16-Inch Trout Caught At Caleb Smith Catch And Release Jr Fishing Tournament

By Carole Paquette

Morning group winners [from left]: Ryan Green, Shelby Lloyd and Ayden ZebrowskiFifty-one young anglers and their families enjoyed the serenity and beauty of Willow Pond at Caleb Smith State Park Preserve at the recent Friends of Caleb Smith Preserve’s catch-and-release 16th annual Junior Fishing Tournament. Nearly three hundred fish, including a 16-inch trout, were caught by anglers ranging in age from five to twelve.

Winners of the morning session, for those ages five to eight, were: Ryan Green of Brentwood for the most fish caught: 17; Shelby Lloyd of Smithtown caught the largest pan fish: 10-1/4 inches; Ayden Zebrowski of Northport caught the largest “other”fish: a 14-1/2” trout.

Matthew Bonnell, Anthony DiBenedetto, and Jack DiBenedettoWinners in the afternoon session, for anglers ages nine through twelve, were: Anthony DiBenedetto of St. James, for the most fish caught: 22; Jack DiBenedetto of St. James caught the largest pan fish: 9-3/4 inches; and Matthew Bonnell of Smithtown caught the largest “other” fish: a 16-inch trout.

Another highlight of the event was the Tom Troccoli Memorial Lottery, involving the twenty-six registrants in the afternoon session.  The winner received a fishing rod and tackle box. The Troccoli family donated funds for the memorial letter, which will be continued for many years.

Winner of TomTroccoli Memorial lottery: Anthony Giambone with the late Tom Troccoli’s sons Dave [left] and Chris.The late Mr. Troccoli’s sons, Christopher and David, drew the name of angler Anthony Giambone of Centereach, as the first winner of the Troccoli Memorial award.

“Fishing was my father’s favorite hobby,” said Christopher Troccoli. “he especially loved teaching his grandsons. He started by teaching them to cast in his swimming pool. They got a real kick out of that. When we were young he would often take my brother and me fishing at Caleb Smith or Blydenburgh Parks.”  Chris Troccoli’s two sons, Joseph and Vincent, participated in the morning fishing session.

Tom Tokosh, chairman of the tournament, said he wished to thank Carmine Petrone, Huntington manager of Campsite Sports’ fishing department, who donated fishing poles for a raffle for the younger group of anglers; and The Fisherman magazine, which donated worms and tackle for the event.

- Anthony Giambone, 9, with his dad Will
Jackie Rodriguez, 11, of Inwood, catches a 7-inch blue gill
Lyla Esposito, 9, of Glen Head shows her catch, a 5-1/2 “ pan fish, to judge Carmine Petrone

-Ella Esposito 7 of Glen Head shows off her first catch to judge John Langan
Judge Peter Paquette measures one of the 17 fish that Ryan Green caught to win a prize for most fish caught Ryan Green, 6, concentrates on getting a worm on the hook.

Book Review - 'Madison Weatherbee'

Book Review – ‘Madison Weatherbee’

Author: Barbara Anne Kirshner – CreateSpace.com

Reviewed by Jeb Ladouceur

Some books are provocative, some informative, others are challenging … and a rare few prove downright charming. Barbara Anne Kirchner’s 107-page novel about a fictitious adventure undertaken by one of her three Dachshund dogs falls squarely (and delightfully) into the latter category. The book is titled ‘Madison Weatherbee’ … and it’s sub-titled ‘…The Different Dachshund.’

There. I told you it was charming!

Anyone who’s ever owned one of these long, little, four-legged clowns need not be reminded just how entertaining this particular breed of dog can be. Perhaps it will serve the reader to point out that in this country, as well as the United Kingdom, the ‘Dachsy’ is classified as a Scent Hound. This is so because the breed was developed to make maximum use of its particularly keen sense of smell in hunting and trailing animals. Another feature peculiar to the Dachshund (though not exclusively) is its terrier-like love for digging. Terrier aficionados frequently insist that the ‘sausage dog’ belongs in their favorite group … indeed, the little Dachshund does display the persistence which characterizes Terriers the world over.

At any rate, suffice it to say that with a determined ‘Dachsy’ in hot pursuit of some varmint, the critter doesn’t stand much of a chance at all.

Those characteristics, then, pretty much profile the star of Barbara Anne Kirshner’s mini-saga about a typical female Dachshund, but one that for a totally minor reason nobody wants … and who consequently gets into all kinds of difficulties while looking desperately for a loving home.

And what a laundry list of adventures our ‘Madison Weatherbee’ encounters on the way to what naturally is a predictable conclusion. There’s her maiden airplane ride … Madison’s first trip to New York’s Times Square … her initial visit to the Central Park Zoo … a debut appearance on the Broadway stage (my favorite episode) … and a whole host of experiences that only an inquisitive little ‘Dachsy’ could sniff out.

This is an endearing notion that animal advocate Barbara Kirshner has dreamed up. The idea smacks of the phenomenally successful ‘Home Alone’ motion picture, and it wouldn’t be at all surprising if ‘Madison Weatherbee’ made her way to the big screen one day soon. I found the story immensely pleasing as Kirshner piled installments atop one another … making it inevitable that the reader fall head over heels in love with her intrepid little heroine.

You simply must meet ‘The Different Dachshund.’ And by all means, introduce her to the children in your family. They’re likely to reward you with one of those slurping kisses that the unmistakable ‘sausage doggies’ are famous for.

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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 recent hit, THE GHOSTWRITERS, explores the bizarre relationship between the late Harper Lee and Truman Capote. Ladouceur’s newly completed thriller, THE SOUTHWICK INCIDENT, was introduced recently at the Smithtown Library. The book involves a radicalized Yale student and his CIA pursuers. Mr. Ladouceur’s revealing website is www.JebsBooks.com

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP - TRANS FATS AND THE PROMOTION OF BAD STUFF

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

Suffolk County government was early to move against trans fats.

In doing much writing on environmental issues—in this column, in magazines, in books I’ve authored, and on the Internet in recent years, as well as for nearly 30 years hosting a TV program “Enviro Closeup,” a central principle that’s become very clear to me is that virtually all polluting products and processes aren’t necessary. There are safe, clean alternatives.

Trans fats are a poster child for this. Bad actors like trans fats throw a monkey wrench into nature and impact on peoples’ health. They are promoted by those who profit from them. The lethal health impacts of trans fats are gargantuan.

As the World Health Organization declared last month in announcing a drive to eliminate trans fats around the globe, they lead to more than 500,000 deaths from heart disease each year. “It’s a crisis level, and it’s a major front in our fight now,” said the WHO’s director general.

In Suffolk, the use of trans fats in restaurants was banned in 2009. Legislator Lou D’Amaro of North Babylon sponsored the law. He stated it “fulfills the government’s obligation to do all it can to protect public health.”

The action by Suffolk followed trans fats bans by other governments in New York State including New York City (first to ban trans fats) and Nassau, Albany and Westchester Counties. Some of the bans, like the one in Suffolk, focused on restaurants. Some were broader, 

Action against trans fats has become a national movement. These days, food packages often display the statement: “No Trans Fats.” People have become aware of their dangers. 

Trans fats are produced when vegetable oil is pumped with hydrogen thus causing it to become solid at room temperature. They assist in extending the shelf life of cookies, cakes and frying oils. Some elements of the food industry, when Suffolk was moving on its ban, insisted that French fries would never be the same without trans fats. This was nonsense.

Trans fats alter the chemical composition of food increasing LDL or “bad” cholesterol and decreasing HDL or “good” cholesterol. Consumption of trans fats clogs arteries.

They aren’t needed. “Trans fats are a harmful product that can be removed easily without major cost and without any impact on the quality of foods,” says Dr. Francesca Branca, director of WHO’s Department of Nutrition for Health and Development.

TCTMD, a website of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, reports that in the decade since action against trans fats “there has been a significant decrease in hospitalizations for cardiovascular events in New York State.”  It quotes Dr. Eric Brandt of Yale University School of Medicine, who investigated this reduction, as saying “there are no known benefits” of trans fats and “experts who have done extensive research in the field recommended that complete avoidance may be necessary to avoid any of the associated harmful effects from them.”

In 2015 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finally stepped in and revoked the “Generally Recognized as Safe” status of trans fats and ordered the banning of trans fats from all food in the U.S. as of June 18, 2018. Especially delighted was a then 100-year-old University of Illinois professor of comparative biosciences, Fred Kummerow, who had warned about the dangers of trans fats for nearly six decades. Dr. Kummerow, who sued the FDA in 2013 for not acting sooner, commented: “It’s very important that we don’t have this in our diet.”

 The New York Times in an editorial last month, “Making Trans Fats History,” applauded the WHO drive. Although “most of the American food industry stopped using artificial trans fats, a leading cause of heart disease and death globally…and few consumers noticed the change in their French fries or donuts…these fats are still commonly used in the Middle East, India, Pakistan and elsewhere. Beyond the United States, countries like Canada and Denmark have taken action against the use of trans fats, but lawmakers and regulators in other places haven’t—because they are unaware of the health risks or are reluctant to take on the food industry.”

I wrote a book, “The Poison Conspiracy,” about the promotion of toxic products by powerful interests and inaction or extremely delayed action by governments—and the abundant safe alternatives to these poisonous processes and products. 

This promotion involves self-interest, greed, and extends widely. I thought about this the other day reading an article headed “Hawaii Officials Encourage Visitors to Visit, Despite Volcano.” It reported: ‘Hawaii tourism officials are hoping Kilauea’s eruption won’t deter travelers from the state’s largest island, even as geologists warn the volcano could soon shoot boulders out of its summit.” Boosting tourism even if it means getting people to go to where a volcano is erupting, or getting them to eat trans fats and be subject to other dangerous products, or exposing people to toxic processes, this self-interest must be confronted.

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books.  

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP - The Push To Pave Over LI Has Always Been An Inside Job

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman 

A push for more intense development of Suffolk County is underway.

Driving in Huntington the other day (on a visit to my mother-in-law on Mother’s Day), we went past signs declaring “Save Our Town—Stop Villadom” posted along roads. Being protested is a proposed “Mega-Mall” named Villadom. An $80 million 486.380 square foot project, it’s proposed to be built on 50 acres of open land along Jericho Turnpike between Dix Hills and Elwood.

And there’s resistance elsewhere in the county to major development projects which include Greybarn Sayville, a 1,365-unit apartment complex proposed for Sayville at the former Island Hills Golf Club, and Heartland Town Square, a 9,000-apartment complex slated for Brentwood.

The development push has caused civic groups to unite—including the 4 Towns Civic Association which covers the towns of Babylon, Huntington, Smithtown and Islip and is among the most powerful civic entities in Suffolk. “Civic Groups Use Regional Strategy to Oppose Development,” was the sub-head of a Newsday article last month. It reported: “Members of these groups say they want to maintain Long Island’s suburban feel and are voicing shared concerns about over-crowding, traffic…and potential harm to the environment.”

Suffolk’s East End is not immune to this new development drive. Having paved over Nassau County and a lot of western and central Suffolk, the bulldozer boys are seeking to finish up their activities “up the Island”—building bigger and with greater density than ever. And with their money and political influence, the East End will be all that’s remaining on Long Island for them to hit. 

“It can’t happen here?” Years ago, my family lived in Sayville adjacent to the Island Hills Golf Club—a pretty community now facing transformation into high-density development. 

The biggest intense development project is slated for Ronkonkoma.

It’s called the “Ronkonkoma Hub” and has been pushed hard by Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone—1,450 apartments and 545,000 square feet of retail and office space on 50 acres at a cost of $650 million. 

And last month the county executive’s office announced it has accepted a $1 billion proposal to build on 40 acres of county land just south of the core of Ronkonkoma Hub a complex involving a 17,500-seat sports and entertainment arena, a 500-room hotel, two ice rinks, 160,000 square feet of medical research space, and 90,000 square feet of retail stores and restaurants.

Even Newsday which through the decades has sounded a clarion call for Long Island development couldn’t stomach the stadium plan. “A Big Arena in Suffolk County Makes No Sense for Long Island,” was the headline of a Newsday editorial.  The sub-head noted that “Nassau Already Has the Coliseum” and a “Bigger” arena is “in the Works at Belmont Park.”

“Major projects should be developed with a grasp of how they complement other parts of the region. That’s not what has happened here,” said Newsday’s editorial board. “There’s no sign that any professional team, including the Islanders, would settle in Suffolk…Given all that, it’s worrisome that Suffolk officials would choose the arena-centric option proposed by Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle and Woodbury engineer John Cameron.”

Mr. Cameron is a key figure in the stadium-plus project and is also chairman of the Long Island Regional Planning Council. The council’s website declares it “the only planning body representing both Nassau and Suffolk Counties.” Its 12 members are appointed by the county executives of Nassau and Suffolk. In 2016, it received $250,000 from each county. Mr. Cameron has been its chairman for a decade. He was a field engineer at the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant above New York City before founding Cameron Engineering & Associates in Woodbury.

The other figures in the stadium-plus project are Chicago real estate developer Jones Lang LaSalle and investment banker Ray Bartoszek who resides in Montana and also has a home in Southampton.

Commenting in the stadium-plus scheme—in a column headlined “Suffolk’s Grand Plan for a Sports Arena”—Joe Werkmeister, editor of the Riverhead News-Review and The Suffolk Times, wrote: “As the details trickled out, this arena proposal became more and more absurd.”

Richard Murdocco, who studied planning under longtime Suffolk County Planning Director Lee Koppelman at Stony Brook University and is a professor in its Public Policy Graduate Program, on his blog, The Foggiest Idea, criticized the process through which the builders of the arena-plus project were selected—top-down by a handful of Suffolk County officials. “He asked: “Why did Suffolk County seemingly shy away from the public eye?”

 “Like most other things on Long Island, what’s old is new again,” he wrote.

Indeed, the push to pave over Long Island has always been an inside job.

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books.  

Theater Review – 'Curtains'

Theater Review – ‘Curtains’

Produced by Theatre Three – Port Jefferson

Reviewed by Jeb Ladouceur

I fell for this wacky musical the minute I realized that the opening number ‘Wide Open Spaces’ was leading us into the mother of all theatrical farces. Indeed, after the ‘Curtains’ company had finished their corny, Oklahoma-like prancing around, it appeared that this reviewer would have to live up to the entertainment industry’s equivalent of the Hippocratic Oath, and pan the ‘yee-haw’ show.

My oh my … what an injustice that would have been! 

Because the routine that followed, ‘What Kind of Man?’ features key members of the creative team for a hokey play-within-a-play called ‘Robbin’ Hood.’ They’re reading mordant reviews in the Boston papers of the show’s opening night tryout and speculating bitterly in song about the kind of man who would want to write such scathing stuff. It’s possible that only a professional reviewer could recognize the full implication of the number.

Moments later, however, the production crew comes across an obscure critique that praises their show (if only obliquely) … and they do an about-face. Now theater commentators are extolled as among the wisest of literary pundits. Ah, me!

Like all farces, this complex combination of love, betrayal, ambition, and murder is almost impossible to review adequately. There are just too many facets to the plot that need explaining. The play must have been (pardon the pun) ‘murder’ to direct. That said, if anyone could accurately steer this ship called ‘Curtains,’ (the term for ‘a violent end’ popularized by gangsters in the 20s) it’s Jeffrey Sanzel. He is probably the finest director working in live theater today.

But it’s one thing for your resident critic to laud this rib-tickling musical … let’s see what the American Theatre Wing had to say when they issued their nominations for 2007’s coveted Tony Awards. ‘Curtains’ received a total of eight nods in the Musical category. Furthermore, those nominations spanned all the key groupings … Actor, Actress, Director, Choreographer, Score … and yes, Musical.

That year’s Drama Desk virtually mimicked the Theatre Wing’s recognitions. The organization honored ‘Curtains’ with nine nominations, adding Set and Costume design to the categories saluted by The Wing. Quite the collection of accolades one would have to say.

Though it’s billed as a ‘whodunit,’ this show is not without its placid moments. The best of them, in my view, is rendered when James Schultz (who plays lyricist Aaron Fox) sings the tender ballad, ‘I Miss the Music.’ The song holds particular significance for those of us who have missed the multi-talented Schultz. His return to Theatre Three after a several months-long hiatus from his home stage was acknowledged by an applauding crowd who stood and cheered during his curtain call.

I’ve always been a sort of patsy for good productions of ‘Oklahoma,’ ‘Carousel,’ and the like, but to be frank, they invariably smack somewhat of pizza without the hot pepper. One of the things that distinguishes Broadway musicals is the touch of naughtiness they can get away with. In the show running at Theatre Three thru June 23 you’ll find just enough impishness to tickle your funny bone without making you feel depraved.

This review would be incomplete without recognizing the contributions of Mary Ellen Kurtz as ‘Carmen Bernstein’ (move over Ethel Merman) … Steve McCoy controls the pace as ‘Lt. Frank Cioffi’ … Matt Senese is a spot-on ‘Chris Belling’ … Meg Bush plays a convincing ‘Jessica Cranshaw’ while doubling as Dance Captain. And yes … Jeffrey Sanzel directs.

In sum … ‘Curtains’ is the kind of multi-faceted production that almost magically, according to one Artistic Director, has the effect of an anti-depressant. So, if you’re feeling a bit low … or harassed … or if the weather’s got you down … or the kids have you climbing the walls … head on over to ‘Broadway on Main Street’ in Port Jeff. 

Theatre Three … ‘Curtains.’

No prescription necessary.

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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 recent hit, THE GHOSTWRITERS, explores the bizarre relationship between the late Harper Lee and Truman Capote. Ladouceur’s newly completed thriller, THE SOUTHWICK INCIDENT, was introduced at the Smithtown Library in May. The book involves a radicalized Yale student and his CIA pursuers. Mr. Ladouceur’s revealing website is www.JebsBooks.com