SHSE Boys 4x800 Relay Team Brings Home The Gold And Breaks School Record

Champions in Record Time

East Relay Squad Makes MileSplit US Second Team Elite

(photo by Teese & Associates)

The Smithtown High School East Boys 4x800 Meter Relay Squad brought home the Championship Trophy from the 74^th Annual Eddy Meet held on Saturday at Schenectady High School.

After winning Bronze Medals last year in a time of 8:23, the quarter of Matt Whalen, Patrick Teese, Eric Herrmann and Eric Melcer (pictured l-r between Coach Borbet and Coach Margraf) not only earned Gold Medals by lowering their time to 8:05.16, but set a new Smithtown HS East school record in the event.

The fast time also catapulted the squad to a US Second Team Elite ranking on MileSplit.com, a national track & field website!

Herrmann (1:58+) led off the relay and gave East the lead.  Melcer (2:05) kept the team essentially even with the runner from Christian Brothers Academy, but he and Teese had an awkward pass with CBA getting in the way.  Teese (1:59+) battled back to erase the CBA lead in the third leg, making a clean handoff to Whalen just after CBA.  Whalen (2:00+) ran on his opponent’s shoulder for a lap, passed him on the back straightaway and held on for the two-and-a-half second margin of victory!

Three of the four are juniors – Melcer is the only senior – so the squad is looking to break the record again!

The relay team and the rest of the top Smithtown East performers will be competing in the Section XI Division championships this week at Comsewogue High School and the NYS Qualifiers soon after.

Happy 106th Birthday To St. Johnland Resident Ann Sayer

St. Johnland Resident Turns 106

Ann SayerAnn Virginia Sayer celebrated her 106^th birthday at St. Johnland Nursing Center on May 6^th of this year.  Cognizant of family and friends, Ann enjoyed two parties with her loved ones.

When Ann Sayer needed to be hospitalized for a blood clot in her leg in January of this year, her doctor suggested rehabilitation. Her only son Scott and his wife Ann Marie wanted mom to receive care near their home and to be sure she would be administered to properly. A good friend recommended St. Johnland Nursing Center. However, Ann had lived in her own home for 99 years and the family was fearful of the transition. After a meeting with staff and a tour of the facility Scott and his wife agreed this would be the right place for his mom.

Within a few days of being at St. Johnland, Ann began to thrive. She started lifting little weights, walking with assistance and talking with more lucidity than the family had noticed in many months and was receiving better care and more stimulation.

Ann Sayer Ann Sayer was born in New York City in 1908. Her parents and brother moved to Pelham in Westchester in 1915. Ann was seven years old at the time. Still today she can easily recall the main street with trolley cars rolling by. She remembers dirt side streets and woods and ponds, running into the backyard and looking up to see the rare sight of an airplane “with propellers, of course”. She remembers the night sky- brilliant with stars before the lights of the city dimmed the view.

Ann grew up climbing nut trees and fruit trees with her brother and neighbor children.  The family had a big garden and chickens. Winter and summer Ann cooked and canned, dried herbs, made sausages and homemade breads and cakes-every meal was served with fresh ingredients- many from her garden.

Ann attended New Rochelle College, but she decided not to stay. She had a head for business and managed household accounts. (Ann got her first credit card at age 80).

At age 38 Ann married Bud Sayer, a man she admired for his knowledge of history and interest in everything. Bud was an avid reader and adventurer.

Through the years Ann worked at Bloomingdales in the fine jewelry department a few evenings a week. Ann had elegant fashion sense. She loved the work. Bloomingdale’s offered to promote her to management, but by that time Ann was in her early 70s and declined the position.

Ann was active at the Pelham Senior Center for years. She did volunteer work in town making clothing and blankets for the needy. Ann was quite a seamstress and made many of her own stylish clothes.

At age 101 Ann Sayer could be found 2-3 times a week shopping in local stores and playing bridge at “the seniors”. She often drove friends who needed a ride. She always had a smile and a bit of cheer for friends who were low. Although she never disclosed her age, stage whispers continually leaked it out. No one could have guessed it otherwise. Ann’s complexion is still beautiful with few wrinkles.

Until age 102 Ann still managed her house and gardens, hung laundry out to dry and did all her own “Italian Style” cooking. Her secrets to good health- “Everyday use the four: garlic, fresh lemon, extra virgin olive oil and Italian style parsley.

At 106, Ann Sayer is in remarkable condition and enjoys a hearty appetite. She has all her hair, teeth, and suffers no pain except for a bit of arthritis. Due to heat stroke suffered four summers ago, her short term memory is nearly non-existent. But she knows all her family and friends and still remembers the old days!

Theater Review "Xanadu"

THEATER REVIEW

“Xanadu”

Produced by: The SoLuna Studio - Hauppauge 

Reviewed by: Jeb Ladouceur

Katie Murano plays the Muse, Kira, in SoLuna’s “Xanadu” 

By rights, “Xanadu” should never have made it to the Great White Way. After all, how many Broadway musicals can you name that have been patterned after a 1980 movie flop which ‘won’ (if that term can be used) no fewer than seven dreaded ‘Hollywood Razzie Worst Awards’ (another euphemistic misnomer if ever there was one) … for Worst Director … Picture … Screenplay … Musical … Actor … Actress … and just to rub it in – Worst Original Song?

Geez! Sounds like the producers should have paid the audience to come to New York’s Helen Hayes Theater seven years ago … if only to express sympathy for the cast and ‘tsk-tsk’ the principals responsible for the inevitable carnage to come … right?

Well … not so fast.

Against all odds, the spoofy 2007 stage show not only garnered a couple of Tony nominations, it flat-out won Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards … ran for a highly respectable 561 performances … and a successful national tour ensued. Thus, with a nod to Samuel Taylor Coleridge it wouldn’t be too great a stretch to paraphrase his famed opium-induced poem as follows: “In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a … pleasure-dome decree.” Or to use the twenty-first century vernacular: “Guess what: this show’s pretty good!”

That is not to say the SoLuna Studio on Old Willets Path in Hauppauge (next to Butterfield’s Restaurant) has re-invented theatrical sliced bread. Indeed, few members of the energetic young cast seem able to carry a tune much farther than the nearby Long Island Expressway. But this is a satire, bear in mind. Like most parodies, it depends on sarcastic comedy, not the fine arts, for its success … and “Xanadu” delivers what it promises: a rollicking, sardonic caricature!

Led by Katie Murano and Bobby Peterson, the show tells of a Greek goddess who descends to Earth (Venice Beach, California, no less) there to help a down-and-out entrepreneur produce the world’s greatest-ever artistic creation … get the digitalis … a disco on roller skates! And if that concept isn’t funky enough, the spiritual muse actually falls for the struggling artist.

To add to the outrage, the besotted goddess takes it on the chin from her jealous sister muses and … well, you get the idea … muddles and mix-ups equal mayhem, as Nicole Gebler, Melanie Mednick, and Nick Caron, are flawlessly executing Karen Braun’s clever choreography.

Not long into this chaotic undertaking, you might be inclined to give up on absorbing the ridiculous plot and less-than-memorable music, and simply permit the ambitious cast to do their feverish thing while you just watch. And watch you will, unless I miss my guess. One reason for that, oddly, has to do with the off-key vocals. Whether the singing ineptitude is contrived or genuine, the perceived incompetence actually facilitates our tongue-in-cheek acceptance of the free-wheeling absurdity taking place on stage. At one point, a grimacing Nicole Gebler appears to have smelled something sour and asks, “Is this that awful 80’s movie?” Yep. But as the record indicates, the stage show’s much better.

SoLuna Studio is a vest pocket theater which has a sort of speakeasy feel. It’s almost as if viewing the performance in a venue that limits the audience to a relative handful of patrons, is somehow illicit. Indeed one might be forgiven if their initial impression is that they’ve dropped in on a cleaned-up stag party. “Xanadu” runs through May 25^th.

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Award-winning Smithtown writer Jeb Ladouceur is the author of eight novels, and his theater reviews appear in several major L.I. publications. In Ladouceur’s next thriller, “Harvest” due in late summer, an American doctor is forced to perform illegal surgeries for a gang of vital organ traffickers in The Balkans.

Editorial - A Line In The Sand For Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick

NYS Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick**Has a line been drawn in the sand for Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick 8th AD?  Some people seem to think so. Assemblyman Fitzpatrick is affable, approachable and one of Smithtown’s longest serving elected officials. Michael Fitzpatrick served on the Town Council for fifteen years (1988 - 2002) before becoming NYS Assemblyman in 2002 where he continues to serve.  He is up for reelection in November 2014.  Fitzpatrick’s father served six years as Supervisor of the Town of Smithtown (1970 -76) - the town’s Paul J. Fitzpatrick public golf course is named after him. Mike Fitzpatrick knows politics well.

Assemblyman Fitzpatrick has built his public reputation on being a fiscal conservative and a supporter of business. 

Long Island is undeniably dealing with a youth opiate heroin epidemic. Abuse of prescription drugs in NYS is declining due to I-Stop legislation which has made prescription drugs less available. Addicts losing access to prescription drugs have turned to illegal street drugs. Cheap and highly addictive heroin has become the substitute for prescription drugs. Inseparable from the addiction problem is the increase in crime that results when addicts need money to feed their addiction.  

According to police statistics over two thousand people have died in the past decade due to drug overdoses. In Suffolk County Police have been effective (700 lives have been saved) with the use of Narcan which counteracts the effects of an overdose. The Suffolk County Narcan trial program has now become the model for police programs across the state. 

It is imperative that we use all the tools available to fight the battle against drug abuse. One of those tools is residential treatment for addicts. Currently insurance companies hold the key to gaining access to residential treatment. Not all addicts will enter into residential rehab programs, some are served as outpatients in programs, or by specialists. It is imperative that the determination of best treatment for the patient be made by a person qualified with a background in substance abuse and or medicine who has evaluated the patient and will make a decision in the best interest of the patient. Treatment decisions must not be made based on bottom line.

Before the NYS Legislature is a piece of legislation that is opposed by insurance companies and supported by many with first hand knowledge of addiction. The legislation, S4623A in the Senate and A7003A in the Assembly, will take the treatment options out of the purview of the for profit insurance industry and put it in the hands of medical professionals. 

S4623A/ A7003A - “To ensure that patients suffering from drug and alcohol dependency receive appropriate care, by directing insurers to provide authorization and payment to appropriately licensed healthcare providers for detoxification, rehabilitation and intensive residential rehabilitation based on the examining physician’s recommendation.”

According to Maureen Rossi of Kings Park In The kNOw, every NYS elected official from Long Island irrespective of political affiliation has signed-on to the legislation except for one, Smithtown Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick. To those who lobbied in Albany last week this is a slap in the face. To parents of deceased children who died from overdoses it is unthinkable that despite empirical data indicating the need and benefits of doctors as the deciders, Assemblyman Fitzpatrick has not signed on to the legislation. To outsiders looking in it seems these families  despite their incredible grief are fighting the battle that is Fitzpatrick’s responsibility to fight.

Assemblyman Fitzpatrick needs to support A7003 and he needs to become an advocate for the legislation. Children are dying and some of the children are from our town. The legislation puts children before insurance profits and allows medical professionals to make health care decisions. Assemblyman Fitzpatrick sign on to A7003.

Yes, the line in the sand has been drawn. 

Pat

**ASSEMBLYMAN FITZPATRICK IS SUPPORTING THE LEGISLATION. 100 percent support from LI. !!! 

Op-ED Long Island Is A War Zone - Fitzpatrick And Graf Need To Sign Onto Insurance Bill

Long Island is A War Zone Fitzpatrick and Graf Need To Sign Onto Insurance Bill

Maureen Ledden Rossi

In the last decade, Long Island has lost well over two thousand young people in the prime of their lives to the opiate and heroin epidemic.  It’s a war zone on Long Island and the epidemic is by far the greatest societal issue facing Nassau and Suffolk counties. 

Unless a critical piece of Insurance legislation is passed in the House and Senate before session ends in mid-June, dozens and dozens more will succumb this summer.  Dozens and dozens of families will come to know the worst pain imaginable and dozens and dozens of parents will join the club no parent ever wants to join.

Over and over again young addicts are being denied the proper medical treatment for their addiction by the Insurance companies even though parents or employers have paid premiums for years, sometimes decades.  They are told, you don’t use enough Heroin for a Detox, you must fail at outpatient treatment before we provide you with inpatient treatment.   The big Insurance Company Executives, the profiteers, who actually make more money when they deny claims, are calling the shots.  They are making life and death decisions for the young people of Long Island – they are playing Russian Roulette daily with lives.  These decisions must be made by medical professionals who are trained in the field of addiction.    Time and time again, we have watched young people be denied treatment even after they have overdosed.  Far too often, they have gone on to overdose again and succumb.

This Legislation calls for medical professionals to make the decision as to whether a patient needs a medical detoxification, inpatient or outpatient treatment.  Right now forty-seven members of the House have signed on and seventeen members of the Senate have followed suit.  Senator Kemp Hannon (R, LI) is the architect of the Senate Bill.  Assemblyman Mike Cusick (D, Staten Island) is the creator of the Assembly Bill.  Staten Island made the cover the New York Times last week as they are now grappling with a heroin epidemic that rivals Long Islands.

Presently only two lawmakers on Long Island, which many experts feel is the epicenter of the nation’s youth heroin epidemic,  have yet to sign on.  They are Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick and Assemblyman Al Graf.  We, in the Movement, implore these law makers and their peers to sign onto this vital piece of legislation.

True fiscal conservatives would get on the bus; they would sign the legislation because there is an enormous cost shift to the tax payer when Insurance Companies deny treatment.   Over and over again addicts are advised to get off their parents policy and get on Medicaid so they can be treated for their life-threatening disease.   There is a very small window of opportunity to act on when an addict finally gives up and wants to get better.  Families suffer for years, they exhaust their funds, and there is often an incarceration and trips to the hospital.   The physical and mental suffering accompanying a Heroin withdrawal is unbearable and an addict will do anything for their next fix.    They do commit crimes, they do rob pharmacies and homes and even their own families.    Fiscal conservatives can probably tell you off the top of their head what it costs to incarcerate someone – it’s an astronomical cost; about fifty-thousand dollars a year per inmate.  This is the largest and least thought about cost shift from the Insurance companies to the tax-payer.  There is another societal cost no one ever mentions, addicts are driving high on our roads claiming lives in vehicular accidents.

On Tuesday May 6^th over fifty Long Island residents from the Movement headed to Albany to lobby and fight for the passage of a critical Insurance Bill.   The Movement is comprised of family members of those addicted to Heroin or Opioids,  parents who have lost their children and members of coalitions like the ones we have in Smithtown; The Commack Coalition for Caring and Kings Park in the kNOw.  Experts from the Prevention and Addiction field led the contingent with Smithtown’s Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds from L.I.C.AD.D. as our unofficial leader.

We split into small groups and met as many elected officials as possible throughout the day.  There was Mark’s Dad, a reserved man who is a retired NYPD Captain.  Mark was twenty seven, a striking young man who was a professional fisherman out east, he died only six months ago.  There was Lori whose bravery was not lost on anyone that day.  Her beautiful son Nick was twenty-two and died just nine weeks prior, he was denied treatment by her Insurance Company.  There was Linda Ventura of Kings Park, also known as Thomas’ mom.  Thomas was a popular athlete who won MVP for his Varsity Lacrosse team while only a freshman.  Thomas died two years back right before his 22^nd birthday, he was denied proper medical treatment many times by his mother’s Insurance carrier.   There was Tom Goris, 31, an articulate college graduate who was denied treatment over and over again for the policy he paid for through his corporate job.  Tom is one of the lucky ones, he is clean and sober for over fourth months.  Tom said during a moment of desperation he dropped to his knees and asked God why it was easier for him to get the drugs than to get treatment.   There was Avi, a well-dressed attorney at law.  His took a shotgun to his head and committed suicide two years back because he could not get the help he needed, he was denied treatment by his father’s Insurance Company. 

All of us in the Movement want to know why Insurance Companies are allowed to pursue this discriminatory practice.  A Columbia University Professor joined us in Albany, he specializies in Insurance Company appeals.  He said fifty-two percent of the time Insurance companies reverse their decisions after an appeal.   Fifty-two percent of the time, the Insurance Companies admit they were wrong.  That has proven far too late for too many Long Island families.

Ventura brought her son’s ashes in a small non-descript container.  During the late-day press conference she held up Thomas’s ashes and said ‘is this what they meant by failing at out-patient first’?   It was a powerful moment that was not lost on anyone, an eerie silence gripped the room for a brief moment and then the mothers of those lost sobbed quietly.   So we wait for other lawmakers to sign those bills.  We all wait while beautiful young lives are lost quietly in every community on tree-lined streets in the backdrop of their well-performing school districts and award-winning beaches.  The casualties continue to mount and there is no end in sight for this war.