Smithtown's Summer Nights Program - Everybody Wins!

Smithtown’s Youth Bureau ended its “Summer Nights”  2012 program with a concert by a local band named Rendition. To earn the opportunity to play their music on closing night, Rendition had to win the Youth Bureau’s Battle of The Band competition which was held throughout the summer. 

This is the Youth Bureau’s third summer in operation at Hoyt Farm and the first year for the “Battle of the Bands” competition. The Summer Nights Program was created by Youth Bureau Director Patsy Hirschhorn with the support of the Smithtown Town Board and the help of the Departments of Public Safety and Parks. The program, which began in 2010, has grown every year with more participants and more activities for the teens to enjoy.  The goal of the program is to provide activities for people in their teens in a safe environment.  “We started with  two programs in 2010 that included basketball, volleyball, bocce and arts and crafts. In 2011 we added Karaoke and this year we added the Battle of the Bands competition.”stated Patsy Hirshhorn. 

The Summer Nights program is a cooperative effort involving town departments and also the young people who have been appointed to the Town’s Youth Board. The members of the board decided that a Battle of The Bands competition would be fun and would also provide an opportunity for local bands to showcase their work.  “The idea came from one of our teen members.  It was challenging putting it together, but we did it!  We are pleased with the response from the kids and grateful to the volunteers who chaperoned our events” stated Patsy.

The closing event drew a crowd of over 100 teens who Listened to music, played basketball and just enjoyed the evening out.  The members of Rendition couldn’t be happier with the night. All the members in Rendition are high school students (five seniors and one junior).  Three are cousins. Three attend Commack HS, two attend Saint Anthony’s HS and one attends Connetquot HS.  While they are all passionate about their music they are diverse in their interests and talent.  

Jonathan O’Kane is the lead vocalist and one of the three cousins who started the group. He will be starting his senior year at Commack HS in September.  He loves sports and music, but plans to get into business marketing as a career.

JJ Hickey is Rendition’s lead guitarist. He attends St. Anthony’s HS where he will begin his senior year in September. He has a unique ability to learn music by ear in seconds.  He plays hockey and is leaning towards a career in criminal justice or the Navy. He is also one of the three cousins and a founder of Rendition.

Gino Leocadi is the drummer and the third cousin in the group.  Gino attends Connetquot HS where he will be entering his senior year in September.  In addition to drums, Gino plays the piano which he taught himself. He also plays by ear. He plays varsity baseball at Connetquot.  He plans to pursue a career in business but continue with his music as well.

Jimmy Orsetti is a rhythm guitarist. He attends Saint Anthony and is entering his senior year. He is a “masterful ” performer who brings a lot of energy to the performances. He hope to peruse a career in aviation.

Alex Blanc is the bassist for Rendition.  He attends Commack HS where he will be a senior in September. Alex is skilled in writing music. He plans to continue with music, but hopes to have a career in medicine.

Joe Noto is the fill in bassist. Joe is not a regular in the group, but helps out when needed. He will be starting his junior year at Commack HS in September. Joe currently performs with a high school band “10 feet Under”. Joe plays many instruments including cello, guitar and drums. 

The band members reported that they had a great time participating in the competition and winning was fun too! Watching the crowd you could tell they were not the only ones who enjoyed themselves.

Creating Ripples - National Night Out

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples” Mother Teresa

Creating ripples is what the Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD) was doing when it participated in the “National Night Out Against Crime” at Target South in Commack on August 7.  National Night Out is not a single event it is a community-building campaign that spans the entire year.  The goal for the campaign is to create an atmosphere of trust and respect that will help communities to thrive.  

“National Night Out Against Crime is a wonderful opportunity for the community to meet local law enforcement officers and the specialized units that serve their neighborhoods. It also allows the public to discover various community organizations that provide much needed services and information that are particularly helpful but may otherwise be unknown”, stated the Community Liaison Officer from the Fourth Precinct.

The event, hosted by Target and the SCPD, provided an opportunity for the public to learn about organizations that provide services through the county as well as community organizations.

A few of the organizations distributing literature at the event were Suffolk County Police Explorers, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), County of Suffolk Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services, Suffolk County Auxiliary Police and the Commack Fire Department.

One young person said, “Everyone talked to me.  I liked the fire truck the best.” One seven year old said she was going to work on a big fire truck when she got older. A young boy named Jeff said ” I want to help people when I get older.”

“Creating ripples”- that is what National Night Out is about.

Randy Altschuler "Anti-Woman"? Ridiculous

Dear Editor:

I’ve been involved in politics for a long time and watched a lot of ridiculous accusations being made against one candidate or another, but Congressman Bishop’s daughter attacking Randy Altschuler as “anti-woman” last week took the cake!

As you know, an independent, non-partisan ethics group criticized Congressman Bishop recently in a scathing report for abusing his office and funneling nearly $600,000 to his daughter’s business.  Instead of addressing this legitimate criticism about this unethical business arrangement, Ms. Bishop accused Randy of being “anti-woman” for raising the Congressman’s ethics as a campaign issue.

Anti-woman?  Really?  While Randy is certainly against Members of Congress abusing their office to enrich their own family as Congressman Bishop has done, he is hardly anti-woman. 

Randy was raised by a single Mom whom he adores; is happily married to his beautiful wife and practicing pediatrician, Cheryl; and is the proud father of a precious little daughter named Sasha.  That doesn’t sound like someone who is anti-woman, does it?

Randy’s Campaign Manager (me), Deputy Manager and Finance Director are all women.  Would someone who is “anti-woman” hire women for the top three staff positions in his campaign?

The bottom line is this: A respected, non-partisan ethics group has said that it is wrong for Members of Congress to use their positions of power to enrich members of their own family.  Even Democratic Congressman Steve Israel said he would draw the line at hiring family.

Instead of trying to distract voters with nonsense, let’s hope Congressman Bishop will start explaining why 30,000 jobs have left Long Island during his time in Congress and why he’s been named one of the worst ethics abusers in Washington.

Sincerely,

Diana Weir

Campaign Manager – Altschuler for Congress

"Do Widenia" Father Midura

Rev. Msgr Francis Midura will be deeply missed by many: as Pastor of St. Thomas More Church of Hauppauge, as former Pastor of St Joseph’s Church of Ronkonkoma and Our Lady of Hope Church of Carle Place, to name a few churches he has been part of; as Chaplain of Hauppauge Fire Department; as Army Colonel and Desert Storm Veteran; and the many people he came in contact with at all levels of the Diocese, government, school, and the community.

Father Midura made a difference to all that he met. Here are some words that came to mind to describe him: dedicated, funny, approachable, good listener, proud, patriotic, involved and engaging.

He was always there when you needed him, he loved his brimmed “Indiana Jones type” hat, he gave high fives and fists to children and many adults, and kept to traditions and his ethnic background of being Polish. The Borowski Family connected to him as our pastor and friend. My father and him enjoyed speaking Polish to each other and he had a unique way to bring spirit and humor to everything he did.

Father Midura will be deeply missed. Rest in peace and thank you for making a difference in many lives, including mine.

“Do Widenia” Father Midura.

(Meaning goodbye in Polish)

Paul Borowski

AUG. 1, 2012 THE DAY RELIGIOUS FREEDOM DIED

AUG. 1, 2012 -THE DAY RELIGIOUS FREEDOM DIED

And so America’s Freedom of Religion ends…not with a bang, but with a whimper  Our first amendment Religious Liberty has been broached but not with blood in the streets, troops tearing religious symbols from churches and citizens murdered for their faith as was done in England, France, Germany and most recently in Egypt.

This unprecedented, unconstitutional denial of the right of Americans to practice their conscience in their community came with the Aug 1^st, 2012, imposition of the new healthcare law’s HHS mandate which imposes this administration’s ideology over the conscience rights of all Americans.

As of Aug 1, all private employers must bend to this administration’s dictate to provide contraception, sterilization and abortion inducing drugs as part of their employees’ insurance. The religious beliefs of those employers are grievously denied in a way not imagined in the 220 years our 1^st amendment has protected Freedom of Religion.

The deception that this is necessary to the health of women is a thinly veiled distraction.  Americans know that contraception and abortion is readily available at free clinics all over the country or for a few dollars from a local provider.

If this crime against our right of conscience is allowed to stand, which religious principle will be the next to fall to satisfy the ambitions of powerful politicians?  On Aug.1, 2013, will our Catholic schools, hospitals and charities close their doors to avoid violating the consciences of all Catholics involved? Or, will Americans reclaim their Religious Liberty and vote out any politician who supported this new healthcare law with its HHS mandate telling us how much of our faith we are allowed to practice?  Very soon, on Nov. 6, we will know.

by Barbara Samuells     

Catholics for Freedom of Religion