Kings Park's Richard Mangogna Completes Eagle Scout Project At Kings Park HS

Kings Park H.S. Student Completes Eagle Scout Project

Richard Mangogna started in Scouts in first grade as a Cub Scout where he earned his Arrow of Light.  He knew right from the start he was going to be an Eagle it was just when was the question.  Richard is the youngest Eagle Scout in Troop 75 at the age of 13.  He has been a Boy Scout for four years, he has held leadership positions as Den Chief for two years, went through Den Chief training and received Den Chief Service Award.  He was a Guide Patrol leader at the same time he was a Den Chief.  He is also the youngest Senior Patrol Leader at 13 a position that his scouts nominated him into. In 2015 he was nominated for Scout Spirit Honor Award.  He earned his Ad Altaire Dei Catholic Religious Award and is currently working on his Pope Pious Catholic Religious Award.  He has earned 26 merit badges and will have earned his Bronze Palm by his Eagle Court of Honor.  He is a true leader for he challenges his scouts to also rank up and helps them in any way he can so they can achieve their goals.

Richard’s Eagle Scout project was to beautify the entrance to the Kings Park Central School District Administration Building.  He did this with the help of other scouts and adults, by building four flower boxes, donating a bench with a Fleur-de-lis on it, and replacing the buildings sign.  This project helped the whole community not just the school district.  The boxes and area are being maintained by the nursery school children who also occupy the building, by planting seeds and learning how flowers grow.

Richard is just a freshman in Kings Park High School, unlike other Eagle Scouts who are just about aging out when they become an Eagle he has four more years to go.  Presently he is the Secretary of his class in Student Council.  A member of the Cross Country and Track and Field teams, stage crew and the Model UN Club.  In Middle School 7^th grade he was the VP of the Drama Club and 8^th grade the President of the Drama club also in 8^th grade he played the part of Cogsworth the clock in Beauty and the Beast, he has been part of the cast since 5^th grade.  According to Superintendent Eagen, “Richard is a very special student leader.  He strives for success in all aspects of his life, and he has so many talents.  His completed Eagle Scout Project serves as a prime example of his devotion to Kings Park and this community.”

NYS Police Still Searching For Suspect In 30 Year-Old Homicide

Cold Case Tuesday – State Police continue the search for the suspect in a 1986 homicide.

State Police in Riverside continue to look for William Peter Fischer, wanted for the murder of his 19-year-old son, Billy and his friend, Nancy Hyer.

On December 21, 1986, the bodies of Billy Fischer and Nancy Hyer were found in the trunk of Hyer’s vehicle.

An investigation revealed Billy had been shot 18 times, Nancy, stabbed twice.
It is believed that on December 10, 1986, Fischer invited his son to his Southampton home. It is believed that Billy, who suffered from cystic fibrosis, asked his father for money to help cover mounting medical bills.

The following day, Billy contacted Nancy Hyer, asking her to come and pick him up from his father’s house. It is believed that Fischer shot Billy, then stabbed Nancy to death, putting the bodies in the trunk of Hyer’s car and leaving it at the Southampton Elks Club.

Police searched Fischer’s home and found blood and fibers matching the victims in the vacuum cleaner and bullets in the walls. Luminol sprayed throughout the house also revealed blood had been cleaned off the walls.

Possible age progression photos of William Peter Fischer. On February 25, 1987, William Fischer was indicted on two counts of murder 2^nd degree and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

On February 27, 1987, Fischer’s abandoned vehicle was found at New York’s Kennedy Airport. 

An investigation has failed to locate Fischer to date.

Fischer is 72 years old, and described as 5’11, 185-200 pounds with salt and pepper hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with information on William Peter Fischer’s whereabouts are asked to call State Police at (631) 756-3300.

Police Identify Man Who Died In Accident At Avalon Park & Preserve

Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad detectives are investigating the death of a man who was cutting a tree in Head of the Harbor today.

Erik Halvorsen, owner of Norse Tree Service in Setauket, was approximately 50 feet up in a tree when he attempted to cut the tree down in Avalon Park & Preserve, located on Harbor Road, at approximately 11:15 a.m. The tree trunk splintered and trapped Halvorsen against the tree. Halvorsen, who was wearing a safety harness, attempted to free himself and fell 20 feet. An employee was able to lower Halvorsen to the ground.

Halvorsen, 45, of Setauket, was transported by St. James Fire Department Ambulance to Stony Brook University Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Man Dies After Attempting To Cut Tree At Avalon Park & Preserve.

Suffolk County Police Homicide Detectives are investigating the death of a man at Avalon Park & Preserve today.  The man was 50 feet up in a tree he was cutting, when the tree trunk splintered trapping him.

The man, who has not yet been identified, fell 20 feet. An employee from the tree service company lowered the man to the ground. The injured man died at a local hospital.

 Police Identify Man Who Died In Accident At Avalon Park & Preserve

THEATER REVIEW - 'A CHRISTMAS CAROL'

THEATER REVIEW

‘A Christmas Carol’ - Produced by: Theatre Three – Port Jefferson  

Commentary by: Jeb Ladouceur  

Jeffrey Sanzel’s miserly ‘Ebenezer Scrooge’ is haunted by Dylan Robert Poulos who maneuvers the ceiling-high ‘Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.’All actors know something that probably escapes the ken of the average theatergoer: Audiences have a lot to do with the molding of a performer’s delivery, and ultimately they affect the success of a show. The reaction of patrons to a stage artist’s interpretation, whether to vocal inflection or on-stage activity, will invariably tell actors and their director what works, and what doesn’t. Of course, the experienced director, standing in for the audience during rehearsals, sees to it that performer and attendee will usually be in sync come opening night, but not even the most accomplished director can be a perfect audience-surrogate for an entire play.

Accordingly, it has been my experience that because of this interconnection, stage shows generally tend to get better with each passing performance … and by the time a production is ready to close, it will likely be at its polished and satisfying best.

But there are some shows that are so timeless, so expertly conceived, and sufficiently audience-friendly that the curtain never really comes down on them permanently. And such a one is Theatre Three’s annual production of ‘A Christmas Carol,’ a theatrical legend that’s in its 33^rd year at the grand old playhouse in Port Jefferson. 

The big cast of Theatre Three’s 33rd annual production of ‘A Christmas Carol’ adapted for the stage by Jeffrey SanzelNaturally, it’s impossible for all cast members in such rare plays to remain in specific roles over the years. Indeed, the players change … and thus interpretations of a production’s various characters change along with the new faces. Different actors obviously bring varying métiers to the parts that were played by someone else the season before.

This is where the insight and adaptability of a perennial show’s director becomes supremely important. For while the artistic mentor enjoys the advantage of knowing what’s worked well with audiences in the past, he (or she) is still charged with evoking the best performances that this year’s actors are capable of delivering. One thing is certain—they’ll never be identical to the preceding ones.

With ‘A Christmas Carol,’ Director Jeffrey Sanzel enjoys a distinct advantage in that he wrote the stage adaptation of Charles Dickens’ immortal classic, and he also plays the lead character, miserable Ebenezer Scrooge. With those dual linchpins in place, Sanzel manages, year after year, to offer up satisfying productions that Long Island audiences have come to expect from the master director. Amazingly, he succeeds simultaneously in showcasing new talent in abundance.

Significant, surely, is the iconic nature of the novella first published in 1843. In the nearly two centuries since then, the story has so captured the imaginations of millions worldwide that quotations from the book have become household terms (“Bah, humbug” – “God bless us, every one” - etc.). We have a tendency to favor the familiar and the quotable when it comes to our art … and in particular the performing arts. Dickens contributed mightily to establishing that, and Sanzel wisely capitalized on it in his adaptation.

The collaborators might have been separated chronologically by some two hundred years, but artistically they have a lot in common … and Long Island’s theater aficionados are the beneficiaries.

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Award-winning writer, Jeb Ladouceur is the author of a dozen novels, and his theater and book reviews appear in several major L.I. publications. His newest book, THE GHOSTWRITERS, explores the bizarre relationship between the late Harper Lee and Truman Capote. Ladouceur’s recently completed thriller, THE SOUTHWICK INCIDENT, is due next month. It involves a radicalized Yale student and his CIA pursuers. Mr. Ladouceur’s revealing website is www.JebsBooks.com