Nissequogue River State Park Foundation Scores Big At Tiffany Field

Mike Rosato - Nissequogue River State Park Foundation

Many long time residents of Kings Park remember Tiffany Field as the old baseball field at the former Kings Park Psychiatric Hospital. Today, it is the home of the Kings Park Soccer Club at the Nissequogue River State Park. Children from approximately 800 local families use Tiffany Field throughout the course of the year, providing them with important recreational opportunities. The soccer club has done a wonderful job maintaining and improving the fields for the last several decades. Over the last couple of years, however, the roadway and parking area surrounding the facility has deteriorated and fallen into a state of disrepair.

The Nissequogue River State Park Foundation, established in 2008 to help fund restoration and beautification projects throughout the park, has worked closely with the Kings Park Soccer Club since its inception. This past month, the foundation partnered with the soccer club to repave, widen and improve the drainage of the 1,700 foot roadway adjacent to Tiffany Field. The $38,000 project will help ensure the safety of our residents and will improve the overall appearance of the facility. This endeavor would not have been possible without the close working relationship of these two organizations and the support of New York State Parks. The North Shore Paving Corporation, a locally based company, won the bidding process and did an exceptional job from start to finish reconstructing the roadway.

On Saturday, October 29^th, the Nissequogue River State Park Foundation and the Kings Park Soccer Club celebrated the official re-opening of the new and improved roadway.  The park’s manager, Sean Cruickshank, and representatives from both the foundation and soccer club all took part in the ribbon cutting festivities. Donations from Sign-A-Rama and Power Crush helped put the finishing touches on this enjoyable celebration.

The partnership exhibited by the foundation, soccer club and State Parks sets an example of how to successfully and systematically cleanup and enhance the park. The Kings Park Soccer Club and many other local organizations have joined with the foundation in an effort to create a park that meets our residents’ recreational and cultural needs, while also helping to protect its unique environment. In today’s fiscally challenging times, these partnerships are essential to maintaining and improving our parkland and quality of life.

Smithtown Township Emergency Food Pantry Needs Your Help

“People are hungry year round. People are hungry in Smithtown and we need help. We depend completely on the people in this community. This community is fantastic.” Pat Westlake, executive coordinator of the Smithtown Township Food Pantry.

The Smithtown Township Emergency Food Pantry is located at 90 Edgewater Avenue off of Brooksite Drive in Smithtown.  The hours of operation are Monday – Friday between 9am and 12noon.  The Pantry is operated and staffed by seven local churches including the Byzantine Church of the Resurrection, First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown, Smithtown United Methodist Church, St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, St. James Episcopal Church, St. Thomas of Canterbury Episcopal Church, and St. James Lutheran Church.  Each church volunteers to staff the panty with three volunteers each day for one month every seven months.

The Executive Coordinator, Pat Westlake, is a retired teacher. She has been the coordinator for the past three years and has seen the number of hungry and often-homeless families increase. The pantry, whose patrons are mostly from Smithtown, provides food to anyone who is hungry. “There are people living in their cars, some in the woods, right here in Smithtown, who need food which we provide and often they need warm clothing which we cannot provide.  Our facility is not large enough to collect clothing. Occasionally, we have been able to help people with clothing needs but our focus is providing food to the hungry.” 

The bad economy and high unemployment has impacted all over Suffolk, and Smithtown is no exception. “In the past we allowed people to get food twice in six months.  These are difficult times.  With some people having really tough times, we now allow people to come in once a week.  Our numbers have almost doubled. We now provide food to 120 -130 families a month.”

The holiday season is rapidly approaching which is always a challenge. Four years ago the pantry provided Thanksgiving meals to 40 families.  That number increased to 65 in Pat’s first year as the executive coordinator, 85 meals the second year, and 100 meals were provided last year.  Last year the Monday before Thanksgiving the pantry was well short of the sixty turkeys they needed to feed the people who had signed up for Thanksgiving meals. Pat didn’t panic.  Her saying “He will provide” proved to be prophetic. A call went out to the community and people started to drop off turkeys. As fast as we got food in, people were coming in to take food home.  We ended up with enough turkeys to feed everyone who came in and there were 25 turkeys left over that we used for Christmas meals.”

This is the time of year that food pantries across the island are most needed.  It is also the time of year when the public begins to hold food drives.  It is these food drives that will stock the shelves and bins for the months ahead.  The food donated to the pantry last fall allowed the pantry to distribute food to the needy until May of this year.  In the spring, donations slow down and monetary donations are used to purchase food. 

The pantry has never had to turn anyone away empty handed.  The volunteers are creative and substitute foods when they are out of something.  What do they need the most? Juice and canned fruit. Click Here  for their wish list.

The Smithtown Township Emergency Food Pantry does not receive any grants, federal funding or town funding.  The pantry relies 100% on donations received from the Smithtown community. 

Does Pat Westlake believe that the needs of the hungry will be met? Pat had this to say. “The Smithtown community has always been generous and even with these challenging times I expect that “He” and the Smithtown Community will continue to meet the needs of the hungry”

Smithtown’s Angels -Christina Alcure, Christine Fitzgerald (Center), Kristy Jaegar

By Nancy Vallarella

 “In a time lacking truth and certainty and filled with anguish and despair, no women should be shamefaced in attempting to give back to the world through her work a portion of its lost heart.” Louise Bogan passed away February 4, 1970. She was the fourth poet Laureate honored by the Library of Congress in 1947. 

Kristy Jaegar, Christine Fitzgerald and Chistina Alcure

Many decades have passed but Louise Bogan could have very well been writing about three remarkable Smithtown residents. All three are mothers.  All three have a professional background. All three were united by their compassion for a fatally ill 5-year-old girl. That girl, Kaylee Rivers, was a neighbor to Christine Fitzgerald, a girl scout in Christina Alcure’s troop and a classmate to the son of Kristy Jaeger.  When Kaylee was diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma in the spring of 2008, these women pooled their resources to aid Kaylee and the Rivers family both financially and emotionally and formed the Smithtown Children’s Foundation (SCF).

In the three years since the foundation was formed, other Smithtown families have encountered the battle of disease, endured the recovery from injury or the loss of loved ones and have had the Smithtown Children’s Foundation there to support them. In addition to the support they have given to Smithtown families, the SCF has established scholarship funds which are awarded to seniors from Smithtown High Schools East and West. They have also organized a number of memorial running events within the Smithtown community.

These three women, in three short years, have helped to heal, touch and comfort strangers in our own back yard. Unlike the angels we read about or those who are portrayed in movies as strangers who appear out of nowhere, give assistance and disappear as mysteriously as they arrive, Christine Fitzgerald, Christina Alcure and Kristy Jaeger are familiar faces, long term Smithtown residents, and mere mortals.

Three is the number representing supreme balance and support however; greatness can be achieved in numbers.

The Smithtown Children’s Foundation is reaching out and looking for help from businesses that can lend financial support, products, services or may be looking for community exposure at events.  Civic organizations such as the Girl and Boy Scouts of America, Junior Honor Society candidates or Confirmation candidates who are looking to fulfill community service needs.  Individuals who just want to help a neighbor, pay their good fortune forward or take ownership in their community can contact the SCF at: 631-624-2466 or e-mail: fitzyBBCF@optonline.net.

On Thursday, October 27^th, the Smithtown Children’s Foundation is proud to be one of three honorees at the 6^th Annual Taste of Smithtown sponsored by the Senior Resources of Long Island. The event is hosted and held at Mercedes Benz of Smithtown, 630 Middle Country Road, Saint James from 6pm -9pm.  Gourmet goodies, east end wine and seasonal microbrew will be served from more than 28 local culinary businesses attending. Tickets are $25.00 and can be purchased at the door with check or cash.

Op-Ed - Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy

Op-Ed

Legislature Should Adopt My Tough Balanced Budget That Brings Recurring Savings

By Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy

Over the past eight years, I have made the tough decisions effectuating over a hundred million dollars in recurring savings that helped bring about eight consecutive years without a general fund tax increase.  We saved millions by putting our health plan out to competitive bid, civilianizing the police department, replacing highly paid officers with lower paid sheriffs on the highways, requiring the use of generic rather than brand name drugs and shrinking the size of government by approximately 500 employees.  My budgets were balanced, received the highest bond rating in our county’s history, and still our roads were plowed, our parks remained open and our bus routes were actually expanded.   

Over the past several years, we’ve had crushing state mandates, including a doubling of our pension costs and the opening of a new mandated jail, which has made this 2012 budget the toughest of my tenure. Notwithstanding these state mandates and the sluggish economy, the budget still is balanced and once again holds the line on taxes. 

Legislators have claimed that it’s the toughest budget they’ve faced.  They are correct.  They are going to have to bite the bullet and demand, as I have, that employees pick up a share of their health care costs.  Yes, the budget is tough but it’s certainly not unbalanced.

At a recent meeting, some legislators derided my budget saying that layoffs in the public sector would actually hurt the economy.  By that inane logic why don’t we just double the number of county employees and watch the economy grow.  Quite to the contrary, the public sector is too big.  Recoveries come about from private sector jobs.

Requesting that county employees contribute to their health care is not only the fair thing to do for our taxpayers, it also provides savings year after year.  Rather than holding the unions’ feet to the fire and pressuring them to provide these concessions in lieu of the 450 layoffs that would otherwise come about, legislators are promoting one one-shot after another that not only will put the county’s finances in peril, but also sends a message to the unions that there is no need to negotiate because the legislature will bail them out with a quick fix. 

When tobacco revenues were securitized five years ago, they were spread out over five years to provide recurring savings and to wean the county off of this money.  The proposed use of the remaining $33 million tobacco revenues in one year will provide relief in 2012, but will leave the incoming county executive with a nightmare in 2013 when those monies are no longer available.  The same logic applies to using one shots for selling our tax liens, and worse yet, selling the county office buildings and leasing them back from the new owner.  These type of irresponsible recommendations should be rejected out of hand.  Equally alarming is the call by some legislators to empty our remaining $60 million reserve fund as a one shot to fund recurring expenses.  Those reserves are needed for natural disaster emergencies such as Hurricane Irene, as well as maintaining our historically high bond rating. 

Ironically, had the executive branch adopted these easy fixes, legislators would have unquestionably blamed the county executive for taking the easy way out and setting up the new county executive to fail once these one-shots were exhausted.  I rejected these irresponsible measures and instead balanced the budget with the recurring savings including the requirement that county employees contribute to their health care costs.  If they do not, layoffs would ensue.  Either way, we would see savings year after year, a major advantage for an incoming executive.

On the one hand the legislature does not want any recurring savings, yet they call for recurring savings.  The legislature claims that they don’t want one-shots, yet all of their proposals to change the executive budget have been just that – one-shots. 

Sooner or later, the tough decisions will have to be made.  Delaying the inevitable will either lead to large tax hikes or the type of instability other counties are facing, but Suffolk has been able to avoid.

"Turning Suffolk County Into Solar County" Steve Levy

“It is good for our environment, good for national security, good for our local economy, and good for local taxpayers.” County Executive Steve Levy 

County Exec. Steve Levy, Gordian Raacke (Renewable Energy Long Island, and LIPA CEO Michael D. HerveyAt a press conference today, held at the Dennison building, County Executive Steve Levy introduced the nearly completed solar carports that have been raised on the south side of the Dennison property. The project uses thousands of solar panels in the construction of 10 carport buildings. The solar panels will connect to the electric grid and generate electricity that is clean and renewable.  

The work being done on the Dennison site is being subcontracted to a Holtsville-based company, Eldor Electrical Construction & Maintenance, which anticipates some 150 jobs to be generated through multiple county solar carport project sites going forward. The work at the Dennison site includes an innovative parking design that will allow for snow plowing, regular maintenance and overhead cover for commuters’ vehicles.

“Seeing is believing, and this is an exciting example of progressive collaboration involving county government, the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) and the private sector,” said Levy. “We are taking what was once merely a concept and are turning it into a reality that produces jobs and long-lasting benefits for our society.”

Levy pointed out that Suffolk’s solar initiative uses zero taxpayer dollars and carries no financial risk to the county. In addition to the work at the Dennison location, the multi-pronged initiative will feature solar-module build outs at several locations countywide. Under the agreement, Suffolk is generating income by leasing the land to enXco, which is generating clean, renewable power and selling it to LIPA.