Paul Fizzuoglio Sr. of Riverhead died Nov. 26, 2019 at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care. He was 83 years old.
Born in Brooklyn on May 23, 1936, he was the son of Vincent and Nellie (Farro) Fizzuoglio.
A proud veteran, he served in the U.S. Air Force in the Korean War. He had a career in the aerospace industry.
He is survived by his children: Paul, Kerrie Lorandini, Rita Salgado, Cynthia Garcia, Wayne and Mark.
Visitation will take place on Sunday, Dec, 8 from 1 to 3 p.m. at Tuthill-Mangano Funeral Home, where a service will be conducted at 2 p.m. by Deacon Frank Barone and military honors by the U.S. Air Force.
Anelia (“Nellie”) Kobylenski of Riverhead died at her home on Dec. 2, 2019. She was 95 years old.
Born May 31, 1924 in Southampton, she was the daughter of Waclaw and Josephine (Lewandowska) Stachecki.
She was a homemaker who took great pride and joy in her family and her home, making everything beautiful. She had great respect for and appreciation of her Polish heritage.
She was a communicant at St. Isidore Roman Catholic Church, where she was a member of the Altar Rosary Society.
Predeceased by her husband Leonard in 2010 and by her daughter-in-law, Cynthia, she is survived by her son Len Jr. and his fiancé Grace of Montana, her daughter Joann and her husband Rick Vollmer of New Hampshire; her grandchildren, Emmylou, Hanna, Basia and Lenny III; her great-grandchildren, Jack, Zosia and Leo IV; and by her brother Joseph Stachecki of Maryland.
The family will receive visitors on Friday, Dec. 6 from 2 to 6 p.m. at McLaughlin Heppner Funeral Home in Riverhead. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 10 a.m. at St. Isidore R.C. Church in Riverhead. Interment will follow at St. Isidore Cemetery.
Memorial donations may be made to St. Isidore R.C. Church, 622 Pulaski St., Riverhead, NY 11901.
A Long Island-based organization dedicated to assisting people with autism and their families is $4,000 richer tonight, thanks to the creative culinary efforts of six Riverhead volunteer firefighters.
Yes, culinary efforts.
The six-man team won the Famous Food Festival “Battle of the Badges” cook-off in October, defeating a team from the Suffolk County Police Department.
The contest, in the style of TV competitions like “Chopped,” required competitors to prepare a three-course meal and a cocktail with ingredients provided in a “mystery basket.”
Riverhead Fire Department’s chefs created a pizza appetizer, a fish and duck entree with Brussels sprouts and mushrooms, and a dessert of Crème anglaise with a chocolate sauce.
Team captain Frank Greenwood is a Suffolk County Community College Culinary Institute graduate and worked in high-end restaurants on the East End. Team member Franklin Dominguez is also a graduate of the Riverhead culinary school and currently works as a sous chef at a Bridgehampton country club. Mixologist Lane Bubka has 20 years bartending experience.
So, maybe the Riverhead team had a bit of an edge on the competition.
RFD winning chefs, from left: Kenneth Nabrezny, Franklin Dominguez, Frank Greenwood, Lane Bubka and Kevin Kosciuszko. Courtesy photo.
The team decided to donate the $4,000 top prize to Autism Speaks. Two team members have young relatives on the autism spectrum.
“We know how difficult it is,” said Greenwood, who has a family member affected by the disorder. “These families need support.”
Autism Speaks advocates for and supports people with autism and their families. The group works to educate the public to increase understanding and acceptance of people with autism, and to advance research into the causes of autism and the development of better interventions for autism spectrum disorder and related conditions.
Autism Speaks provides grants to families coping with autism, said Eddie Russo, manager/field development for the organization.
“People may not realize the challenges families face, or how expensive it can be to procure the assistance needed for children and youth affected by the disorder,” said team member Baycan Fideli, who also has a family member on the autism spectrum.
The Riverhead Fire Department team defeated a Manorville Fire Department team in round one of the competition in August. Their winning menu consisted of a pizza appetizer, hangar steak with mushroom cream sauce, and mango strawberry sorbet and chocolate mousse with caramel sauce.
The Suffolk County Police Department team defeated the FDNY “Famous Meatballers” team in July and went on to face the Riverhead Fire Department Team in October.
The cook-off competitions were judged by professional chefs.
Riverhead Police are looking for two suspects wanted in connection with three daytime residential burglaries in Riverhead yesterday.
Homeowners on Joyce Drive, Merritts Pond Road and Ackerly Street reported burglaries at their unoccupied residences yesterday, police said in a press release early this morning.
Burglars removed jewelry and assorted items from each of the residences, police said. They entered two of the homes through unlocked rear sliding glass doors and forcibly entered a side door at the third residence, police said.
A surveillance camera at a residence near the burglarized home on Joyce Drive captured images of an unknown man and woman walking in the area at approximately 11:30 a.m. yesterday.
A resident near the burglarized home on Merritts Pond Road told police that at approximately 1:30 p.m. yesterday, a man and a woman knocked on their door and told the homeowner they were looking for a lost dog. The description of those individuals appeared to fit the people captured on surveillance camera images on Joyce Drive, police said.
Police said the female suspect is described as approximately 30 years old, white or light-skinned Hispanic, wearing blue jeans, black sneakers, a pullover dark-colored hooded sweatshirt, a light-colored knit hat, light-colored gloves and a light-colored scarf which was covering her face.
Police said the male suspect is described as white or light- skinned Hispanic in his 20s, wearing blue jeans, tan boots, a black zip-up hooded sweatshirt, a dark-colored hat, dark-colored gloves and a dark-colored scarf which also was covering his face.
Riverhead police are asking anyone with information regarding the matter contact the police department at 631-727-4500 ext. 633.
Residents should take measures to secure their homes, communicate with neighbors and contact police about any suspicious activity, police said.
Dr. Jesse Robinson Goodale III, lovingly known as “Bobby,” passed away Nov. 28, 2019 on Thanksgiving morning, at the age of 72.
Bobby was born to Jesse Robinson Goodale II and Mary Kase Lupton on Dec. 15, 1946. He was the third of five children and the eldest son. If you asked Bobby’s mother, “How did he get the nickname Bobby?” She would say, “It’s from his middle name, Robinson. It’s our family term of endearment!”
Bobby, a brilliant lifetime scholar, was the product of local public schools who graduated at the top of his class at Riverhead High School . He then attended Columbia University, where he would spend the next 30 years learning and eventually teaching.
After earning his B.A., M.A. and two Ph.Ds from Columbia University in political science and philosophy, Bobby went on to become a professor at some of the country’s most prestigious universities, including Columbia University, Texas A&I University, Barnard College, and Iowa State University.
He then returned to his hometown to work in his family business at Riverhead Building Supply. Years later when he met his wife Dhonna Goodale, Bobby realized, with his wife’s strong encouragement, that teaching was his true calling. She then suggested that he return to teaching college again and so in his later life, Bobby happily became an adjunct professor at Suffolk County Community College.
Bobby and his family are best known for founding of Riverhead Building Supply Corporation where he served as vice-president. He also served as chief financial officer of Goodale Productions.
Bobby truly epitomized community service. He served passionately on numerous boards, including serving as the chairman of United Way of Long Island’s East End Campaign Cabinet, Roberta Flack’s Charter School of Music, Riverhead Development Corporation, vice chairman of the Suffolk County Community College Foundation, chairman of the East End Health Alliance,. He served as chairman of the board of directors of Peconic Bay Medical Center and Peconic Bay Medical Center Foundation board for a total of 20 years. He also served as vice chairman, treasurer and secretary of the hospital’s board of directors. He served as chairman of the boards of the Eastern Suffolk School of Music and the East End Arts Council and was a past president of the Riverhead Chamber of Commerce. He was also a past chairman of the Suffolk County Planning Commission.
Bobby was also a preacher and deacon and supported his spiritual community by sitting on several boards at the Old Steeple Church. Folks always noted what a great singer he was in and out of the church.
Bobby and his wife Dhonna were part of the exchange student program with the Riverhead Rotary and other exchange programs. They have two adopted exchange student sons, an older son from Transylvania, Romania, Marius Garbor, who they have visited with annually, and also a son from Vietnam named Hein Nguyen.
Together, Bobby and Dhonna, created the Tara L. Stevens Memorial Scholarship and Domestic Violence Foundation. Over the years Bobby and Dhonna have created numerous Christmas programs for children in need.
Bobby met his wife Dhonna in 1995 and soon fell in love. They married Aug. 30, 1996. To this union, two sons were born: Jesse Robinson Goodale, IV (J.R.) in 1998 and Jared Wade-Douglas Goodale (J) in 2000. Jesse is now a senior at the University of Pennsylvania and Jared is now a senior at Full Sail University. The love Bobby and Dhonna shared over a lifetime is reflected in their renewal of vows four times over the course of their marriage, and they suggest everyone do that to rejuvenate their marriage. Bobby was a devoted father and excellent educator to his sons. He will always be the best friend and most loving husband his wife could ever ask God for.
He is survived by his wife Dhonna; sons, Jesse and Jared; godsons Gregory (Jackie) Goodale and Yosuef Goulbourne; adopted sons D.J. Kenter, Curtis Flippen, Andrew Messiah, Xander Shirley; best friends, Matt Heavy and Eugene Barrow; siblings and their partners, Russell, Edgar, Dianne, Carol, Cathy, Nancy, Ronan, and Bill; his aunt, Gene Goodale; as well as an abundance of nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, nieces-in- law, nephews-in-law, cousins, friends, students, and a community that will always love and respect him and the legacy that lives on in his name. He is predeceased by his godson Keith Goodale and his sister-in-law Cathy Goodale.
A wake will be held on Saturday, Dec. 7 from 3:30 to 9 p.m. at Living Water Full Gospel Church, 24 Shade tree Lane, Aquebogue.
A funeral service will take place on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. at Old Steeple Community Church, 656 Route 25, Aquebogue. Interment will follow at Aquebogue Cemetery.
Repast on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 4 p.m. at Giorgio’s Caterers, 100 Fox Hill Drive, Baiting Hollow.
Arrangements are entrusted to the care of Tuthill-Mangano Funeral Home, 406 East Main Street, Riverhead.
The town’s application for Community Development Block Grant funding is usually a routine and uncontroversial process. The town board holds a public hearing, community nonprofit groups make their pitches for a slice of the grant pie and the town board adopts a resolution authorizing the grant application naming the community groups to be funded and the amount of the funding to be distributed to each group.
Not this year.
A battle broke out over which groups should be funded and how the decision gets made.
The town board work session last Thursday grew heated as board members debated which charitable causes would receive money from the grant and employees of the community development department got into the fray.
The discussion grew tense at the Nov. 27 work session, with community development director Dawn Thomas and her staff at odds with Supervisor Laura Jens-Smith over the CDBG resolution. Photo: Denise Civiletti
Community development director Dawn Thomas submitted a draft resolution to the board on Oct. 22 with recommendations for seven local non-profit groups to receive $8,000 each.
The organizations on the CDA’s list for the application included Bread and More Soup Kitchen, Open Arms Care Center Food Pantry, Riverhead Community Awareness Program, Catholic Home Care (formerly Dominican Sisters), Maureen’s Haven, Butterfly Effect Project, and — a new entry —The Retreat. The application also includes the town’s home improvement program and parking and pedestrian improvements to receive $100,000 each. The application would seek total funding of $256,000 from the county, which administers the federal CDBG program.
But the resolution on last week’s work session agenda had an additional organization tacked on: the Church of the Harvest food pantry. Gwen Mack, who runs the food pantry there attended the Oct. 16 public hearing and requested CBDG funding for the first time.
Thomas and her office’s two staff members objected to the addition.
Thomas explained that CDBG guidelines allow for 15% of funding to go to public service groups (local non-profit organizations). This year’s application had the seven non-profits receive over the guideline. In the past the county sometimes accepted applications for over the guideline, but it is not a guarantee.
If all eight organization, including Church of the Harvest, were put on the application at $8,000 each, the funding would be way over the guideline and increase the likelihood of the application getting partially or entirely denied,Thomas said.
Thomas wanted to know where the change came from. She said the change wasn’t discussed with her and also said that her email address had been removed from the workflow in the town’s computer system, so that she didn’t have access to the revised document.
Councilman James Wooten reacts to the protracted argument at the Nov. 27 work session. Photo: Denise Civiletti
Board members discussed adding Church of the Harvest food pantry and reducing each of the proposed grants by $1,000, to $7,000 apiece.
That could backfire, Thomas told the board.
“What was explained to us is that if there were duplicative agencies that are providing the same service to the public, that the chances are the county would strike one of those agencies,” Thomas told board members. “One might get it, and the other might not.”
Church of the Harvest located on Raynor Avenue in Riverhead would be the second food pantry on the CBDG application, which already has Open Arms Care Center Food Pantry, which operates out of First Baptist Church on Northville Turnpike, that has been awarded CDBG money in previous years. That may cause the county to remove one of the food pantries — but funding for the rest of the groups would remain at the reduced level of $7,000 each.
By the end of the Town Board work session, board members agreed with the CDA recommendations of seven organizations at $8,000.
But at Tuesday’s regular town board meeting, members of the public asked the board to reconsider adding Church of the Harvest to the application before ratifying it. The application deadline was actually Dec. 1 and it had already been sent in, as per the board’s agreement last Thursday.
Mack, the food pantry’s manager pleaded with the board to reconsider.
“I’m very passionate about what I do. Right now, we have about quadrupled the people that we had from when I started,” Mack said. “We also deliver to about eight to 15 families twice a month. I also open my food pantry twice a month at night for people who can’t make it during the day because all these jobs are cutting hours and people can’t afford to eat anymore. I’m asking to please reconsider our grant,” she said.
Church of the Harvest Pastor Matt Troiano asked the Town Board on Dec. 3 to include the church food pantry in the town’s request for Community Development Block Grant funding. Photo: Julia-Anna Searson
“We would respectfully ask that you reconsider our request,” Church of the Harvest pastor Mike Troiano said. “There are some differences in the way we run our food pantry. We do deliveries, we do get in to see many shut-ins or people that unable to get to our place.”
Civic activist Angela DeVito of South Jamesport told the board to “take the chance” and include the second food pantry, suggesting the town explain how the two organizations provide different services.
The board ultimately decided ratify the application as is, without the addition of Church of the Harvest. It was a 4-1 vote.
Councilwoman Catherine Kent cast the sole dissenting vote.
“I appreciate the work that the CDA does,” said Kent. “I would’ve like for us as a board to have had more time for discussions so that we could have possibly included Church of the Harvest.”
Council members in favor of the resolution said the decision was difficult, but noted the application prepared by the CDA is the one most likely to be accepted by the county.
“I don’t think anybody up here wants to exclude anybody that applied for this but as Angela DeVito mentioned she is willing to take the chance, I’m not,” Councilman Tim Hubbard said. “I don’t want somebody possibly bumped out and the other people being cut the thousand dollars off their budget.”
“I am going to support the recommendations of the CDA,” Councilwoman Jodi Giglio said, “but I will be writing a check for Church of the Harvest for all the work that you do.”
Supervisor Laura Jens-Smith noted the difficult timeline for the CDBG application process.
“I’m glad that the board realizes that there is a very tight timeline with this from when it gets the 30-day public comment period to when the town can do this,” Jens-Smith said. “I think maybe coming up with some sort of criteria beforehand” would help make the process more efficient, she said.
In an interview yesterday, Thomas said she has a meeting scheduled with Mack. They will discuss other avenues to find funding for the Church of the Harvest food pantry, she said.
“I have a couple of ideas but before I decide which one maybe best, I want to sit with her and talk to her about the things she is doing,” Thomas said. “One resource might be better than another.”
The NAACP Eastern Long Island Branch has a new president: Lawrence Street of Riverhead was elected to the post Nov. 23, succeeding longtime president Lucius Ware.
Street, 65, will be installed as president in January. He is currently board treasurer.
Ware, who decided to step down from the president’s post, will remain on the organization’s executive board as its first vice president, Street said.
Bernice Brown of Aquebogue will succeed Street as treasurer.
The Eastern Long Island Branch is a chapter of the national organization, which was established in 1909 to advance justice for African Americans.
“I’m excited about It,” Street said in a phone interview yesterday. “There’s a lot I want to do to take it to another level.”
He plans to embark on a membership drive to expand the organization’s base. The Eastern Long Island Branch takes in the five East End towns and Street believes its membership can be boosted significantly.
“We will work to fulfill the mission of the NAACP on the East End — to be an advocate for equality in jobs, education, health care and the criminal justice system and protecting voting rights,” Street said.
He said he wants to focus on institutional racism in particular and “making sure there’s some color in town government.”
Street, a Riverhead native, who lived for some years in the U.S. Virgin Islands, is an educator and activist. He is a member of the Riverhead Town Anti-Bias Task Force, the East End Voters Coalition and Erase Racism.
“I want to get the younger generation involved, including teens, to educate them about what the organization stands for and what we do,” Street said.
The NAACP is the nation’s largest and most widely recognized civil rights organization. It has more than a half-million members and supporters internationally. NAACP members advocate for civil rights in their communities, leading grassroots campaigns for equal opportunity and conducting voter mobilization, according to the organization’s website.
The Eastern Long Island Branch meets on the third Saturday of every month, he said.
“I’d like to bring the meetings back to Riverhead,” Street said. “It’s more centrally located.” The meetings have been held in Southampton in recent years, he said.
Correction: This story originally misstated the office currently held by Lawrence Street and being assumed by Bernice Brown in January. She will be installed as treasurer, not secretary, of the NAACP Eastern Long Island Branch.
The Riverhead High School chamber choir performed at the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall Tuesday night.
The choir, directed by Dena Marie Tishim, was given this opportunity after the Reverend Mary Cooper of the House of Praise in Riverhead secured them a spot in the show and offered to pay a portion of their performance fee.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these students to perform in the historic venue where the Tony Awards are held annually,” Tishim said.
Prior to the performance, the students enjoyed each other’s company while dining at Ellen’s Stardust Diner, whose wait staff consists of Broadway and off-Broadway star hopefuls. They also watched as Riverhead’s own All-State percussionist William Green perform on tambourine alongside the waiters and waitresses.
Upcoming performances by the Riverhead High School chamber choir will be held Dec. 13, at 6 p.m., at the Jamesport Meeting House “Carols and Cookies” event, and Dec. 15, at 6 p.m., at the First Baptist Church’s “A Gift to the Community” event.
Photo caption: Riverhead High School’s elite chamber choir performed at Radio City Music Hall on Dec. 3.
Plans have been filed for retail stores and a 152-seat fast-food restaurant on the corner of Route 58 and Mill Road.
The roughly seven-acre parcel is one of the last undeveloped corner sites along Riverhead’s busy commercial corridor. It is owned by the L.I. Cauliflower Association and was once used for produce and farm machinery auctions.
The L.I. Cauliflower Association is proposing to develop a 45,487-square-foot retail center on the site, planning aide Greg Bergman reported to the Planning Board at last night’s meeting.
Auction day at the old cauliflower block. Image by Louis Dormand on a 1950s-era Dexter Press postcard.
Developer and builder Richard Israel said the LICA hired his company to bring the project to market. Israel said the fast-food tenant has not yet been secured.
The site plan before the board, depicting three retail buildings and a fast-food restaurant, will be revised to show two retail buildings and the restaurant, Bergman said. The overall development will not be reduced in the reconfiguration, he said, so the board could move ahead with commencing review of the application under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA).
The proposed action is a Type 1 action under SEQRA, requiring mandatory coordinated review, Bergman told board members. The planning board last night passed a resolution to seek lead agency in the review of the site plan application and circulate the request to involved agencies.
The development will have potential traffic, noise, sewer and water district impacts that will require analysis, Bergman said, noting that the site abuts a manufactured home park on the north. The property to the west is an office park.
The site is in the Business Center zoning use district, a commercial district that allows retail, restaurant, banks and other commercial uses as of right. Any restaurant drive-thru use would require a special permit of the town board.
A traffic impact study will be required, he said. The plan shows two entrances/exits from the site on Mill Road, where the site has 1,100 feet of frontage. The plan also shows one entrance and right-turn-only exit on Route 58.
“Traffic around there is going to be unbelievable,” planning board member Joe Baier said. “It’s bad enough now.”
Riverhead Town residents can look forward to numerous renovations and additions to their local parks and community centers.
Two resolutions passed by Riverhead Town Board this week authorized spending of $325,000 on renovations of eight outdoor recreation areas. The funding comes from the community benefit agreement the town signed with sPower for the Riverhead Solar I facility.
The projects were selected by the town board with input from the recreation advisory committee, open space committee, the recreation superintendent and town parks and recreation staff, taking into account public comments and requests.
The improvements include new water systems for dog parks, upgraded playground equipment and hiking trails.
Veterans Memorial Park on Route 25 in Calverton. File photo: Denise Civiletti
One particular group was kept in mind during decisions for improvements to the parks: pickleball players.
“Pickleball is the most popular sport we have in the town, believe it or not,” Riverhead parks and recreation superintendent Ray Coyne said. “We have a numerous amount of participants and honestly we’ve run out of room to put them. They have asked so many times for their own courts. This is the logical thing to do.”
The courts aren’t being constructed just yet, but Coyne hopes to see the courts installed and ready as early as March or April of 2020.
“We are excited to do this for pickleball players. There are so many of them,” said Coyne. “They’re great people. They’re passionate. We really wanted to help them out. Getting this money and being able to do it for them is a homerun. ”
Coyne says the rennovations aren’t only for current pickle-ball players, but everyone in the community.
“It is really played by seniors, but it can be played by anybody. It is starting to be played by students in elementary schools across the country. We firmly believe that once people see the others playing, they’re gonna wanna play. The population as a whole will benefit from it.”
Full list of renovations by park: Bayberry Park aka Police Officers Memorial Park– improvements to playground including purchase of playground equipment and installation, improvements to fencing, placement of wood chips. George Young Community Center– improvements to playground including purchase of playground equipment and installation, improvements to fencing, placement of wood chips. Sharper’s Hill Property– addition of hamlet park, parking area, addition of walking trail, addition of handicap accessible walking trail, installation of kiosks and benches Sound Avenue Nature Preserve– park improvements and preservation South Jamesport Beach– resurfacing of pickelball/tennis courts Stotzky Park– addition of water for dog park, resurfacing of pickleball courts/skate park Veterans Memorial Park aka EPCAL Park– addition of water system for dog park, installation of at least two permanent pickle-ball courts with fencing and netting. Weeping Willow Park– park improvements and preservation
“Riverhead’s parks and open spaces have been neglected for too long,” Supervisor Laura Jens-Smith said. “Residents have been calling for these changes for years now, as they’ve seen their recreation areas ignored due to lack of funding. New pickleball courts, playgrounds, walking trails, and improvements to our dog parks are being funded to answer those calls and meet the needs of our hamlets.”
Santa Claus arrived in Jamesport this week, hosted by the Jamesport Fire Department.
Santa rode into town Wednesday evening on a Jamesport Fire Department engine and lit the Christmas trees outside the George Young Community Center, where children from Aquebogue Elementary School sang carols. Then Santa visited with his young fans inside the community center.
Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps is conducting its third annual toy drive to collect presents for kids at Northwell Health’s Cohen Children’s Hospital.
The ambulance corps started the toy drive in 2017 as a way to say thank you to Northwell Health for its support of the ambulance corps and the services the health system has brought to the local community.
The toy drive continues today from 12 to 4 p.m. at RVAC headquarters, 1111 Osborn Avenue, Riverhead.
Donations of new, unwrapped toys are appreciated, said RVAC’s Zilnicki-Ceckowski. “Come meet your local volunteers and enjoy some hot chocolate with us.”
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around our house. It was an especially long and beautiful fall, but we are ready for some yuletide cheer.
We celebrate Advent as a means of preparing for Christmas. Advent is a season of spiritual preparation which focuses on waiting with expectation for the birth of Christ. It’s a good way to slow down the season of frenzy and give ourselves some time to reflect and prepare for Christmas.
Many families wait to decorate till closer to Christmas as a means to keep the Advent waiting alive in their hearts. Growing up, we didn’t decorate the tree until my birthday on December 19th. Having a birthday the week before Christmas made the holiday season extra bright. My mother told me that she and my six older siblings used to set up our tree on Christmas Eve before I was born. But when I was born, that tradition changed. My Dad and brothers and sisters set up the tree in time for our homecoming from the hospital. I can only imagine the joy they all felt bringing a new baby into the home for Christmas. I’m glad it was me!
In our family, we decorate slowly but we start the day after Thanksgiving because it takes a while to get it all done! This year it was too hard to wait since Thanksgiving was so late. We used the beautiful fall weather to decorate outside in “Jo’s Cottage.” We turned those lights on a few weeks before Thanksgiving. My daughter Johanna and I were so excited by the early snowfall against the bright white twinkles in our backyard.
Our Advent wait also started early as we are renovating our home to make it more accessible for Johanna. We need to accommodate for the changes in her mobility after this most recent decline in her motor and cognitive abilities. I’ve had no washer or dryer for the past six weeks as we needed to move the appliances to make room for a roll-in shower in the bathroom and build a laundry room in the garage. It’s a work in progress and it’s hard to wait.
As we wait (and the laundry piles up from time to time) we’ve been keeping Jo busy with her artwork and with building a gingerbread house for a competition that benefits a local nonprofit. Johanna now has her own “Jo’s Cottage” store online where you can purchase her artwork printed on notecards. You can purchase a pack here. All the proceeds go towards helping us with the renovation.
As we prepare to fill the orders, a 10-foot evergreen is sitting undecorated in our living room. This weekend we’ll hang the lights and by the third Sunday of Advent next week, the house will be decorated for Christmas.
I think sometimes we confuse waiting with being passive — not taking any actions because we need another component to finish a task. The dictionary definition of waiting is a noun: “the action of staying where one is or delaying action until a particular time or until something else happens.” But there’s always the transitive verb form, wait — “to stay in place in expectation of — which is full of possibilities.
The longest Advent of my life happened when Johanna was just six years old. She had suffered a near-fatal bleed in the basilar artery in the brain and was placed in a drug-induced coma to give her brain time to heal. The bleed happened in the operating room during an emergency surgery the day after Thanksgiving.
My husband and older three kids were in Illinois with family while Johanna and I were in the PICU at home. It was the first time we were separated for major surgery. But I asked my husband to please stay with the kids so they wouldn’t have to spend another holiday in the hospital.
I prayed in the waiting room with some friends who had come to offer support while Jo was in surgery. But at a certain point, I asked for quiet to pray. While waiting, I felt a powerful sense of God’s presence and heard the Lord tell me there was a life-altering event happening in that operating room. I knew Johanna’s life was in danger. As I prayed, I envisioned the surgeon’s hands as I prayed for him even more than Jo.
When the surgeon emerged into the waiting room he confirmed my sense in prayer as he told me there was a “catastrophic event” in the operating room, but miraculously Johanna survived the bleed. I broke down sobbing in our conversation but ended taking his hands in mine and leading us together in prayer.
I remember thanking God for saving Jo and for guiding this surgeon’s hands which I now held in my own and for asking for the grace to wait for the restoration and healing to come.
The waiting happened as the hiss and hum and beeps of the respirator controlled my daughter’s breathing and kept her brain at rest. Every breath was calculated even as other leads attached to Jo’s head registered that her brain was asleep in her own Advent wait.
When my children returned, they greeted their little sister with hopeful exclamations telling Jo stories of the holiday celebrations awaiting her as they bravely held her death-cold little hand. I will never forget the image of my teenage son pressing his lips close to Jo’s ear as he sang her a sweet lullaby.
We set up a little Christmas tree and a manger on the hospital ledge. A large stuffed Pooh bear and Tigger laid in wait at Jo’s feet during the day. They served as my comfort pillows at night, taking away some of the aches I felt to hold my baby in my arms.
It was a long wait that Advent but it was not at all passive. As we waited for Jo’s brain to heal, we still had to battle swelling and seizures in the brain. She needed more brain surgery even while she was in the coma because the bleeding in her brain was clotting the drains and causing more pressure on her brain. Then she developed an aneurysm that needed to be coiled.
As we waited with expectation, we fought to save Jo’s life.
And so, that Advent taught me: God is in the waiting.
The Lord was more real and present to me in the PICU than in any church. He was giving us the strength to hope and the courage to fight for what we did not see.
God is in all our Advent waiting and draws us closer to His heart even as we wait for the Lord to come.
“Take courage my heart Stay steadfast my soul He's in the waiting He's in the waiting Hold onto your hope As your triumph unfolds He's never failing He's never failing He’s in the waiting”
(“Take Courage” by Kristene DiMarco/ Bethel Music)
Most of us are waiting for something and the wait is hard to do — especially when we are waiting for loved ones to be healed from sickness and disease. Waiting for relationships to heal also requires patience and prayer.
But in all these, we can persevere with active faith — pursuing avenues for healing even as we wait. Recognizing that God changes our hearts and He is with us in the waiting helps us to wait with expectation for the full purpose to be revealed.
May you find God’s presence in your Advent wait. He’s there waiting for you.
Fur-family members and their humans had a chance to visit with Santa and get a free photo with the jolly old elf yesterday at Talmage Farm Agway in Riverhead yesterday.
(Updated: 7:30 a.m.) Riverhead Town Police are investigating a home invasion at the Doctors Path apartments this morning.
Four people were inside the apartment when two people knocked on their door in the middle of the night, Riverhead Police Chief David Hegermiller said. The two suspects entered the apartment and violence ensued, he said.
“We’re still trying to figure it all out,” Hegermiller said. “At this time we don’t think anyone was shot,” he said.
Three people were transported to area hospitals. A Suffolk County Police MedEvac helicopter was requested and the police chief said he believes one person was airlifted to Stony Brook.
Police were called to the scene at 641 Doctors Path shortly after 3 a.m.
Detectives are investigating, Hegermiller said.
This is a developing story. Check back for more information as it becomes available.
Geoffrey Craig Eggimann of Mattituck died at home on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019. He was 65 years old.
The family will receive visitors on Friday, Dec. 13 from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at the DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Mattituck.
The Liturgy of Christian Burial will be held on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 11 a.m. at Our Lady of Good Counsel RC Church in Mattituck, officiated by Monsignor Joseph W. Staudt.
Internment with U.S. Military honors will take place at Calverton National Cemetery.
Wading River volunteer firefighters rescued a dog trapped in a drain pipe at Great Rock Golf Course yesterday afternoon.
A man walking with his 110-pound black lab on the golf course said the dog accidentally slipped down a three-foot embankment into a half-frozen drainage pond adjacent to the 18th hole.
The startled dog inadvertently backed itself into a narrow, 18-inch wide drainage pipe that empties into the pond, according to the dog’s owner, Jim Devaney.
In its frantic attempt to get out of the water, the dog managed to back itself several feet further into the pipe, at which point the dog no longer had enough vertical clearance to use its legs for forward movement to return to the pipe’s open end, the fire department said in a press release.
Unable to free his dog, Devaney called 911.
Despite Devaney’s attempts to calm the panicked dog, Carson continued to thrash about and push himself further back into the pipe.
Wading River Fire Department volunteers — who had been escorting Santa around the community to visit with families and collect donations ood for the department’s “Stuff-A-Bus” food drive — descended on the golf course.
“With concern about the cold water the dog had fallen into and the air temperature just above freezing, Devaney and the emergency responders knew they had to act quickly. Since the lower half of the pipe was filled with water and the sound of the dog’s frantic breathing was becoming more labored and faint as the dog continued to back itself further into the pipe, a quick effort was made to ascertain the best location to dig ahead of the dog’s current position and to then cut into the pipe to free the dog,” Wading River Fire Department public information officer John Galvin wrote.
Firefighters quickly dug a hole to access the pipe about 50 feet back from the pipe’s opening, hoping the hole was at a point behind where they believed the dog was trapped.
Using a reciprocating saw, firefighters then cut and removed a section of the top of the drainage pipe — located about four feet below the surface — and were relieved to find Carson within a foot or two of the newly opened rescue hole.
Carson then backed up to the opening, where he enthusiastically met Devaney, who helped the dog up to the surface.
“Carson was evaluated on scene and found to be in good condition given his misadventure,” according to the press release.
All on-scene emergency personnel were placed back into service to rejoin the Santa escort.
Riverhead Police have released the identity of the man who was struck and killed while crossing West Main Street last Monday.
Police identified the victim as Rosario Losardo, of 629 West Main Street. Losardo was 70 years old, Chief David Hegermiller said. (Editor’s note: In a press release last week, police said the victim was 72.) The victim’s identity was initially withheld by police pending notification of his next of kin.
Losardo was crossing West Main Street from south to north in the vicinity of his residence just west of Marcy Avenue at about 5 p.m. on Dec. 2, when he was struck first by an eastbound vehicle and then by a westbound vehicle, police said. The driver of the eastbound vehicle, described by police as a small, white-colored SUV, fled the scene. The driver of the second vehicle stayed at the scene.
Police on Tuesday located the vehicle at an auto body repair shop and subsequently arrested Christopher Oborski, 45, of Center Moriches on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in a death, a class D felony.
Oborski was arraigned on Wednesday before Riverhead Town Justice Allen Smith and released on his own recognizance. He is due back in court on Jan. 27.
Editor’s note: A criminal charge is an accusation. By law, a person charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
Gerald S. Wells of East Marion died at San Simeon by the Sound nursing home on Dec. 6, 2019 at the age of 88. “Whitey” was a former longtime Cutchogue resident.
He was born in Riverhead on Nov. 9, 1931 to Irving and Lillian (Edwards) Wells and was a graduate of Mattituck High School.
During the Korean Conflict, he served in the United States Navy aboard the USS Cubera.
On Jan. 22, 1956, he married the former Betty Joan Tuthill in New Suffolk. She predeceased him on Feb. 18, 2014.
Whitey was the head custodian at Mattituck-Cutchogue School District and served his community as a member of the Cutchogue Fire Department in United Fire Co.1 and as chief of the department in 1969 and 1970 and commissioner from 1972 to 1981. He also served as president of Southold Town Fire Chiefs Council, Little league coach, Cub Scout leader, president of CSEA (Mattituck-Cutchogue School unit) and on the board of education of the East Cutchogue School District.
Surviving are his sons Gerard S. (Rod) Wells and David N. Wells; a sister Lois W. Barker; nine grandchildren: Sarah, Dan, Heather, Megan, Erica, Rachel, Kaylee, Carson and Brady and seven great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by a son Kevin E. Wells on March 6, 2019.
The family will receive friends on Wednesday, Dec. 11 from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Mattituck where the Cutchogue Fire Department will hold services at 7:30 p.m. The funeral procession will leave the funeral home on Thursday, Dec. 12 at 10 a.m. for interment at Calverton National Cemetery, where services will be conducted by Caren Heacock and members of the U.S. Navy honor guard.
Riverhead Town will hold a lottery on Wednesday at 6 p.m, for permits to hunt for deer on town-owned land during the special shotgun season on Long Island in January.
The special shotgun season runs from Jan. 5 through 31, from sunrise to sunset.
Hunters must have valid N.Y. State big game licenses and must be either residents of or property owners in the Town of Riverhead to be eligible to participate in the lottery.
The lottery, rescheduled from Dec. 4, will be held by the town’s Wildlife Management Advisory Committee in the town hall meeting room. Hunters must be in attendance in order to secure a hunting date and location.
Town-owned properties that will be open to shotgun-hunting are located at the Enterprise Park At Calverton and at 1751 Sound Avenue in Calverton.
