Making A Difference - Hauppauge HS's Carter Thornton

By Cristen Feeney

Carter Thornton (far right) Making A Difference at Smithtown Animal ShelterA pet can brighten up anyone’s life, but adopting a pet from a shelter can be one of the most fulfilling experiences for both owner and pet. Hauppauge High School junior, Carter Thornton, decided to develop a project to help animals at the Smithtown Animal Shelter. His goal is to raise awareness, get volunteers, raise funds and encourage the adoption of pets at the shelter.  A big project for a single student to take on, so Thornton recruited some help from his classmates Brittany Furnari and Kylie Antignano. Together they are planning activities and making sure the project goes smoothly. These students will be working at the Smithtown Animal Shelter through the end of the year. Although all their success and good deeds will be the product of their hard work, the nudge to do the project  was a result of their participation in the International Baccalaureate (I.B.) program at their high school. One of the requirements of the I.B. program is “Community, Action and Service” , independent from the school, students must get involved in their community. Thornton said he has always loved animals and plans on going into veterinary science; so for him, this project was a “no-brainer.”

On Saturday, June 8, the three students had their first event at the shelter. “For starters, I began to come up with some ideas to attract more people outside of my friends and family with a 50/50 raffle, face painting for the kids and a bake sale. [They could] also come and adopt the animals… After [I thought of some ideas], I reached out to some papers to get the word out…. I also put up flyers around the school and would tell anyone I knew about [the event]. As the actual event took place… about 20 people showed up throughout the day [and] we managed to accumulate $133 dollars in donations” said Thornton. Director of the shelter, George Beatty, thought that the project was a success and is grateful to have passionate students helping out the shelter. According to Beatty, there were even two animals adopted on the day of the event. Thornton is planning to arrange another event toward the end of the summer for those who didn’t get to participate this time around, although the date is still unknown.

If you’d like to get involved with the Smithtown Animal Shelter, they will be at Kings Park Day on June 15th, or at the Stony Brook “Groomery” at 1320 Stony Brook Road on June 22nd with pets that you can adopt. Even if you can’t afford to donate, or can’t adopt at this point, Beatty encourages people to “come on in and walk the dogs. [There is a] nature trail in the back and a sun room…for the cats.” Anything that you are able or willing to do to help is welcomed and encouraged.

The Smithtown Animal Shelter encourages all to get involved, whether it be through adoption, a visit to the pets or a donation of any size. The shelter gives a home to lost, abandoned and stray animals that would otherwise be living on the street, but the shelter needs your help to keep them off the street. Thornton encourages everyone to go to the Shelter and help out saying, “overall, I would hope for a better turn out [at the event] next time, but we still gave the shelter money it didn’t have [before the event] and that’s what really matters to me at the end of the day.” Adopting a pet from a shelter means giving a helpless animal a good home and a family that loves them.

For more information on adopting a pet or making a donation of any size, you can visit  HYPERLINK “http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/NY53.html” http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/NY53.html.

Rotarians - Third Graders - Dictionaries - Perfect Together

(L-R) Rotarians Vicki Tay, Jules Rosenberg, David Ardam, Phil Facquet, Michelle Tancredi - Principal and Sawmill Intermediate students This week Rotarians from the  Commack - Kings Park Rotary Club distributed over 800 dictionaries to third graders in Commack and Kings Park schools. The dictionaries were a gift to students as part of the clubs Literacy Project. “The dictionaries represent our clubs commitment to education and our commitment to our local kids. The distribution of the dictionaries is always fun, the response we receive from the kids is amazing.” said Dr. Phil Facquet, president.

Students in Mr. Rubins class at Fort Salonga Elementary show off their dictionariesMembers of the club had the opportunity to spend some time with third graders at Park View and Fort Salonga in Kings Park and Burr Intermediate and Sawmill Intermediate in Commack. “We talk to the students about the use of a dictionary and a little about the Rotary. The kids get to ask us questions and we get to enjoy the interaction. The third graders we spoke with this year seem to be keenly aware of the challenges they will face in fourth grade and beyond and were genuinely appreciative of our gift.” said Facquet.

In addition to the dictionary project the Commack - Kings Park Rotary Club recently held a “Student of The(L-R) Vice Principal Hillary Bromberg, Phil Facquet, Lauren Hogan and Park View students Year” luncheon where  six middle school students, three from each school district, were recognized for their community service.  The club is also building a “Healing Garden” at the Nissequogue River State Park.  A dedication of the garden is scheduled for July 31 at the park. 

The Commack-Kings Park Rotary Club meets every Tuesday at 12:15 at the Bonwit Inn in Commack. The luncheon meeting is open to the public for more information contact Dr. Facquet at drfacquet@optonline.net.

Support For NRSP Ran Deep At Sunset 5K Run/Walk

Results of the run - 238 people participated in the Nissequogue River State Park Foundation’s annual 5k Sunset Run/walk. After days of horrible weather, including torrential rains, the sky cleared, most puddles disappeared and folks showed up ready to run.  The kids set the pace in the 1k fun walk. Their energy and enthusiasm was contagious. They were all winners! When the call went out to line-up for the 5K, the crowd was ready for the  run through the Nissequogue River State Park.  The signal was given, the runners took off and immediately faced some challenging uphill terrain. Some ran, some walked and many did a combination of both. Congratulations to everyone who participated and to those who posted the fastest times.  First place- Boyd Carrington - Amityville, Second Place - Keith Guilfoyle -  Commack and Third Place-  Michael Robles - Smithtown. For the Women - First Place - Tara Wilson - West Islip    Second Place -  Una Broderick - Wantagh and Third Place-  Erin Enders - Commack.      

Hauppauge HS Student Carter Thornton Hosting "Adoption Day" At Smithtown Animal Shelter

Hauppauge High School student Carter Thornton is joining with the Smithtown Animal Shelter hosting “Adoption Day” at the shelter on Saturday, June 8th between the hours of 10am and 4pm.

Carter has arranged for a bake sale, 50/50 raffles and face painting. All proceeds will be going to the shelter.

Stop in and support Carter’s efforts, visit with the shelter animals and think about adopting one of the homeless dogs or cats.

Donations of can dog and cat food as well as dry kitten food, towels, bathroom mats, and blankets are always appreciated.

The Smithtown Animal Shelter is located at 410 E. Main St. in Smithtown. 

Lynne C. Nowick - "I want to do what's right for the people of Smithtown..."

A Farmer’s Daughter Walks in His Footsteps by Maureen Rossi

Lynne C. NowickLiving the quiet life of a farmer’s daughter in bucolic St. James, Lynne Cannataro- Nowick’s childhood was punctuated by excursions to her father’s softball games and her brother’s baseball games.“It was a very quiet community, no one was really around, most of my time was spent with my family,” says Nowick.

Her girlhood dream of becoming an English teacher faded and she went off to work in the Suffolk County Court System. After two decades in the courts, Lynne ran a successful campaign for Smithtown Receiver of Taxes. She served the people of Smithtown in that capacity for six* years before successfully running for a seat on the Suffolk County Legislature in the 13th Legislative District (LD).“It was a whole new ballpark, I had to learn about sewers, the Department of Health, maintaining county roads and getting grants for the police and sheriff departments,” she said.

For the last twelve years, Nowick has enjoyed her seat representing the people in the 13th LD which includes most areas north of Rte. 25 (Middle Country Rd) in Smithtown and parts of  Huntington in Commack and E. Northport. She tells Smithtown Matters that the scope of the role of County Legislator is complex. It includes owning and operating a jail, consumer protection, overseeing a college and the county budget. “It was an eye opener and I had to learn it all, and learn it I did,” she added.

Known for bringing music to Smithtown with her Family Concert Summer Series, she has also advocated for land preservation and young people.   Sitting on three legislative committees, (Economic Development & Energy, Parks and Recreation and Ways and Means), she has sponsored and co-sponsored pieces of legislation that affect the lives of Smithtown residents.   

 “My favorite piece of legislation was preventing the sale of cough syrup (dextromethorphan or DXM) to minors. The Suffolk County Legislature was the first county in the nation to pass this legislation,” shared Nowick. The abuse of DXM is known as “Skittling” and “Robotrippling” and it was an wide-spread problem with teens in Suffolk and around the country before the legislation came to fruition.   According to KidsHealth.org, a national non-profit that works to ensure the health and development of the nation’s children, taking mass quantities of products containing DXM can cause hallucinations, loss of motor control, blurred vision, paranoia, slurred speech, vomiting, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, seizures, brain damage, and even death. She says when she became aware of this societal problem she sprang into action: however, the first piece of legislation was not supported in the legislature, so she continued to educate her peers until it eventually passed.

“I also co-sponsored the legislation calling for the formation of Suffolk County Opiate Heroin Advisory Panel; they showed up, they worked hard and they cared,” she added. Known to many in the field of addiction as the addiction-prevention dream team, the panel met many times and came up with dozens of recommendations to address the county’s youth opiate and heroin epidemic. 

Nowick’s legislation falls into many categories:  Consumer Affairs, Economic Development, Land Preservation, Public Safety and Real Property Taxes.  After Hurricane Sandy she worked with Nassau County Legislators and Chambers of Commerces appealing to Senators Schumer and Gilibrand to obtain grants for small businesses.“If a local pizza place is closed for two weeks due to no power, they lose two big Friday night’s worth of business, that’s a mortgage payment for these people,” she lamented.

Nowick has helped to secure funding for sewer studies to advance downtown revitalization.  She often works closely with her Smithtown counterpart, Republican Minority Leader John Kennedy.   They recently gave a presentation about sewers to the Kings Park Civic Association.

As her last term on the Suffolk County Legislature winds down, what’s on the agenda for this life-long resident of Smithtown?  Nowick tells Smithtown Matters that she would like to round out her political career on the Smithtown Town Board as a Councilwoman. “I want to sit in the seat that my father sat in for twenty-four years,” she explained. Her father’s path to Town Hall might sound unusual today, the late Eugene Cannataro went from St. James farmer to Smithtown Councilman, however, Nowick said “back then many farmers did go into politics.”

The recipient of many awards and accolades, Nowick speaks of none of them, however, she does share many sweet stories of her constituents and of raising two daughters in St. James while she pursued politics.  She encourages woman who have a dream of being involved to pursue politics because it’s enormously gratifying.

Nowick has run cell phone drives to help domestic abuse victims, coat drives for the homeless and Sandy victims. She recently ran a pet drive for constituents affected by the recession to help feed their animals and keep their beloved pets.

“I want to do what’s right for the people of Smithtown and bring the town into the 21^st century while maintaining the nice quality of life we have,” she said. To do this Nowick will run a primary against two incumbent Councilmen McCarthy and Malloy.  She says there are more people who need help and she plans on winning that primary.  

*The article incorrectly stated the amount of time Lynne Nowick was Smithtown Receiver of Taxes.  The  article has been amended to reflect that she served six years.