Editor’s Note: Lou Sanders, who has his journalism degree from NYU, and his late wife, Grace, a graduate of Adelphi, founded the Mineola American in 1952, giving the village its first successful newspaper. Lou and Grace lived in Mineola for 60 years, and his popular column is a signature feature of this paper.
Our former neighbor from Beebe Road, Sean Burke, came to visit me at the Maria Regina Residence. We talked for a long time about the Mets and Yankees as well as football (Sean is a Denver Broncos fan), and exchanged lots of stories and jokes about the Old Sod (Sean’s parents were both born in Ireland). Sean reports that his son, Ryan, has decided to go to high school at Bishop Kellenberg, where he is currently in the Latin School. Ryan says, “Why go anywhere else when the education here is so excellent?” Sean’s wife, Donna, was in Florida visiting a sick aunt.
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Dan Flynn and his son, Tom, are enjoying the homilies of Fr. Malcolm Burns at Corpus Christi Church. Dan, who lives on Kenilworth Avenue, is retired, having spent 25 years in the emergency services unit of the NY Police Department.
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Barbara VanHoff is a graduate of Mineola High School. Eighteen years ago, she moved to Florida and receives the Mineola American there. She loves to follow what is happening in Mineola and asked me to let you know that she wishes everyone well.
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Karen Mulqueen came to visit me. She is the former Karen Weismantel who was once a lifeguard at the John DaVanzo Community Pool. Her daughter, Megan, lives in Tipperary, Ireland.
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Bill Greene, owner of Tsontos Furs, was hoping for a much colder winter. This one was much too moderate for him. Bill is a former president of the Mineola Chamber of Commerce. He recently built a beautiful new store on Jericho Turnpike with its own vault.
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Jim Howard is recovering from a sprained rotator cuff, an injury he suffered during a recent fall. Jim and Maureen are longtime residents of Primrose Road.
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Terry and Frank Hettinger have lived on Walker Road for the past 39 years.
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Marge Hoggarty of Latham Road is looking forward to being able to drive again. She has been walking with a cane for the last few months and goes to therapy three times a week, following a recent mishap.
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It was good to see Rep. Kathleen Rice, our local congresswoman, on CNN. Before Ms. Rice became a member of Congress, she was the district attorney of Nassau County. One of her assistant DAs was William Dempsey, whose mother, Fran, still resides on Latham Road.
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The Sisters of St. Joseph hosted a workshop given by Jobs for Justice about the accompaniment of our undocumented neighbors, as well as on the sanctuary movement.
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The Cuttin’ Club in Williston Park has a new hair color product which produces very shiny, effective conditioning properties and is good at covering gray. All their customers seem to like it, according to owner Laura, and her staff.
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Judge Scott Fairgrieve is going to be speaking at the Wheatley High School on the dangers of drunk driving and on fake IDs. He is going to talk about driving beyond the speed limit and the terrible heroin epidemic sweeping the country. Accompanying Scott will be Angelo Buttacoli, who is a drug and alcohol counselor. Angelo’s father was in the Mineola Fire Department for 45 years. Scott and his wife, Linda, live on Mineola Boulevard.
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Dr. Barry Gimbel of Willis Avenue says he receives many calls from physicians overseas about the comings and goings of President Donald Trump.
