Murphy - Norah And The Smithtown Animal Shelter

By Chris Biancaniello

Not many pups can say they’ve had to go through the trials and tribulations that Murphy has- his owner left Murphyhim in the care of the Smithtown Animal Shelter upon eviction from their home. Murphy, a 2-½ year old Shepherd Beagle mix, was given a full work-up by a local veterinarian who found he was suffering from advanced Lyme’s disease, bladder stones, and the painful effects of both. Due to the advanced Lyme’s disease, Murphy’s hind leg joints were swollen to the point that it made it difficult for him to walk.

Luckily for my new friend, Lyme’s disease in dogs is treatable and is not going to get the best of him. Thanks to the people of Kings Park & Smithtown, the Animal Shelter was able to raise over $1,500 for Murphy’s required bladder surgery at Kings Park Day. This brings Murphy one step closer to finding a new home and chasing Frisbees.

Stories like these are not uncommon for the staff at the Smithtown Animal Shelter. They have an entire wall dedicated to success stories. The wall is lined with pictures of dogs and cats all having found forever homes and loving owners. Their successes aren’t going unnoticed, as Supervisor Pat Vecchio has recently proposed building a new facility replacing the current shelter, located on Middle Country Road. 

Recently there have been complaints made about the conditions at the shelter. Supervisor Vecchio believes that the allegations of mistreatment are more of a space issue, rather than a staff issue stating that, “[Director Beatty] would have an easier time if he had more space in the building. It’s not a terrible place, but it needs more.” He also noted the fact that even the hallways were lined with animal cages. The proposal was met with a surprising amount of agreement by the oft-gridlocked board. 

It’s not hard to see that they’re quickly running out of space. The facility is a temporary home for roughly 100 cats and up to 24 dogs at a time, as well as an array of other animals including chickens, pheasants, and even a group of Peking ducklings that were abandoned in Gibbs Pond. The prospect of a new facility is exciting to Director George Beatty. His hope is that the current facility, which was built in the 50’s, could be replaced by one immediately behind the existing building in order to facilitate a more seamless transition between shelters. “Companion animals are held in high esteem by the community, and the community expects their shelter to do the same,” says Beatty. “We’ve made do with what we’ve had, but by current standards it’s not acceptable.” 

Amongst other things, the hope is that the new facility would have space for an actual Cat infirmary; the current space for the cat infirmary was once an employee break room that had to be given up. Now, the 13x11 foot office serves as a break room, animal inspection area, a workspace for the eight full time employees, and numerous other tasks due to the lack of space in the facility. 

NorahThe staff at the shelter deal with their fair share of heartbreak as well. Perhaps the most recent example of this has been the addition of Nora, a Shih Tzu, who was found in such poor condition that her hair was in knots tight enough to pull on her skin. Unfortunately for Nora, this was perhaps the least of her issues. Nora needed a number of tumors and growths removed, and has a condition that prevents her from creating tears to moisten her eyes thus leaving her ability to see in question. For this condition she’ll require eye drops twice a day for the rest of her life. All this after having spent two months at an animal hospital. Nora is an extreme case of neglect, but one that the staff at the shelter is equipped to deal with; now all they need is a facility that can do the same. 

Smithtown Animal Shelter & Adoption Center  - 410 East Main St. Smithtown, NY 11787 - (631) 360-7575 Email: sasac@tosgov.com

Update on Monday, July 7, 2014 at 10:40AM by .

The Smithtown Animal Shelter is very happy to report that both Nora and Murphy have been adopted.

Sunken Meadow State Park - 1,200 Acres Of Fun Is Getting An Update

By Dana Klosner

(click on photos to enlarge)

Sunken Meadow State Park is a 1,200 acre beach front park. If you’ve been to Sunken Meadow you know it offers loads of amenities. These include bike trails, bridle trails, kayaking, canoeing, windsurfing, paddle boarding, fishing-including night time fishing permits, a 27 hole golf course, picnic areas with barbeque grill and pits, hiking trails, playgrounds, playing fields for softball, volleyball and soccer. In the off-season it is frequently used by cross country runners. Local high schools hold major meets and practice meets at the park, according to park director, Jeff Mason. It is open sunrise to sunset, seven days a week. The golf course is open year round. Lessing’s caterers have a hall overlooking the beach. Tee to Green runs golf pro shop at the clubhouse where they rent golf carts and have a driving range. Boces Scope runs environment programs with educational learning labs for school groups. They also run an environmental camp in the summer. For more information on the camp or to set up an environmental program call Doug Schmid at 631-269-4343. Schmid oversees Caleb Smith State Park Preserve and the Connetquot River State Park as well as Sunken Meadow State Park. 

If you’ve been to Sunken Meadow recently you also may know they are undergoing renovations. They started with important infrastructure improvements. Now in phase II of the project that started last year, work continues. 

 During Phase II, which started a few weeks ago and is set to take about a year, a number of more visible projects will happen. The bathrooms at the Field One Bath House, including the shower rooms will all be remodeled. This will take place during the off season when the bathrooms are closed anyway, because they are not heated. There will also be the construction of an environmental display and classroom area. 

Emergency services will be moved from the East Side of the bath house to the West side where a new office space is being built. This is being built where the stockade area is next to the bath house. When it is completed there will be a ramp to lead up to the boardwalk for public access to the park police. 

“We will have all emergency service personnel on one side at the back of the stockade gate near the traffic circle,” Mason said. “This way it doesn’t affect public access to the beach or boardwalk.”

The park office will be moved two doors down, remaining on the East side of the bath house. 

“We’re moving it to a bigger space,” Mason said. “The space they have now is tiny and when we’re busy selling lots of Empire Passports it’s really too small.” 

There will also be a lifeguard break room area added.  

 “As far as lengthening the boardwalk, I’m not sure if something’s going to happen,” Mason said. “We haven’t really talked about that.” 

This is all part of a master plan that was discussed during a public hearing the year of Superstorm Sandy, Mason said.

Sunken Meadow State Park is located in Kings Park, Smithtown.

Sunken Meadow Pkwy, Kings Park, NY 11754 (631) 269-4333

How Do You Say Thank You? Take Them Fishing - Soldiers On The Sound 6th Annual Fishing Tournament

(Click on photos to enlarge - photos p.biancaniello)

How do you say thank you to people who put their life on the line serving in the United States military? If you are a member of the Smithtown Bay Yacht Club (SBYC),  you might just invite them out on your boat for a day of boating and a fishing competition.

Mike Kozyrski caught the largest fish of the day.Members of the SBYC hosted their 6th Annual Soldiers on the Sound Fishing Tournament Saturday, June 14th. 55 boats participated carrying 123 service men and women from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard for this year’s tournament. 

Kings Park resident Mark Garry is credited with the idea for Soldiers on the Sound.  Mark was searching for a way to give back to local servicemen and women as a way to say thank you for their service.  Mark joined by SBYC members Skip Hein and Roger Smith determined that a fishing tournament would be more interesting than just a big party. “I decided on a fishing tournament because it was always a stress reliever for me as a Homicide Detective. We don’t want people to forget the service and sacrifices these soldiers make.  These men and women, some married with children, go into harm’s way so we can do what we do here. It can’t be taken for granted,” said Mr. Garry

Team Old SchoolAfter a week of rain, June 14 turned out to be a beautiful sunny day.  Military persons and boaters were treated to breakfast before receiving their boat assignment. T-shirts were distributed and it was off to the boats and the parade from the Marina to the Sound. American flags and Soldier on the Sound flags were affixed to all of the participating boats. Smiles and waves and then into the Sound for the shotgun start around 10am. Two professional fishing teams were in attendance providing fishing advice Team Old School and professional fisherman and author Angelo Peluso.

Captains and crews commenced fishing and by three o’clock boaters began to find their way back to the Yacht Club where they weighed the fish thought to be competitive. Small fish were thrown back into the water. Returning boaters were greeted by a huge American flag provided and displayed by Smithtown and St. James Fire Departments.

Pink LadiesWhen the boaters returned to the Yacht Club a transformation had taken place. A group of women who call themselves the “Pink Ladies” had food, music, and raffles spread out for all the participants to enjoy.

A ‘low county boil’ and catered dishes were provided by Ruland Road Deli located in Melville. The Nassau Police Emerald Pipe Band played, and then came the raffles. 

Every participant was eligible to win raffle prizes donated by local merchants and national corporations. Raffels were distributed, not sold. Team Old School, a professional team of fishermen from Youngsville, NC towed their 22ft SeaPro to Smithtown and provided advice and shared some fishing secrets.  In addition, Team Old School’s sponsors donated two of the day’s grand prizes: Simrad donated a NSS7m Charplotter Fishfinder Combination, and Accurate donated a Fury FX 600N fishing reel.

Other prizes included: vacations, flat screen TV’s, kayaks, fishing poles and reels, Yankee, Mets and Ducks baseball tickets. Over 125 prizes were raffled off. 

The winning fish and fisherman Mike KozyrskiThe winning fish 5 lbs and 14 oz.  was caught by the Rear Commodore of the Smithtown Bay Yacht Club, Mike Kozyrski.   On the boat with Mike were Tech Sgt.Warren Langrock and Mstr. Sgt. Jessica Beall both from the 106th Rescue Wing Air National Guard.  This was Beall’s  first time attending the event which she said was, “a lot of fun”. It was the second Soldiers on the Sound event for Langrock who called it, “a blast, my favorite day.”  Both have nine years left in the military and look forward to attending future events.

Mike Smedley from Team Old School brought his boat, advice and lots of goodies donated by his sponsors. This was Team Old School’s second time attending Soldiers on the Sound in addition to it being a great event he loves the venue.  The beauty of the area and the clear waters make it one of the best places and best events he has participated in.  

“It just keeps getting better and better.” Mark Garry

Soldiers on the Sound is free for all participants. Captains, first mates and Pink Ladies are volunteers.  The event relys on the generous donations of sponsors. The tournament is open to active serviceman and prior registration is required.  Soldiers on the Sound Ltd, is a not for profit organization. If your are interested in making a donation towards the 2015 event, send an email to soldiersonthesound@gmail.com

Op Ed - Dear Governor Cuomo Support A9943a Put Families Before Insurance Industry

Dear Governor Cuomo:  

I hope your Father’s Day was wonderful, I am very happy that you are fortunate to still have your own father, a great man indeed.  Unfortunately on Long Island there were thousands of empty chairs at the family table on Father’s Day.  As you know we have been grappling with a youth heroin epidemic for a decade on Long Island and we have buried almost three thousand young people under the age of twenty five due to both opiate pill and heroin overdoses.  Unfortunately now that epidemic is affecting communities in every corner of New York State.

However, I have great news for you – the NYS Senate has created a Heroin Task Force and they have put together some of the brightest minds in the addiction/prevention field and they held eighteen public hearings around this great state.  Those hearings were enormously fruitful and created much-needed dialogues that pinpointed some of the reasons as to why we are failing, why the epidemic is getting worse, not better.   Your Senate put forth an array of very good bills; to deal with what the Center for Disease Control calls an epidemic and national health organizations are saying is the greatest health crisis of our time.  Here on Long Island Boyle and Hannon are rock stars for those of us in The Movement. 

In addition, the heads of the NYS Assembly Insurance Committee and Substance Abuse Committee held a roundtable last week to look at one bill in particular -  A9943a.  You see those of us working to eradicate this epidemic and fight for smart legislation have watched profiteers, insurance companies executives tell young addicts that they must fail at outpatient before they received the proper inpatient treatment for their life-threatening disease.   This has not happened a few times, this has happened hundreds and hundreds of times here on Long Island.  Some have been denied inpatient even after they have overdosed.  Many have gone on to overdose and die and many to go on to commit crimes.  You see Governor it is imperative these decisions be made by those with a background in addiction and they must be made on case by case bases.   We applaud the members of the Assembly who put that roundtable together and to those of us in The Movement, Cusick is also a rockstar.   

However, I have some bad news for you, there are some governmental agencies attempting to remove the most essential elements of A8843a.  Much like their friends in the insurance industry, they playing Russian Roulette with the young people of this state.  The integrity of this bill must remain intact.

Unfortunately, we are just about out of time for these back-room deals, for these unethical practices.  It’s the World Series, bases are loaded, it’s a tie score, there are 3 men on; there are two outs and three balls – we have one shot, one shot to get this right.  This cannot be business as usual, it’s time to forget the pace in which Albany generally runs and do something unprecedented, made bold decisions and reverse the discriminatory practices of the Insurance Industry immediately.   It is incumbent upon all of us to get this right.  Besides the immeasurable human and societal cost, there is a huge cost shift from the profiteers to the tax payers, Medicaid, judiciary and law enforcement costs.  It’s also incumbent from a fiduciary standpoint for the Insurance industry to treat this disease properly from the start.   It is critical that the following aspects of the bill remain intact:

·         Random sample audits of insurers must be made to make sure Insurance companies are using approved tools and appropriate personnel to make Level of Care and Utilization Review determinations. 

·         Determinations using industry-standard, evidence-based tools are in the best interests of the client and the insurer. 

·         The effective date of the bill must remain “as is”. 

·         The expedited appeals process and the commitment to continued coverage regardless of level of care must stay as currently written.  No client should be required to leave treatment while he waits on an appeal. 

·         The requirement for increased surveillance by the Department of Financial Services must remain in the bill as written to keep the insurance companies honest. 

It is time to end the malfeasance.   Thank you kindly for adding one hundred state troopers to address this epidemic, we in the Movement applaud your efforts and are very grateful. 

Best Regards,

Maureen Ledden Rossi

Maureen Ledden Rossi is the Chairman and one of the founding members of Kings Park in the kNOw, a non-profit working to eradicate Long Island’s Youth Opioid/Heroin Epidemic. Rossi is also an award-winning journalist.

Helped By The Children's Center At UCP Hauppauge's Megan Babbino Gives Back

By Dana Klosner

(click on photos to enlarge)

Megan BabbinoLast Sunday, Girl Scout Gold Award candidate Megan Babbino, held a fundraiser at Del Fuego in St. James to raise money for The Children’s Center at United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) Suffolk , in Commack. The Children’s Center services children with developmental delays and disabilities from infancy to 21.*

The event featured a silent auction, pay one price all you can eat and drink, a pie eating

 contest, face painting, an antique car show sponsored by the Long Island Street Rod Association, and even the auctioning off of Babbino’s father who is a chef at the Del Fuego. He will be a high end barbeque chef at someone’s home for up to 20 people. The event was sponsored by Del Fuego owner Joe DeNicola. 

The event raised $7,000 before expenses. About $5,500 of that will go to the school. The money will be used to create a butterfly plaque that will display the names of former students that have passed away as well as other educational services for current and future students.*

Cars line up at Hillside Village Center before heading to Del FuegoBabbino , 15, a sophomore at Hauppauge High School has cerebral palsy and attended the school when she was three and four years old.

“UCP helped me become the person I am today,” Babbino said. “When I had the opportunity to do this project this was the first thing I wanted to do. They [the school] helped me so I wanted to help them.”

“Megan was born at 28 weeks,” said her mother Joanne. “A lack of oxygen caused her cerebral palsy.”

She had it on her right side, mostly her right leg and slightly in her right hand, Joanne Babbino said. The muscles in her legs were too tight and as a young child she had to wear braces on both her legs. 

“At UCP she was placed in an integrated class with children who were developing normally,” Joanne Babbino said. “This was important because at three years old she was testing (academically) at five and at five years old she was testing at seven. I didn’t want her to be with only special needs kids; I needed her to have something to strive for.”

“It was a great place,” Joanne Babbino continued. “They had a huge physical therapy room. They had kids in all developmental stages. They had kids in chairs that couldn’t walk, some who couldn’t talk or would talk with Babbino Family with donor boardcomputers.”

Megan went on to Hauppauge public schools from there. Her braces came off in third grade. In fourth grade she had an operation to lengthen her heel chords so she wouldn’t walk on her toes anymore. She was in casts for eight weeks.

She still goes to physical therapy once a week and it is supplemented with a chiropractor, who keeps her muscles loose.

“The Gold Award project has to be true to your heart because you have to spend 80 hours on it,” Joanne Babbino said.

Megan had to raise money, plan an unveiling ceremony, make posters, pamphlets and fliers to publicize the event and blog about the butterfly plaque. She also held a pancake breakfast where she raised a few hundred dollars. 

“It was easy because I had the support of my mom, my Girl Scout troop and family,” said Megan Babbino, who is a member of Troop 588, Hauppauge Girl Scouts. “It would have been hard to do on my own.”

“Running the project has taught me speaking skills, time management skills, and organizational skills,” she continued. “And it helps the community at the same time.”

“I like Girl Scouts because it teaches you good life skills,” she went on. “You get to bond with your friends by laughing and doing things together which make the projects fun. And it opens up the opportunity to help the community and do things not only for myself but to help benefit others.”

Members of Long Island Street Rod Association help with fundraiserThere are still a few steps that need to be completed before Megan Babbino earns her Gold Award. The butterfly plaque must be purchased and engraved. Then there will be an unveiling ceremony with local dignitaries in the fall. 

“We are thankful to Megan for choosing The Children’s Center at UCP Suffolk for her Girl Scout Gold Award project,” said Sherri Glazer, Principal and Director of Educational Services for the school.  “Her fundraising efforts proved to be a success as Megan was able to raise [about] $5,700 which will benefit our current students, future students and will be a great remembrance for the students who have been part of our program in the past.”  *changes were made to article to provide a better understanding of students at UCP and the use of the funds collected by Megan.