing for me, and so many things have come from that and taken me in a direction that I never thought I’d be in, but it seems like it’s my calling.”
Janene Gentile, a drug and alcohol counselor and executive director of the North Shore Youth Council, helped work on that PSA.
“It was very powerful,” she said. “It was walking her through her grief. She has a lot of courage.”
Budd, who is also a member of Fami-lies in Support of Treatment, pulled to-gether as much information as she could, and this past October, created a Facebook page — North Shore Drug Awareness Ad-vocates — pooling together families from Rocky Point, Miller Place, Mount Sinai and Shoreham-Wading River to spread the word about the rising concern over dangerous drugs, like heroin, growing in popularity across the Island.
“It just seemed that so many people were inboxing me and asking me for help,” she said. “I created the page so we could have a centralized area where we share information, and organize meetings where the group could all meet up. I also orga-nized meetings once a month so we could to teach people about advocacy.”
Having a 12-year-old daughter, resi-dents like Cristina Dimou attended the meetings to begin to gather information on the issue.
About one week ago, someone Dimou knows suffered an unexpected overdose, she said. She immediately reached out to Budd asking for guidance.
“She gave me three phone numbers tell-ing me who to call for what and even gave me websites of rehabilitation centers,” she said. “She checks up on me every day, ask-
ing me if I’m okay and what’s going on. I don’t know her personally, but she had a sense of urgency and a willingness to help. I think that speaks volumes.”
Legislator Sarah Anker (D-Mount Si-nai) said with Budd’s outspokenness and Longo’s long-standing knowledge of the issue, they’ll be successful in their efforts.
“These women put their energy, their anger, their frustration, their sorrow into something that is helpful to the commu-nity,” she said. “I think they’re going to do amazing work.”
Longo has been involved in advocacy across the Island for the last five years, af-
ter her son suffered an overdose 10 years ago. Since then, her son has recovered, and currently lives in Los Angeles as a director of marketing for a rehabilitation center.
She said she found sending her son out of
state helped him recover, because once he was done with his treatment, he wasn’t going back to seeing the same people he knew when he was using.
But she too has been involved in out-reach and drug abuse prevention, aside from being to co-administrator of Budd’s Facebook page.
“I get a call just about every day from a parent saying they have a kid that’s addicted and they don’t know what to do,” she said. “We’re losing kids left and right. We’re los-ing a generation is what we’re losing.”
Longo is a part of a 501(c)3 not-for-profit
program, Steered Straight, which spreads prevention in schools. Recovered addict Michael DeLeon leads the program.
“You can hear a pin drop in the audito-rium, that’s how dynamic of a speaker he is,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many kids come up to us at the end of the program and say, ‘I have a problem.’”
Longo was the chapter coordinator for New York State for a website called The Addict’s Mom, and is currently the head of Before the Petals Fall, Magnolia Addic-tion Support’s New York chapter. She is a 12-step yoga teacher to recovering addicts, and does post-traumatic stress disorder programs to help those dealing with grief.
As a retired nurse, Longo said she thought she’d know where to turn when she found out her son was an addict, but said she really didn’t know what to do.
“There was such a bad stigma about ad-diction that you didn’t want to talk about it — you kind of suffered in silence,” she said. “If I was a nurse and had these con-tacts and didn’t know what to do, the aver-age mother may have no idea. I’m trying to open the community up to what we have here on the North Shore.”
Longo has helped mothers like Sheila “Terry” Littler, of Rocky Point, whose son is a second-time recovering heroin addict. Currently, he is three months sober.
Knowing about treatment and where to get help, because it was something that started for her 13 years ago, Littler reached out to Longo for mental support.
“It was nice to have somebody else that’s
Budd, Longo lead fight to keep North Shore off drugs
‘It takes a lot of guts to come out in the open and do this and help people. There are a lot of people hurting out there.’
— Sheila littler
Photo above from Tracey Budd; photo below from Facebook Left, Debbie Longo speaks at a Dan’s Foundation for recovery event. above, Tracey Budd poses for a photo with her son Kevin norris, who died of a heroin overdose in 2012.
Moms look to start coalition for addiction prevention
BUDD & LONGO continued on page A30
DECEMBER 31, 2015 • THE VILLAGE BEACON RECORD • PAGE A5
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PAGE A6 • THE VILLAGE BEACON RECORD • DECEMBER 31, 2015
By Clayton Collier
Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent DeMar-co has worked diligently over the last nine years going above and beyond what’s asked of his position.
His creation and development of the Youth Re-Entry Task Force, a program cre-ated to rehabilitate youth inmates, among his other initiatives, has earned him the distinction of a 2015 Times Beacon Record Newspapers Person of the Year.
“The sheriff has truly changed the cul-ture of corrections in Suffolk County, and has put particular emphasis on rehabili-tation of incarcerated youth,” said Kris-tin MacKay, director of public relations for the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office. “He has been at the forefront of the fight to eliminate state man-dates for new county jail construction, which saved the county’s tax-payers hundreds of mil-lions of dollars.”
Though you wouldn’t know it from speaking with him, DeMarco did not initially intend to go into law enforcement. A Ronkonkoma native, DeMarco went to St. John’s Univer-sity, graduating with a degree in economics in 1991.
“I always had an interest in law enforce-ment,” DeMarco said. “But I didn’t think it was going to be my career.”
After two years working in the financial industry in New York City, DeMarco tran-sitioned into law enforcement, becoming a deputy sheriff for Suffolk County in 1994. DeMarco took to the job quickly.
“I think I have the best job in the world, I really do,” he said. “I love coming to work everyday. I love what I do.”
DeMarco was named Suffolk County sheriff in 2006 and became the first uni-formed member of the Sheriff’s Office to be elected sheriff, and one of the youngest sheriffs ever elected in Suffolk County.
From the beginning of his tenure, De-Marco said he has made working with youth inmates a priority of his administra-tion. In 2011, DeMarco began assembling the partners needed for an undertaking like the Youth Re-Entry Task Force.
“We needed partners on the outside in order to make this a success,” DeMarco said. “We needed housing. … We also had to find not-for-profits that were willing to come into the correctional facilities and do some coun-
seling: drug counseling, anger management, life skill counseling, vocation-al counseling, all types of stuff to fill our program, so when they leave the facili-ties they actually have the tools to succeed instead of just warehousing them in a correctional facil-ity where you’re not giving them any tools and they’re going to fail.”
Among the most essential resources De-Marco and his administration found was housing for youths in Hope House Min-istries in Port Jefferson and Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch in Riverhead.
Thaddaeus Hill, executive director of Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch — created and named in memory of his older brother — said the program has seen great success, highlighted by the 50 percent drop in recidi-vism among youths that enter the program.
“Sheriff DeMarco has pioneered pro-grams that few in this country have had the courage to take on,” Hill said. “He looks at the big picture beyond the walls of his jail and that has allowed him to make a sig-
nificant impact on the lives of many young people on Long Island.”
Another key component was Eastern-Suffolk BOCES to incorporate education into the program. Barbara Egloff, divisional administrator for Eastern Suffolk BOCES and Oversight of the Jail Education Pro-gram and Career, Technical and Adult Ed-ucation, said DeMarco has effectively used the strengths of all of his partnerships to make the program a success.
“It is inspiring to work with Sheriff De-Marco,” Egloff said. “He has instilled the im-portance of effective collaboration to all who have the opportunity to work with him.”
Suffolk County Court Judge Fernando Camacho, who heads the County’s Felony Youth Part, a program created in conjunc-tion with Sheriff DeMarco, said it is rare to come across a sheriff so dedicated to creat-ing better lives for his inmates after they have served their time.
“I’ve worked in criminal justice my entire professional career, over 30 years, and I’ve worked with a lot of individuals running correctional facilities, and I can honestly say I’ve run across somebody who’s actu-ally bringing in social workers and service providers into his jail to help young people to identify what the issues are, and to try to come up with solutions,” Camacho said.
Camacho said it is important to work with youth inmates to improve their situa-tions upon leaving the jail.
“Rather than putting them Upstate for three years and forgetting about them, we’re actually thinking about it in a different way,” Camacho said. “Let’s see if we can fig-ure out why this kid got in trouble, and let’s see if we can put a plan in place that’s going to give this kid an opportunity to break out of the cycle and get back on track.”
As DeMarco explains, the program’s numbers speak for themselves.
“Nationally, the average inmate has an
83 percent chance of returning,” DeMarco said. “The kids that come through our pro-gram have a 23 percent chance of coming back; that’s a big difference.”
Overall, the program contributes to low-ering the number of inmates in county jails, allowing DeMarco to prevent the costly un-dertaking of additional facilities.
“It doesn’t cost us any more to provide these services to the youth in this facil-ity, but the return we get is that they don’t come back to the facility and we lower the jail population, and that has enabled us not to build more jail cells; a huge cost to the taxpayers.”
In the future, DeMarco hopes to expand for additional age groups. The more people he can help, he says, the better.
“If someone winds up touching the crim-inal justice system and they wind up in this facility, and we can find out the underlying reason why this crime was committed,” he said, “we can change that and change their behavior when they get out, we’ve increased public safety, and that’s the goal.”
County sheriff reduces return rate of inmates
Photos from Kristin MacKay above, Vincent DeMarco, center, poses for a photo with some members of the youth re-entry task Force during a regular bi-monthly meeting. Below, DeMarco is reducing the rate of recidivism in county jails.
‘He looks at the big picture beyond the walls of his jail and that has allowed him to make a significant impact on the lives of many young people on Long Island.’
— Thaddaeus hill
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PAGE A8 • THE VILLAGE BEACON RECORD • DECEMBER 31, 2015
By Rachel SifoRd
Chris Pinkenburg has been trying to get Rocky Point students more interested in math and science. So he created his own robotics club called GearHeadz to do so. Because of this, he has been named a 2015 Times Beacon Record Person of the Year.
Pinkenburg, a physicist at Brookhav-en National Laboratory, was inspired to create his own robotics club in the Rocky Point school district after attend-ing an educational symposium at BNL. He thought this was the perfect way to get more students involved in engineer-ing. GearHeadz is a privately run FIRST LEGO League team from Rocky Point.
“For years, he was the one who was very vocal about how having robotics in the school is important,” said Bea Ru-berto, president of the Sound Beach Civic Association. “Encouraging science and technology is very important for kids.”
Pinkenburg has three children in the Rocky Point school district, all of which have participated in his robotics club at one point.
“He is very passionate about educa-tion,” Wlodek Guryn, Pinkenburg’s col-league at BNL, said. “He wants children to learn as much as possible in school and give them as many opportunities as pos-sible, which is also why he got involved in the robotics club.”
Pinkenburg started to prod his school district to implement a robotics club into
the schools. He eventually formed his own private team that won first place in programming in the qualifiers the first time they competed. After this, a club was introduced to Rocky Point Middle School with Pinkenburg leading it as a mentor. They even competed in a worldwide com-petition in St. Louis, Missouri.
According to Rocky Point Middle School Principal Scott O’Brien, the school was involved with a program associated with BNL that focused on math and sci-ence. There were multiple sections of the program, one of which was robotics.
“I had put out a survey looking for feedback about the program and the kids noted that the robotics section was their favorite part, and said they benefited the most from it,” O’Brien said. “We knew we needed to expand it, and, at the same time, Pinkenburg was there and created this club. A lot of kids are very highly interested in robotics. Over 100 students came to the first meeting.”
Each year, teams are presented with a new challenge and must try to develop a solution using robotics. This year’s theme is Trash Trek, which prompts them to ex-plore the world of trash and invent a solu-tion to help minimize trash issues. They must also build and program a LEGO ro-bot to accomplish trash-themed missions on a playing field and show how well they work together as a team.
“The team has been very successful,” Ruberto said. “They won last year’s Long
Island Championship and went on to com-pete in the North American Open Cham-pionships against 75 other national and international champions in California.”
As a physicist at BNL, Pinkenburg has been passionate about programming and simulations. One part of robotics is to build the robot itself, which is more en-gineering based, but the other big part, which is Pinkenburg’s specialty, requires computing, which helps in program-ming the robot so it does exactly what it
is meant to do.“He is very pleasant and passionate, and
works very hard on computing aspects and simulations of his work,” Guryn said about Pinkenburg. “He is very dedicated. Phys-ics requires a lot of passion and dedication and he has a lot of both.”
Pinkenburg’s efforts are being spread to the high school, as he starts his FIRST Tech Challenge team, a higher-level team, to continue to spread his love for comput-ing and physics.
Pinkenburg makes Rocky Point robotics real
Photos from Chris Pinkenburg at top, chris Pinkenburg, far right, with some members of his Rocky Point robotics Gearheadz team. above, the team demonstrates one of their projects.
DECEMBER 31, 2015 • THE VILLAGE BEACON RECORD • PAGE A9
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Reference librarian keeps Three Village informedBy Giselle Barkley
She is the librarian’s librarian and one of Emma S. Clark Memorial Library’s longest-serving employees.
Throughout her 30 years at the East Setauket library, reference librarian Carolyn Emerson, 61, can find al-most anything, her colleagues said. But it’s her involve-ment with the library and caring attitude that’s made her an intricate part of the library and the community, and that is why Times Beacon Record Newspapers se-lected her as a Person of the Year in 2015.
Every other Wednesday, this soft-spoken librarian has organized the library’s senior bus program, which transports to the library senior residents who would otherwise be unable to go to the library. Although she didn’t start the program, Emerson took over the pro-gram to help these seniors.
She also used her position at the library and her knowledge of Three Village history to organize and create programs like last year’s Culper Spy Day, which paid homage to the community’s ties to spy rings dur-ing the Revolutionary War.
On June 20, 2014, the library held its first Culper Spy Day program, where residents could learn about the Revolutionary War, the Culper Spy Ring and its ties to Long Island. Three Village Historian Bev Tyler, of Three Village Historical Society, helped organize the event and said Emerson established a user-friendly site to spread the word about the spy ring throughout the community.
“She’s a very community-oriented [person] and easy to work with,” Tyler said. “She really makes the library a good common resource for more than just books and videos, but also history.”
Her efforts to inform the community stemmed from a desire to share her vast array of knowledge with oth-ers and help those in need, those close to her said. And her hard work is not only for the bigger programs, but also for little tasks that accompany her title as a refer-ence librarian in Emma S. Clark’s Adult section.
“Whenever anybody comes up to the reference desk, she just gives it 110 percent,” said co-worker Jennifer Mullen, the public relations manager and community outreach librarian. “She doesn’t stop looking until she finds it either, and everybody appreciates that. She digs deep.”
Mullen met Emerson a little more than 10 years ago. They worked side-by-side as reference librarians. Now, Mullen works alongside Teen Services Librarian Na-nette Feder, who also commended Emerson for her in-sight on art, local history and literature, and dedication to her work and the community members she serves.
Emerson’s husband, Mark Rothenberg, said his wife comes from a line of people who share her tenacity and need to give back to their community.
Emerson’s mother was recognized for her work fol-lowing Hurricane Andrew, building homes for storm victims. Her father, a psychiatrist who ran a family clinic, counseled families in the Miami area. While her parents did their part to actively help those around them, they encouraged a young Carolyn Emerson and her siblings to be compassionate and stand up for them-selves and their beliefs, Rothenberg said.
Emerson was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010. Despite the diagnosis, chemotherapy and surgery, Em-erson remained resilient. She was cleared of cancer the following year and continued her work inside and out-side the library.
“Many times, I’m in awe of her,” said Rothenberg, who works as the head of the Patchogue-Medford Li-brary’s Celia M. Hastings Local History Room. “She’s been through a lot, including cancer.”
In addition to being a reference librarian, Emerson has also worked as a published poet. She has written poems in
Photo by Dianne TrautmannCarolyn emerson, left, leads a discussion at emma s. Clark Memorial library.
EMERSON continued on page A25
PAGE A10 • THE VILLAGE BEACON RECORD • DECEMBER 31, 2015
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Vicki Rybak has been serving the Long Island community for more than a decade, known by her friends and co-workers as one of the busiest and most resourceful people they know.
As the director of social ministry and outreach for Infant Jesus R.C. Church in Port Jefferson, Rybak has gone above and be-yond her job descrip-tion. For that reason, she has been named a Port Times Record Person of the Year.
“She is a last resort for a lot of people,” said Debbie Engelhardt, di-rector of the Comse-wogue Public Library and a Port Jefferson Rotary Club member.
The Rotary Club works closely with Rybak and the church. One of their big-gest collaborations is on The Open Cup-board at the church, a food pantry for needy Long Islanders that the Rotary do-nates to. According to Engelhardt, one in eight on Long Island currently need help from food banks.
“Year-round she is involved in proj-ects like this,” Engelhardt said about Ry-bak. “She tries to be everything that any-one needs, which can be exhausting. She is helping families from falling through the cracks and they are really fortunate to have someone who has the time and energy to be that person.”
Jim Fenton is one of the oldest volun-teers at Infant Jesus and has worked with Rybak closely.
“Vicki is extremely resourceful when some-one comes to her with a problem,” Fenton said. “She has all these phone numbers at her finger-tips, and is very com-passionate too.”
Fenton added that Rybak devotes time to applying for grants to keep the food pantries stocked and keep the equipment working — “all of her own initiative.”
“She goes above and beyond what is in her job description,” Fenton added. “There is nothing she won’t do.”
Sharon Brennan, another Rotary Club member, shared an anecdote of working
Rybak’s got your backSocial ministry director tirelessly helps needy in area
File photoVicki Rybak, far right, poses with the Rev. Patrick Riegger and Rotarians Sharon Brennan and Jackie Brown as infant Jesus R.c. church accepts a Rotary donation to its food pantry.RYBAK continued on page A19
‘She is helping families from falling through the cracks and they are really fortunate to have someone who has the time and energy to be that person.’
— Debbie engelharDt
DECEMBER 31, 2015 • THE VILLAGE BEACON RECORD • PAGE A11
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LaValle makes a lasting impact on North ShoreBy Daniel Dunaief
Quality health care and, to hear state Sen. Ken LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) de-scribe it, home cooking, are good for the body, mind, soul and community. That’s the argument the Republican senator has been making for years on behalf of Stony Brook Medical Center and its hospital.
After the university lost out earlier this year on a partnership with Pecon-ic Bay Medical Center, which agreed to team up with North Shore-LIJ, the long-time local senator has continued his unflagging support of Stony Brook, particularly with Mather Hospital.
“If we think of a wheel, the hub of a wheel and the local community hospitals are its spokes,” LaValle said, with Stony Brook at the center. “This is my vision and one that I think is good for the peo-ple I represent” to allow them to have the “best quality health care” close to home.
For his consistent and long-term ef-forts to lend the support of his office to an important area institution, and for the passion and dedication he has shown to the residents of the region for close to four decades, LaValle is a Times Beacon Record Man of the Year.
Stony Brook officials appreciated La-Valle’s work on their behalf and sug-gested that he played a seminal role in keeping the ongoing relationship with Southampton Hospital on track.
“It took perseverance to continue to
push the Southampton relationship with Stony Brook through,” said Reuven Pas-ternak, the CEO of Stony Brook Univer-sity Hospital. “He was absolutely critical in keeping those discussions going and seeing them to fruition.”
Pasternak said LaValle also facilitated a connection with Eastern Long Island Hospital.
LaValle has been “a big supporter” of that relationship, Pasternak said. “He’s always made himself available to speak to people in Albany.”
Indeed, LaValle was instrumental in the building of the new Medicine and Re-
search Translation build-ing, a 240,000-square foot facility that is ex-pected to be completed in 2016.
Kenneth Kaushansky, the dean of the School of Medicine and the senior vice president of health sciences, said LaValle
helped secure critical state financing.LaValle identified $45 million that
was earmarked for a law school at Stony Brook that was never built that he “was able get reallocated,” said Kaushansky. “The state support for MART was hugely dependent on the senator.”
Kaushansky said he and LaValle have regular discussions about any potential issues that arise.
If things aren’t proceeding the way the university would like, LaValle “al-ways volunteers to help put them back on track.”
File photo by Barbara DonlonState Sen. Ken laValle works with north Shore elected officials and residents to ensure the community, and greater long island region, have quality health care.
LAVALLE continued on page A23
‘He is firmly supportive of Stony Brook’s role and mission, as well as for all the hospitals in our community.’
— Steve englebright
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PAGE A14 • THE VILLAGE BEACON RECORD • DECEMBER 31, 2015
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By Giselle Barkley
Josephine Lunde never gives up.More than a decade ago, Lunde started
volunteering with the Town of Brookhav-en’s annual Toy Drive. Her need to help Brookhaven residents landed her a full-time position at Brookhaven’s Youth Bu-reau two years ago, and because of her ongoing efforts to helping others, she has been named a 2015 Times Beacon Record Person of the Year.
“She was full time anyway,” said Maria Polack, secretary to the tax assessor for Brookhaven Town Star Exemption. “She does the work of like five men, for real.”
Polack met Lunde 15 years ago when Lunde started volunteering at the Town of Brookhaven. When it comes to help-ing others, Lunde’s work ethic is second to none. On many occasions, Lunde stayed up all hours of the night into the early morning to work on her many fundrais-ing events. Lunde doesn’t only help orga-nize Brookhaven’s Toy Drive, which helps around 7,000 children around the holi-days, she organizes a variety of events, in-cluding food drives, school supply drives, clothing drives, volunteer programs for se-nior citizen and the prom dress program, to name a few.
Lunde has led the prom program for around three years, according to Diana Weir, commissioner of Brookhaven’s Housing and Human Services depart-ment. The event allows girls from families
in need to select prom attire from dresses to purses, shoes and more. Schools allow their students to attend the event by ap-pointment. Lunde started staying after hours to accommodate students and their families who couldn’t get a dress during the program’s daytime hours. Weir said Lunde’s dedication and desire to spend as much time as possible makes this Medford resident more special.
“She will never complain,” Weir said. “She never says boo.”
While every child who registers for the prom dress program gets special attention, Polack remembers Lunde going above and beyond for one high school student who thought she was too overweight to at-tend her prom. Lunde didn’t only get her a dress, she organized for the student to get her nails and hair done.
“The determination in Josie is bigger than both of us when she makes up her mind that she’s going to help somebody,” Polack said.
Superintendent of Highways Dan Losquadro (R) said Lunde is one who fo-cuses her attention on those in need in the community, especially those who don’t al-ways want to ask for help.
“A lot of those folks that she works with are people who are very proud, and who might not otherwise seek assistance. These things have gotten really expensive,” Losquadro said about Lunde and buying gifts around the holidays.
Lunde’s son Mike said his mother has
always been one to help others but, almost to a fault.
“She doesn’t think of herself,” he said.When Mike was a child, his mother was
a den mother for his Boy Scout troop, and took on other responsibilities when her kids were getting older. Regardless of her accomplishments, Lunde likes to stay in the background.
But whether she’s in the forefront at
an event or working behind the scenes, Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) said the Town is very happy to have her,
“Someone like her really adds to what it means to be a part of a town,” Romaine said. “She’s the heart of Brookhaven be-cause she takes the heart of all the problems and tries to make them better … we should have more people like her in this world. If we did, it’d be a much better place.”
Josephine Lunde keeps presents coming all year long
File photoabove, Josephine lunde poses with Brookhaven Town supervisor ed romaine during a back-to-school drive.
DECEMBER 31, 2015 • THE VILLAGE BEACON RECORD • PAGE A15
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By Elana Glowatz
Jumping out of a plane, mentoring younger people and planting flowers are all in a day’s work for Ed DiNunzio.
He’s officially the head of membership for the Port Jefferson Rotary but he has worn many more hats during his years with the service organization, filling in wherever he can to make his community a better place to live.
For selflessly dedicating his endless en-ergy to serving his neighbors, DiNunzio is a Port Times Record Person of the Year.
One of DiNunzio’s biggest roles is in the Gift of Life program, which started in Suffolk County 40 years ago — but has expanded through Rotary International — and provides lifesaving heart proce-dures to children around the globe. The Person of the Year has been involved since the beginning, Port Jefferson Ro-tary member Debbie Engelhardt said, using his skills as a lawyer to help it get organized and off the ground.
Suffolk Rotary clubs have most recent-ly raised funds and brought a 4-year-old girl to Long Island from Kosovo, for a surgery to repair a nickel-sized hole in her heart called an atrial septal defect. Gift of Life also works to provide medi-cal staff in other countries with equip-ment and training to perform such procedures, so children will not have to travel so far for treatment in the future.
DiNunzio has gone to extremes for the program. He once raised money for Gift of Life by skydiving.
“That was a great thing that he did personally,” fellow Rotarian Dennis Brennan said, noting the physical risk involved in jumping out of a plane for charity. “That was a large sacrifice on his part to do that.”
Each jumper in that fundraising effort
was supposed to bring in $1,500 but Di-Nunzio collected $2,150 for Gift of Life.
“He’s true blue,” said Engelhardt, who is also the director of the Comsewogue Public Library.
“He’s got more energy than basically anybody I know.”
Skydiving isn’t the only way DiNunzio brings in funding for Rotary. Engelhardt said the club holds an annual raffle fund-raiser in which each member is expected to sell at least 25 tickets, but “without fail, Ed sells over 200 every year.”
But it’s not just about the money — between attending to his family in Mount Sinai and his law practice in Port Jefferson, DiNunzio also gives his time.
He is heavily involved in the Rotary Youth Exchange program, through which students study abroad and stay with a host family. According to Engel-hardt, DiNunzio has lent a hand on an organizational level for the Northeastern region for many years and has opened his home to exchange students from other areas.
Between those kids and others from the Northeast who had life-changing experiences overseas through the pro-gram, DiNunzio has made an impact on the lives of numerous young people. Engelhardt explained that a lot of them are now grown adults living all over the world, but whenever they are in the area they look up DiNunzio.
She said Rotary is about using your life to make the world a better place, and DiNunzio does that.
“Everybody’s part of something big-ger,” Engelhardt said. “He’s not a child, but he’d be our poster child.”
Brennan described DiNunzio’s metic-ulous nature, which is obvious when the volunteer manages one of the Rotary’s bank accounts.
“He watches it like a hawk,” Brennan said.
And he is meticulous about his physi-cal fitness too. Brennan said DiNunzio brings an important strength to the Ro-tary: The club uses a heavy wooden sign when it collects food for donation, and “we depend on Ed” to bring it to the col-lections because he’s the only one who can lift it on his own.
Once at Camp Pa-Qua-Tuck, a Center Moriches camp for kids with disabili-ties where the Rotary does cleanups and beautification, a group was planting pe-rennials by a flagpole but the ground was hard, making digging difficult.
“Old Ed, he just kept going at it,” Brennan said. “He never quit.”
Brennan refers to the Person of the Year as “Mr. Rotary” because he has his hand in every program and gives his all.
“When he gets involved with some-thing … he puts his whole self into it and the results are easy to see,” he said. “He’s a very caring person and I think that he’s demonstrated that.”
Photos at top from Debbie Engelhardt; file photo above by Dennis BrennanClockwise from top left, Ed Dinunzio skydives for a Gift of life fundraiser; Dinunzio, kneeling, gets painting in downtown Port Jefferson; and he digs deep to beautify a camp for kids with disabilities.
DiNunzio does it allPort Jefferson Rotary member gives time and limitless energy to make his world a better place
DECEMBER 31, 2015 • THE VILLAGE BEACON RECORD • PAGE A17
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COLD SPRING HARBOR • LLOYD HARBOR • LLOYD NECK • HALESITE • HUNTINGTON BAY • GREENLAWN • CENTERPORT • ASHAROKEN • EATON’S NECK • FORT SALONGA–WEST of Huntington • Northport • East Northport
BY VICTORIA ESPINOZA
Harborfields school district residents voted in favor of $11.7 million in districtwide capital im-provements, while also mowing down a $1.9 mil-lion plan to add turf fields.
The proposals were presented to the public in two separate propositions in a referendum vote held on Tuesday.
Proposition No. 1, the dis-trictwide upgrades, received 1,248 yes votes and 573 no
Photo by Dan Woulfi n
Yip-or-treat in CSHCostumed dogs and their owners marched in the 9th annual Howl-ween: Corky’s Canine Costume Parade Celebration on Sunday. For more photos, see page A10.
Photos by Victoria Espinoza
Hayridin’ and pumpkin pickin’ in NorthportThe Northport Chamber of Commerce hosted the 14th annual Halloween Hayride in Northport Village Park on Sunday. Above, scenes from the event. For more photos, see page A10.
H’� elds OKs $11.7M upgrades, no turf
H’FIELDS continued on page A8File photo by Rohma Abbas
Diana Todaro
All about electionsEverything you need to know about
your local candidates ahead of Nov. 3 STARTS ON PAGE A11
Nightmare On Main Street
Also:Minstrel Player’s ‘Back to the
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PAGE B1
PAGE A18 • THE VILLAGE BEACON RECORD • DECEMBER 31, 2015
being older than most guys who do that, since the physical requirements are high.
As a testament to his fitness, Mee-han can be seen walking to school every morning, Neubert said, and students and teachers can sometimes catch a glimpse of him walking the school halls “in his suit and hiking boots.”
That’s not the only place they can see him. He’s at his students’ sports games and all around the village. During the Charles Dickens Festival earlier this month, Superintendent Ken Bossert said, he watched his students perform and then roasted marshmallows with them.
“He is just everywhere at all times,” Bossert said. “All the kids know him and love him.”
Well, almost everywhere: “Mr. Meehan is rarely in his office,” Neubert said, be-cause he frequently drops into classrooms around the school.
Meehan has joined Neubert’s class a few times to share musical facts he knows, which the kids loved.
“In their minds, Mr. Meehan knows everything,” Neubert said.
That goes for sports too. A physical education teacher was once absent and a swimming class at the end of the day needed a qualified teacher or it would have been canceled. Meehan, a certified lifeguard, didn’t want to disappoint the kids, Bossert said, so he went home to get
his swimsuit and taught the class.Bossert said he was the “first principal
that they ever saw in the water.”According to a letter the superinten-
dent wrote, nominating Meehan as a Person of the Year, “He was dry and back in his dress suit in time for dismissal.”
Meehan has helped kids on an indi-vidual basis as well. Bossert described a time when Meehan pulled some strings with the Long Island Rail Road on be-half of a special needs student who had “a fascination with trains,” and the child was able to conduct a train between the
Port Jefferson to Stony Brook stations. He also brings gifts to kids during the holidays when he knows their families can’t afford them.
Those close to him said he knows ev-ery child’s name and if one needs extra attention, Butera said, “he’ll find ways throughout the day of stopping by” to check on that student.
But his subtle approach to offering that extra attention puts the kids at ease, Boehm said. She described it as, “Hey, I’m here, and we’ll take care of this together.”
Around the hallways, Meehan is also known for his sense of humor, cracking jokes with kids and dressing up as Mario for Halloween, making him more approachable.
“He has such a great rapport” with all the parents, the staff and the kids, and ev-eryone in the community knows who he is, said Sean Leister, the assistant super-intendent for business. Usually that kind of reverence comes with someone who’s been in his position for 20 years, Leister said, but Meehan’s attained it in five.
Even so, he doesn’t take credit for most of what he does.
“He’s not the kind of guy that likes any limelight or fanfare,” Boehm said. “He would never make a big deal about what he was doing.”
MEEHANContinued from page A1
File photosClockwise from top: Principal Tom Meehan, far right, poses with singers from the elementary school at the fire department’s annual 9/11 memorial ceremony in September; he stands, seventh from the left, with his fellow firefighters for a recent group photo in front of the firehouse on Maple Place; and studies marine life with students at West Beach in Port Jefferson.
‘In their minds, Mr. Meehan knows everything.’
— Christian neubert
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with Rybak. Once, a couple went to her office crying because a fire had destroyed everything they owned.
“Vicki started making calls immedi-ately, getting them stuff over the phone, getting Christmas presents for their chil-dren,” Brennan said. “She just goes into high gear and makes stuff happen.”
Rybak is involved in many different programs throughout the year, includ-ing the Adopt-A-Family program for the holiday season, through which volunteers purchase Christmas presents such as toys and clothes for families who do not have enough money to spend on those items themselves. That project gets a lot of resi-dents and community groups involved, including the Interact Club at Port Jeffer-
son’s Earl L. Vandermeulen High School, right down the road from the church.
The Person of the Year also works on a back-to-school project, filling up 150 backpacks with school supplies — such as composition notebooks and pencils — for children at the start of the each new school year, with the help of community donations.
“Vicki somewhere, somehow finds a way to help them, no matter what they need,” Laszlo Girhiny, a church mem-ber, said about Rybak’s dedication to lo-cal people in need. “Hundreds of people have walked through her doors.”
If Rybak cannot help people herself, she connects them with other social ser-vice agencies so the job can get done.
“She has the right attitude and always treats the people she helps with dignity,” Brennan said. “She says everyone has been there one time in their life.”
File photoRotarian Jackie Brown, Vicki Rybak, St. Charles Hospital’s Marilyn Fabbricante, Rotarian Debbie Englehardt and backpack program sponsor Katharine Coen carry backpacks for donation.
RYBAKContinued from page A10
PAGE A20 • THE VILLAGE BEACON RECORD • DECEMBER 31, 2015
133960
Stony Brook researchers on front lines of medicineBy Daniel Dunaief
They have a sense of urgency that motivates those around them to push for better results. In fighting against diseases that kill millions of people every year, they are doing what they’ve done from the time they left their home country of Lebanon until they arrived at Stony Brook three years ago: they are supporting their colleagues, recruiting top talent from around the world, and encouraging their staff to train and encourage the next generation of researchers.
Yusuf Hannun, the director of the Cancer Center at Stony Brook, and Lina Obeid, the dean for research, con-tinue to build a deep and talented team, adding research-ers focused on curing diseases while also developing the next generation of Stony Brook scientists.
Times Beacon Record Newspapers recognizes Hannun and Obeid as People of the Year for their day-to-day lead-ership, their discoveries in their labs, and their focus on the future of science at Stony Brook.
“In terms of what they are building at Stony Brook, their vision is to grow that Cancer Center into a NCI-designated Cancer Center,” said Gerard Blobe, a profes-sor of medicine and the research director at the Division of Medical Oncology at Duke University Medical Center who earned his Ph.D. in Hannun’s lab more than 20 years ago. They want to make it a “force in clinical care and re-search and training. They have a mission up there and I have no doubt that they’ll accomplish it.”
Indeed, Blobe said the National Cancer Institute desig-nation is just the “icing on the cake” that enables the center to seek funding for some projects. What’s more important, he said, is “what they will accomplish by getting that prize,” in building and developing Stony Brook’s research abilities.
Scientists in the same field as Hannun were quick to praise his achievements and innovation.
Discoveries by Hannun about sphingolipids, which are molecules that are involved in a range of roles, in-cluding cell division, differentiation and cell death, provided key insights.
Hannun “pushed the field into the modern age,” said Tony Futerman, the Joseph Meyerhoff professorial chair of biochemistry at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. “He’s been innovative for 30 years in the field. He’s undoubtedly, if not the leader, then a leader. It’s fair to say the same about” Obeid.
In her lab, Obeid, who is the dean for research and a professor of medicine at the Stony Brook School of Medi-cine, is exploring the role of enzymes that control mole-cules that are involved in cell growth and others that play a role in cell death or differentiation.
While Futerman is a competitor to Hannun in some re-spects, he suggested that Hannun has been instrumental in the careers of many other scientists, developing talented and dedicated researchers who have also made significant contributions.
“They are excellent mentors of younger people,” he said. “There’s a whole school of former post docs who went on to get independent positions. This speaks to their mentor-ship. They both have the same attitude: they push young people into leadership positions.”
Indeed, those who have worked for Obeid and Hannun in the past suggested that they offered the kind of guid-ance, discipline and approach that was applicable in and outside the lab.
“Part of [Hannun’s] success is he’s very good at plan-ning,” said Supriya Jayadev, who was a graduate student in Hannun’s lab at Duke and is now the executive director of Clallam Mosaic in Port Angeles, Washington. “He plans out an experiment such that it works the first time.”
Corinne Linardic was Hannun’s first graduate student. She said someone cautioned her about the risks of joining a new lab. Her first meeting with him, however, quickly allayed her concerns.
“I remember him saying, ‘It’s important not to look HANNUN continued on page A30
File photo by Barbara Donlon yusuf Hannun speaks at a Stony Brook Cancer Center event.
DECEMBER 31, 2015 • THE VILLAGE BEACON RECORD • PAGE A21
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Turano takes Three Village history to another levelBy SuSan RiSoli
Setauket resident Frank Turano delves deeply into local history. He uncovers compelling stories of everyday people and brings those tales alive for the rest of us to share. For that reason, and for his ongoing service to the Three Village Historical Society as board member and past president, Turano is one of Times Beacon Record’s People of the Year.
Beverly Tyler, the historical society’s historian, said he has known Turano since the early 1970s. He described Tura-no’s leadership in unearthing details about Chicken Hill, the area of Route 25A around the current-day Setauket Methodist Church. It was once a thriving community of immigrants who helped each other make a new life in America. An exhibit about Chicken Hill is now on display at the Historical Society’s head-quarters in Setauket. Tyler said Turano, who is manager of the Chicken Hill project and curator of the exhibit, led the search for the community’s almost-forgotten past and wrote a successful funding proposal to create the exhibit. “He’s there almost every single weekend, to give tours of the exhibit,” Tyler said. He and Turano traveled in September to the annual meeting of the American Association for State and Local History, where the Chicken Hill exhibit received
the association’s highest distinction, the Award of Merit.
Karen Martin, archivist for the Histori-cal Society, said Turano leads the organi-zation’s Rhodes Committee. At the group’s weekly meetings in the Emma Clark Pub-lic Library, Martin said, Turano facilitates the group’s far-ranging and free-wheeling conversations about the history of our area, and then mines the discussions for ideas to dig into. “The big names, like the Ward Melvilles, make the headlines,” Martin said. “But Frank also wants to know about everyone who lived in a community, the everyday person, the guy who owned the general store.” If a historical topic comes up in a Rhodes committee meeting, Mar-tin said, Turano “wants to know all the details. He’ll say, “Who’s going to know about this? Let’s give them a call.’”
Turano also volunteers for the Society’s annual Candlelight House Tour every De-cember, Martin said. He explains the his-tory of houses on the tour, she said, and in general “he loves to give presentations.”
Local resident Hub Edwards, who has worked with Turano on many history projects, said, “If people want to know history, they should listen to him. He goes to great lengths to get the true story of a project, with no shortcuts.” Edwards said Turano is always featured in the Historical Society’s annual “Spirits” tour of local graveyards, dressed as one of the
historical figures highlighted by the tour. Turano also frequently writes scripts for the tour’s performances, Edwards said.
Turano’s daughter Alyssa said her fa-ther is now combing through the archives of the Long Island Museum. He’s working on an exploration of the Long Island whal-ing shipbuilding industry, she said, “focus-ing on Mr. Cooper, one specific whale ship builder who lived in the 1800s.” Turano is finding out about Cooper’s life by reading his diaries and looking over ship construc-tion work logs. Alyssa said her father has been excitedly sharing stories with her and
his friends, about the buried gems of his-tory he is finding.
“Not everyone appreciates history in the way that he does,” she said. “It’s very inspiring. When you are so passionate about history, you can make it come alive again.” Her father is committed to finding out as much as he can about local history, she said, because he believes strongly that “not all of these people have had their sto-ries told.” And he has told her, she said, that “it’s better to know the back story, so you can know how your community has changed throughout time.”
Photo from Beverly TylerFrank Turano leads an interactive discussion delving into the history of Three Village.
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State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) said LaValle deserves rec-ognition for his work on behalf of Stony Brook and all the area hospitals.
“He is firmly supportive of Stony Brook’s role and mission, as well as for all the hospitals in our community,” En-glebright said.
LaValle suggested his role as chair-man of the Senate Committee on Higher Education gives him an opportunity to advocate on behalf of the medical school. His chairmanship provides “a vehicle to be able to work with other people in the state university system and within state agencies,” he said.
The approximately 129 students in each medical school class contribute to area health care while they pursue their education, LaValle said.
“That is one of the very first helping points for the university,” LaValle said. “It’s being able to fulfill the education of their medical students. There are also people doing their clinical work and residencies.”
LaValle is contributing to Stony Brook’s effort to secure a longer-term connection with Mather. He cited nu-merous such two-way benefits for a po-tential longer-term alliance.
Stony Brook can provide services that “will save Mather a lot of money,” LaValle said.
For patients of the two hospitals, the quality and convenience are also a win-ning combination.
“If someone needs cardiac care, it is a hop, skip and a jump to get that care,” LaValle
said. “They don’t have to be helicoptered some place or drive a long time distance.”
Kaushansky appreciated the support from the senator.
“He’s doing everything he can,” Kaushansky said. LaValle has “been a strong proponent of getting us and Mather to work together for the benefit” of the patient population in the area.
Kaushansky cited several other ben-efits to Mather of an ongoing and deeper connection with Stony Brook, including support for Mather’s stroke center with back-up cerebral artery intervention, and support for their radiology department.
While a deeper connection with Mather would be mutually beneficial for the hospitals, LaValle suggested, it would also create an important level of conve-nience for patients.
“I have started with the premise that patient care closest to home is the best care for the patient,” LaValle said. “The families can interact and it’s convenient. We are focused in a way to ensure that the quality of health care is at its maximum.”
From the leaders through the rank and file, Stony Brook health care profes-sionals appreciate LaValle’s support.
“If anybody were to ask a person working in the dialysis unit, ‘Of all the politicians in the state of New York, who do you think is the strongest advocate for Stony Brook Medical School and Stony Brook University Hospital?’ most of them would say Ken LaValle,” said Kaushansky.
Pasternak, who considers LaValle a friend, called him sincere in his beliefs.
“It’s not the politics that drives him,” Pasternak said. “It’s his passion for the region and the people in the region.”
lavalleContinued from page A12
File photo State Sen. Ken LaValle has consistently mended the support of his office to Stony Brook.
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PAGE A24 • THE VILLAGE BEACON RECORD • DECEMBER 31, 2015
By Giselle Barkley
Just keep shooting.That’s what Kevin Foley used to tell
the women playing for the Suffolk Coun-ty Community College women’s basket-ball team.
And he didn’t just encourage them to never give up on the court, but off the court as well both before and after re-tiring as the women’s basketball head coach earlier in 2015. But retirement didn’t stop Foley from returning to SCCC as the institution’s athletic direc-tor that same year.
That is why Kevin Foley was selected as a 2015 Times Beacon Record Person of the Year.
Vice President of Stu-dent Affairs Christopher Adams said Foley has worked at the college nearly 37 years as a pro-fessor and member of the school’s athletic depart-ment. While Adams de-scribed Foley as dedicated and passionate, he said it’s his overall approach to life that resonates with him.
“He’s very big on success in the classroom and the athletic fields,” Ad-ams said.
Adams said Foley instilled important life lessons into all of his players: you’ll be successful if you’re a “good sport” who follows the rules.
Foley was like a father figure for some of his players in his 19 years of coaching, those close to him said. Former SCCC student and basketball player Colleen Quinn said she remembers Foley differ-ently than other coaches she had when growing up. As a high school student, Quinn said she always felt like she wasn’t doing well on the basketball court.
“I only really had a few coaches to compare him to, and those coaches were
similar [to one another],” Quinn said. “Now that I’m an adult and I can look at how [Foley] handled [coaching] and how he managed his team...you’ve got to kill yourself to prove anything to him [be-cause] he already sees what your poten-tial is and he’ll nurture it.”
Quinn graduated from SCCC in 1999 and played for Foley when she attended the college in 1997. Quinn, of Middle Is-land, was a senior in high school when Foley approached her after watching her play a game at the college.
Initially, she didn’t plan on playing basketball at the college level before Foley spoke to her. But Foley helped her,
and many students just like her.
SCCC’s Athletics and Intramurals Coordinator Kerry Swanson met Foley 20 years ago when she was one of his players. Swan-son attended the college in the early to mid 1990s.
She admitted that she was unsure of what she was doing with her life and Foley helped steer
her in the right direction. According to Swanson, Foley has a knack for helping those who are lost find their way re-gardless of who they are or his relation-ship with them.
“He tries to connect with people on some level. If he can go out of his way for someone, he just goes out of his way,” Swanson said about the current athletic director.
Adams said Foley also put the college on the map, as many SCCC sports teams have improved under his leadership. He’s also earned several awards on multiple occasions including: the NATYCAA Cup otherwise known as the Pepsi Cup; the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup; the Mickey Crowley Metropolitan Officials Sportsmanship award and the Joe DeBo-
nis Sportsmanship Award. The college received this regional award 12 times in the past two decades.
He also celebrated his 400th career win earlier in 2015 along with several other awards for his work as a professor.
In honor of Foley and all his achieve-ments on and off the court, SCCC will rename the basketball court on the school’s Ammerman Campus in Selden after him. As a senior attending Seton Hall High School in 1965, Foley aver-
aged 30 points per game. He also re-ceived a basketball scholarship to attend Seton Hall University where he served as the team’s captain from 1968-69. In 1994, he was inducted into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame.
“He is someone that could have gone anywhere to coach big time athletics,” Adams said. “He’s been at the college for almost 37 years. That speaks to his dedi-cation and it speaks to his love for our college and for the students.”
SCCC coach lends helping hand on and off court
Photos from Kerry SwansonTop, kevin Foley has his team huddle around him for a mid-game discussion. Bottom, Foley watches a basketball game from the sidelines.
‘...you’ve got to kill yourself to prove anything to him [because] he already sees what your potential is and he’ll nurture it.’
— Colleen Quinn
DECEMBER 31, 2015 • THE VILLAGE BEACON RECORD • PAGE A25
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both English and French for publication.The librarian has also overseen po-
etry and book discussions at the library, which are a hit among residents, her co-workers said.
Mullen said Emerson acquired a large following for her evening book discus-
sions and monthly poetry meetings. Her ability to listen appears to be one of Em-erson’s many positive qualities that help further assist those who request her help, Mullen said.
While Feder didn’t pinpoint a specific moment illustrating Emerson’s charac-ter, she said, “It’s just how she works ev-eryday at the library. She could be on a reference desk [or] helping a member of the library.”
EmErsonContinued from page A9
Photo by Mark Rothenberg Carolyn Emerson has been a librarian at Emma S. Clark Memorial Library for the last 30 years.
PAGE A26 • THE VILLAGE BEACON RECORD • DECEMBER 31, 2015
Setauket Harbor group a force for good
By Phil Corso
They’ve covered a lot of ground — and water — in their first year, but members of the Setauket Harbor Task Force are only getting started.
The all-volunteer Setauket Harbor Task Force, led by residents and cofound-ers Laurie Vetere and George Hoffman, held its first general meeting on Oct. 29 of 2014, and meetings have grown to host nearly 100 residents. Since the first meeting, members of the group have become a known force for North Shore environmentalism, and their efforts have washed upon the shores of civic leaders, elected officials and beyond.
The group has spent the past year studying the harbor, influencing the public debate surrounding it and garner-ing public support for its preservation and sustainability.
For their contributions to the North Shore’s environmental discussion, mem-bers of the Setauket Harbor Task Force have been named 2015 Village Times Herald People of the Year.
On the ground level, civic members in the Setauket and Stony Brook com-munities have become big fans of the Setauket Harbor Task Force and have continuously teamed up with the group to help promote its mission of preserv-ing the communities’ waterways. Shawn Nuzzo, president of the Civic Associa-tion of the Setaukets and Stony Brook, said he stood behind the Task Force’s work with hopes that it could help bring back a strong and vibrant Long Island economy based on the sustainable har-vesting of coastal shorelines.
“We have a sordid and shameful his-tory of polluting our Long Island water-ways,” Nuzzo said. “For years, scientists and environmentalists have been warn-ing of the harmful effects of nitrogen and other contaminants in our water. But it is only relatively recently that the politicians have begun discussing reme-diating the situation, thanks in part to advocacy groups like the Setauket Har-bor Task Force.”
The Task Force has been hosting reg-ular walking tours of the harbor and its surrounding environmental beauties with hopes of reminding the community just how important it is to maintain.
Some of the group’s key concerns have included making sure the town pays at-tention to the road runoff retention ba-sin that forms near the inlet at Setauket Harbor and maintaining park property just to the west of the area’s footbridge.
The Task Force also launched its first Setauket Harbor Day, back in Septem-ber — a free event held at the Shore Road dock, established to inspire the com-munity to join the Force in its efforts to clean and preserve the harbor.
Since the group’s inception, members have been working hand-in-hand with elected officials from various levels of government, and so far their messages have been heard loud and clear.
State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket) has been a consistent voice in the North Shore’s environmental dis-cussion, having held previous positions as a geologist and biologist before be-coming a public servant. And with his expertise, Englebright referred to the Se-tauket Harbor Task Force as the epicen-ter of community pride that has made a tremendous impact on the North Shore.
“We have a sense of purpose now to work between our civic community and the town and the state — it’s just wonderful,” he said. “I guess everybody would hope that government would do all of this on its own, but the additional attention and focus being brought by cit-izens who have taken this initiative on is just terrific. So my sense is that by estab-lishing the Setauket Harbor Task Force, and providing a forum where issues that relate to the overall health of the ecosys-tem in our harbor can be discussed, we have a matter of focus.”
The group has received support from Brookhaven officials as well.
Town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) said the Task Force represented the best of Brookhaven.
“These are citizens coming together
and recognizing a common problem and looking to make a positive difference,” Romaine said. “We are prepared to spend money to enact some of the things they are trying to achieve. This is a commit-ment and what helps us is that we have partners on the local level — people who step up to the plate.”
Town Councilwoman Valerie Car-tright (D-Port Jefferson Station) echoed the same sentiments after spending the year working closely with the Task Force.
“The formation of the Setauket Har-bor Task Force is a significant step in addressing some of the environmental concerns in the area,” she said. “It is a vehicle for the community to work to-gether to assist in preserving our harbor and improving our water quality. I thank the members of the Task Force for all of their hard work to bring awareness of the
needs of the Harbor to the community. I had the privilege of attending the first Setauket Harbor Day this past summer, which I believe was a success, as it was both entertaining and educational.”
Looking ahead, Englebright said he’d hope to see the group follow through in working with the Town of Brookhaven to see what kinds of progress can be achieved in addressing road runoff is-sues and restoring the ecological bal-ance of some of the most disrupted areas along the harbor.
“The fact that the town is planning to dredge the basin is, in part, a response to the initiative of local citizens,” Eng-lebright said. “That partnership is really all too rare, and it’s ideally what govern-ment should be doing. I hope the town continues to realize that this is a won-derful and promising partnership.”
File photosTop, a view of setauket harbor. Bottom, members of the setauket harbor Task Force work alongside government officials near the water earlier this year.
DECEMBER 31, 2015 • THE VILLAGE BEACON RECORD • PAGE A27
Stony Brook University/SUNY is an af� rmative action, equal opportunity educator and employer. 15100603
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PAGE A28 • THE VILLAGE BEACON RECORD • DECEMBER 31, 2015
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ASSEMBLIES OF GODSTONY BROOK CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLY
Connecting to God, Each Other and the World400 Nicolls Road, E. Setauket
(631) 689–1127 • Fax (631) 689–1215www.stonybrookchristian.com
Pastor Troy Reid Weekly Schedule
Sunday Worship w/nursery 10 amKidmo Children’s Church • Ignited Youth
Fellowship and Food Always to FollowTuesday Evening Prayer: 7 pm
� ursday Morning Bible Study w/Co� ee & Bagels: 10 amFriday Night Experience “FNX” for Pre K-Middle School: 6:30 pm
Ignite Youth Ministry: 7:30 pmCheck out our website for other events and times
BYZANTINE CATHOLICRESURRECTION BYZANTINE
CATHOLIC CHURCH38 Mayfl ower Avenue, Smithtown NY 11787
631–759–[email protected]
Fr. Jack Custer, SSL., STD., Pastor Cantor Joseph S. DurkoDivine Liturgy: Sunday, 11:15am followed by fellowship in the parish hall.
Holy Days: 7:00pm. See website for days and times.Faith Formation for All Ages:
Sunday School (Ages 4-13), alternate Sundays at 10:00amByzanTeens (14-18), alternate Tuesdays at 7:00pm
Adult Faith Formation: Mondays at 7:00pm. PrayerAnon Prayergroup for substance addictions:
Wednesdays at 7 pmSee the website for current topics and schedule.
� e Sacraments: Baptism, Chrismation and Eucharist for infants, children and adults arranged by appointment. Sacrament of Matrimony arranged by appointment. Sacrament of Repentance: Sundays 10:50 to 11:05am and
before or aft er all other services.All services in English. A parish of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic.
CATHOLICCHURCH OF ST. GERARD MAJELLA300 Terryville Road, Port Jefferson Station
(631) 473–2900 • Fax (631) 473–0015www.stgmajella.org
Rev. Gennaro DiSpigno, PastorOffi ce of Christian Formation • 928–2550
We celebrate Eucharist Saturday evening 5 pm, Sunday 7:30, 9 and 11 am
Weekday Mass Monday–Friday 9 amWe celebrate Baptism
Th ird weekend of each month during any of our weekend MassesWe celebrate Marriage
Arrangements can be made at the church with our Pastor or DeaconWe celebrate Penance
Confession is celebrated on Saturdays from 4–5 pmWe celebrate You!
Visit Our � ri� Shop Mon. – Fri. 10 am–4 pm + Sat. 10 am–2 pm
INFANT JESUS ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH110 Myrtle Ave., Port Jefferson, NY 11777
(631) 473-0165 • Fax (631) 331-8094www.www.infantjesus.org
Reverend Patrick M. Riegger, PastorAssociates: Rev. Francis Lasrado & Rev. Rolando Ticllasuca
To schedule Baptisms and Weddings, Please call the RectoryConfessions: Saturdays 12:30-1:15 pm in the Lower Church
Religious Ed.: (631) 928-0447 • Parish Outreach: (631) 331-6145Weekly Masses:
6:50 and 9 am in the Church, 12 pm in the Chapel*Weekend Masses:
Saturday at 5 pm in the Church, 5:15 pm in the Chapel*Sunday at 7:30 am, 10:30 am, 12 pm, and 5 pm in the Church
and at 8:30 am, 10 am, and 11:30 am (Family Mass) in the Chapel*Spanish Masses:
Sunday at 8:45 am and Wednesday at 6 pm in the Church*Held at the Infant Jesus Chapel at St. Charles Hospital
Religious Education: (631) 928-0447Parish Outreach: (631) 331-6145
CATHOLICST. JAMES ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
429 Rt. 25A, Setauket, NY 11733Phone/Fax: (631) 941–4141
Mission Statement: In faith we come together to celebrate the Eucharist as a Parish Family; and as a Catholic community of faith,
we are sent to be Christ to the world around us.Rev. James-Patrick Mannion, Pastor
Rev. Daniel Opoku-Mensah, AssociateRev. Jon Fitzgerald, In Residence
Weekday Masses: Monday – Saturday 8:00 amWeekend Masses:
Saturday Vigil 5:00 pmSunday 8:00am, 9:30 am (family), 11:30 am (choir), 6:00 pm (Youth)
O� ce Hours: Monday–Th ursday 9:00 am – 2:00 pm, Friday 9:00 am – 12:00 pm, Saturday 9:00 am – 2:00 pm,
Baptisms: Sundays at 1:30 pm (except during Lent)Reconciliation: Saturdays 4:00 – 4:45 pm or by appointment
Anointing Of Th e Sick: by requestHoly Matrimony: contact the o� ce at least
9 months before desired date
CONGREGATIONALMT. SINAI CONGREGATIONALUNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
233 North Country Road, Mt. Sinai • (631) 473–1582www.mtsinaichurchli.org
“No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here”
Sunday Services at 10 amSunday School and childcare off ered at the 10 am service and
open to all infants to 8th grade.Last Sundays of the month: 10 am Welcome Sunday Service
A service welcoming those with di� ering abilities We are an Open and A� rming Congregation.
EPISCOPALALL SOULS EPISCOPAL CHURCH
“Our little historic church on the hill” across from the Stony Brook Duck Pond
Main Street, Stony Brook • (631) 751–0034www.allsouls–stonybrook.org • [email protected]
Please come and welcome our new Priests:The Rev. Dr. Richard Visconti, Priest–In–Charge
The Rev. Farrell D. Graves, Priest AssociateSunday Holy Eucharist: 8 and 9:30 am
Religious instruction for children follows the 9:30 am Service� is is a small eclectic Episcopal congregation
that has a personal touch. We welcome all regardless of where you are on your spiritual journey. Walk with us.
CAROLINE CHURCH OF BROOKHAVEN
The Rev. Cn. Dr. Richard D. Visconti, RectorThe Rev. Farrell Graves, Priest Associate
1 Dyke Road on the Village Green, SetauketWeb site: www.carolinechurch.net
Parish Office email: [email protected](631) 941–4245
Sunday Services: 8:00 am, 9:30 am and 11:15 amChurch School/Child Care at 9:30 am
Church School classes now forming. Call 941-4245 for registrationWeekday Holy Eucharist’s: Th ursday 12:30 pm and
First Fri. of the month 7:30 pm (rotating: call Parish Offi ce for location)Youth, Music and Service Programs off ered
Let God walk with you as part of our family–friendly community.
EPISCOPAL CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
127 Barnum Ave., Port Jefferson(631) 473–0273
email: [email protected] www.christchurchportjeff.org
Father Anthony DiLorenzo: Priest–In–ChargeSunday Eucharist: 8 am and 10 am/Wednesday 10 in our chapel
Sunday School and Nursery at 9:30 amOur ministries: Welcome Inn on Mondays at 5:45 pm
AA meetings on Tuesdays and Th ursdays at 7 pm/Prayer Group on Wednesdays at 10:30 am/Bible Study on Th ursdays at 10 am.It is the mission of the people of Christ Church to grow in our
relationship with Jesus Christ and to make his love known to all through our lives and ministry.
We at Christ Church are a joyful, welcoming community. Wherever you are in your journey of life we want to
be part of it.
EVANGELICALTHREE VILLAGE CHURCH
Knowing Christ...Making Him Known322 Route 25A, East Setauket • (631) 941–3670
www.3vc.orgLead Pastor Josh Moody
Sunday Worship Schedule9:15 am:Worship Service Sunday School (Pre–K – Adult),
Nursery 10:30 am: Bagel/Coff ee Fellowship11:00 am: Worship, Nursery, Pre–K, Cornerstone Kids (Gr. K–4)
We off er weekly Teen Programs, Small Groups,Women’s Bible Studies (day & evening) & Men’s Bible Study
Faith Nursery School for ages 3 & 4Join us as we celebrate 55 years of proclaiming
the good news of Jesus Christ!
JEWISH CHABAD AT STONY BROOK
“Judaism with a smile”Future site: East side of Nicolls Rd, North of Rte 347 –Next to Fire Dept.
Current location: 821 Hawkins Ave., Lake Grove(631) 585–0521 • (800) My–Torah • www.ChabadSB.com
Rabbi Chaim & Rivkie GrossbaumRabbi Motti & Chaya GrossbaumRabbi Sholom B. & Chanie Cohen
Membership Free •Weekday, Shabbat & Holiday Services Highly acclaimed Torah Tots Preschool • Afternoon Hebrew School
Camp Gan Israel • Judaica Publishing Department • Lectures and Seminars • Living Legacy Holiday Programs
Jewish Learning InstituteFriendship Circle for Special Needs Children • The CTeen Network
N’shei Chabad Women’s Club • Cyberspace Library www.ChabadSB.com
Chabad at Stony Brook University – Rabbi Adam & Esther Stein
CORAM JEWISH CENTERYoung Israel of Coram
981 Old Town Rd., Coram • (631) 698–3939 YIC.org – [email protected]
RABBI DR. MORDECAI & MARILYN GOLSHEVSKYRABBI SAM & REBECCA GOLSHEVSKY
“THE ETERNAL FLAME–THE ETERNAL LIGHT” Weekly Channel #20 at 11 am
Shabbat Morning Services 9 am Free Membership. No building fund. Free Hebrew School. Bar/Bat Mitzvah Shabbat and Holiday Services followed by hot buffet. Adult Education Institute. Women’s Education Group–International Lectures and Torah Study. Adult Bar/Bat Mitz-
vah. Kaballah Classes. Jewish Holiday Institute. Tutorials for all ages.FREE HEBREW SCHOOL 2015–2016
Details (631)698–3939Member National Council of Young Israel
a world–wide organization.All welcome regardless of knowledge or observance level.
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DECEMBER 31, 2015 • THE VILLAGE BEACON RECORD • PAGE A29
JEWISH NORTH SHORE JEWISH CENTER
385 Old Town Rd., Port Jefferson Station (631) 928–3737
www.NorthShoreJewishCenter.orgRabbi Aaron Benson
Cantor Daniel Kramer, Rabbi Emeritus Howard HoffmanExecutive Director Marcie Platkin
Services: Daily morning and evening minyan Friday at 8 pm;Saturday 8:45 am and one hour before sundown • Tot Shabbat
Family Kehillah • Sisterhood • Men’s Club • Seniors Club • Youth Group Award–winning Religious School • Teen Community Service Program
Nursery School • Mommy and Me • Preschool Summer Program Continuing Ed • Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah • Judaica Shop
Th rift Shop • Kosher Catering PanelWe warmly welcome you to our Jewish home. Come worship,
study and enjoy being Jewish with our caring NSJC family. Member United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
TEMPLE ISAIAH (REFORM)1404 Stony Brook Road, Stony Brook • (631) 751–8518
A warm and caring intergenerational communitydedicated to learning, prayer, social action, and friendship.
Rabbi Sharon L. Sobel Cantor Michael F. Trachtenberg Emeritus
Cantor Scott HarrisRabbi Emeritus Stephen A. Karol
Rabbi Emeritus Adam D. FisherMember Union for Reform Judaism
Sabbath Services Friday 7:30 pm and Saturday 10 am Monthly Family Service • Monthly Tot Shabbat • Religious School Youth Groups • Senior Club • Adult Education • Chavurah Groups
• Early AM Studies • Sisterhood • Brotherhood • PT
LUTHERAN–ELCA
ST. PAULS LUTHERAN CHURCH309 Patchogue Road, Port Jefferson Station
(631)473–7157Rev. Paul A. Downing, Pastor
email: [email protected] • pastors cell: 347–423–3623church website: wwwStPaulsLCPJS.org
ServicesSundays – 8:30 am and 10:30 am Holy Communion
Bibles and Bagels 9:30 amSunday School during 10:30 am service
Wednesday Evening 7:30 pm – Holy CommunionFriday Morning
Power of Prayer Hour 10:30 am~ All are Welcome ~
LUTHERAN–LCMSMESSIAH LUTHERAN CHURCH
PRESCHOOL & DAYCARE465 Pond Path, East Setauket
(631)751-1775www.messiahny.com
Rev. Charles Bell - PastorWe welcome all to join us for worship & fellowship
Sunday Worship Services8:15am, 9:30am & 11:00amSunday School at 9:30 am
NYS Certi� ed Preschool & Day Care ProgramPlease call for details
METHODISTBETHEL AFRICAN METHODIST
EPISCOPAL CHURCH33 Christian Ave/ PO2117
E. Setauket NY 11733 (631)941 3581Rev. Gregory L. Leonard–Pastor
Sunday Worship 10:30 amAdult Sunday School 9:30 am
Lectionary Reading and Prayer Wed. 12 noonGospel Choir Tues. 8 pm
Praise Choir and Youth Choir 3rd and 4th Fri. 6:30 pm
COMMACK UNITED METHODIST CHURCH486 Townline Road, CommackChurch Office: (631)499–7310
Fax: (631) 858–0596www.commack–umc.org • mail@commack–umc.org
Rev. Linda Bates–Stepe, Pastor
SETAUKET UNITED METHODIST CHURCH160 Main Street, Corner of 25A and Main Street
East Setauket • (631) 941–4167Rev. Sandra B. Mantz, Pastor
www.setauketumc.org • [email protected] Worship Service & Church School 10 am
10 am Worship with Holy CommunionMary & Martha Circle (Women’s Ministry)
monthly on 2nd Tuesday at noonAdult Bible Study Sunday 8 am
Prayer Group and Bible Study at the Church Wednesdays 10 am
PRESBYTERIANSETAUKET PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
5 Caroline Avenue~ On the Village Green ~
(631) 941–4271 • www.setauketpresbyterian.orgEmail: [email protected]. Mary Barrett Speers, Pastor
Rev. Kate Jones Calone, Assistant PastorJoin us in Worship at 9:30 am
Church School (PreK-7th Grade) at 9:45 amAdult Christian Education Classes at 11 am:
Service Opportunities:Open Door Ministry Open House : November 8th
Furnishing homes ... Finding hopeOpenings for MWF Preschool 4’s program 2015–2016 Janet Craig, Director
All are welcome to join this vibrant community for worship, music (voice and bell choirs), mission (local, national and international), and fellowship. Call the church
o� ce or visit our website for current information on church activities. SPC is a More Light Presbyterian Church and part of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians
working toward a church as generous and just as God’s grace.
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTUNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST
FELLOWSHIP AT STONY BROOK380 Nicolls Road • between Rte 347 & Rte 25A
(631) 751–0297 • www.uufsb.org • offi [email protected]. Margaret H. Allen
([email protected])Sunday Service: 10:30 am
Religious Education at UUFSB: Unitarian Universalism accepts wisdom from many sources and o� ers non-dogmatic religious education for
children from 3-18 to foster ethical and spiritual development and knowl-edge of world religions. Classes Sunday mornings at 10:30 am. Childcare
for little ones under three. Senior High Youth Group meetings Sunday evenings. Registration is ongoing.
For more information: [email protected].
UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST FELLOWSHIP OF HUNTINGTON
109 Brown’s Road, Huntington, NY 11743631–427–9547
www.uu� .orgRev. G. Jude Geiger, Minister
(minister@uufh .org)Starr Austin, religious educator (dreuufh @gmail.com)
Whoever you are, whomever you love, wherever you are on your life’s journey, you are welcome here.
Our services o� er a progressive, non-creedal message with room for spiritual seekers.
Services and Religious Education each Sunday at 10:30 amYouth Group, Lifespan Religious Education for Adults,
Adult and Children’s ChoirsParticipants in the Huntington Interfaith Housing Initiative
Find us on Facebook and Twitter
UNITYUNITY CHURCH OF HEALING LIGHT
203 East Pulaski Rd., Huntington Sta. (631) 385–7180
www.unityhuntingtonny.orgRev. Saba Mchunguzi
Unity Church of Healing Light is committed to helping people unfold their Christ potential to transform their lives and build
spiritual community through worship, education, prayer and service.Sunday Worship & Church School 11:00 a.m.
Wednesday Night Prayer Service 7:30 p.m.Sign Language Interpreter at Sunday Service
©145717
Religious D irectory
To be listed in the Religious Directory,
please call 751–7663
To SubScribe: PleaSe call 631.751.7744 or SubScribe online aT www.TbrnewSMeDia.coM
PAGE A30 • THE VILLAGE BEACON RECORD • DECEMBER 31, 2015
gone through it to talk to, to know you’re not alone,” Littler said. “But at the same time, it’s sad that I’m not alone.”
When her son relapsed after being four-and-a-half years sober, she reached out to Budd.
“It takes a lot of guts to come out in the open and do this and help people,” she said. “There are a lot of hurting people out there.”
She recently reached out to Longo about a friend of her son, who is a drug user, and the two were calling each other back and forth to find ways to overcome addiction.
“She cared to take the time to help me,” she said. “She spent a whole day doing that with me — that’s dedication right there.”
With the contacts Longo’s made with support centers and prevention agencies and Budd’s relationship with the county after creating the PSA, the two are team-ing up to use their resources to form a co-alition based on the Facebook page. It was also have the same name.
It’s in its early stages, but the hope is to help spread awareness about prevention through schools. As part of a coalition, Budd said, you can also apply for grants, which she hopes will help fund the spread of their advocacy.
“I felt Tracey was on the same path that I was on,” Longo said. “She is as tenacious as I am in what we’re trying to do.”
Longo said that she and Budd are trying to be vigilantes and have started narcan training classes, like ones they’ve previous-ly hosted in Miller Place and East Setauket, to continue to help fight the Island’s drug addiction problem.
“I think together we’re a good team,” Budd said. “To me, you have a choice. You can either dig your head in the sand and be embarrassed that your child is an addict, or you can be proactive and say, ‘Enough of this, let’s help each other.’ When you speak to another parent that’s going through it, there’s a bond that you automatically cre-ate. In a way, I feel like my son is right there with me, helping these families. It’s very important to me, and I’m never going to stop doing it.”
Photo from Tracey BuddTracey Budd holds a picture of her son at a Walk for Hope event.
Budd & LongoContinued from page A4 where the light is, but to try to look into
the dark and turn the light on,’” she said. “I thought that was very brave.”
Linardic, who is now an associate professor of pediatrics at Duke Universi-ty School of Medicine, recalled how they were working on a compound called ce-ramide. Whenever they gave it to cells, the cells died. At first, they thought may-be they were doing something wrong in their experiments. Eventually, Hannun helped her understand that ceramide was activating a form of programmed cell death.
“It wasn’t a mistake or a technical disaster,” Linardic said. “We had to re-frame the question.” The result was something she described as “profound.”
Linardic said she felt fortunate to work with Obeid, who had a similar un-biased view of the work.
“It was extraordinary to have a female mentor as well,” Linardic said. She and her colleagues felt fortunate to be wel-
comed into Hannun and Obeid’s family, where they were not only offering guid-ance on their careers, but also were car-ing for their young triplets at home.
Linardic, Blobe and Jayadev started just around the time the triplets were born. They were “raising three biological children and three graduate students at the same time,” said Linardic.
While they have come a long way from the beginning of their careers and their family, Hannun and Obeid have kept a consistent focus on the potential clinical benefits of their research.
“They get the translational aspects,” Futerman said. “When [Hannun] moved to Stony Brook to head the Cancer Cen-ter, that was one of the aims for his move, to be in a position where he can apply ba-sic science to translational research.”
Futerman said there was “no ques-tion in my mind” that Hannun and Obeid deserve recognition in the Long Island community and the scientific community.
“They are considered leaders,” Futer-man said. “They contribute a lot to the academic community.”
File photosYusuf Hannun, left, and Lina Obeid, right, are constantly working to improve their team of dedicated researchers with the hopes of curing complicated diseases.
HannunContinued from page A20
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