By Sabina Cardali
Welcome to the Point. The Point being College Point.
The glory of the Olympics continues as Great Neck’s Sarah Hughes, 16-year-old gold medal winner for figure skating, received the key to the city from Mayor Bloomberg at City Hall and also rang the bell to open the New York Stock Exchange. She is truly a champion in every aspect.
Every blessing goes to Pastor Carl Rosenblum who will be leaving the end of March from First Reformed Church. The new pastor will be Linda Burlew and our good wishes go with her. She will be ordained April 28 at her home church in Linden, N.J.
Mayor Bloomberg appointed Edwin Mendez-Santiago commissioner of the Department for the Aging, replacing Herbert Stupp. If you are having any difficulty as a senior, contact his office.
Angela and Maria Cespe did a commercial for the Stay in Touch Cell Phone Store in Bayridge, Brooklyn. Now they are both known as the “stay in touch girls.” I see them at Whitestone Bowling Lanes. A very happy birthday to Angela.
Meanwhile, congratulations to Maureen Puppolo who bowled 204 and to Maureen Napolitan, 203.
Condolences to the family of Everett Herrel, who recently died at age 90. Everett was a very hard worker for the VFW and American Legion and sold many poppies for Memorial Day.
Congratulations to Patricia Lancaster, the first woman to head the Department of Buildings. She will have quite a job in bringing this department up to par and ridding it of scandal.
Update on the World Trade Center debris: recovery crews began digging on the last substantial hill of compacted rubble at Ground Zero. There may be some additional human remains. More than 2,000 bodies remain missing or have yet to be identified.
A memorial to be lit March 11 includes two square clusters of spotlights, 50 feet on a side, which will illuminate the skyline in remembrance of the Trade Center and those who died there. One of the clusters will be placed on a plywood platform at least one story high to let traffic pass underneath. Each cluster will contain 44 xenon spotlights, each with a 7,000 watt output placed on the edges of the square. Each spotlight weighs 450 pounds. The lights will be on through April 13.
Congratulations to Edison High School students who made a memorial quilt to honor those who died Sept. 11. The six-by-six quilt decorated with angels, stars, suns and moons is covered with red and blue signatures and sentiments from 1,700 students and 190 faculty members at the Jamaica school. It has 13 memory squares with loving words from those who lost friends or family on Sept. 11.
The Association for the Advancement of Blind and Retarded, Inc. will be sponsoring its annual dinner-dance April 12 at Terrace on the Park in Flushing. They will have a journal and the deadline is March 15. Contact Eileen Keegan or Bernadette Kolessar at AABR, Inc., 15-08 College Point Blvd., PO Box 560247, College Point, NY 11356 or call them at 321-3800.
Important — The water shortage has grown more severe because of our unusually dry winter. Conservation is necessary. Cut showers short. Dishwashers and washing machines should be filled to capacity before running them. Sweep sidewalks instead of power washing them with a hose. Fill tubs halfway instead of all the way to save 10 to 15 gallons. Don’t run the water while shaving, lathering up to wash your hands, washing dishes or brushing your teeth. Repair leaky faucets and turn taps off tightly. A slow leak wastes 15 to 20 gallons each day.
Don’t open fire hydrants. Street leaks should be reported to the Department of Environmental Protection’s 24-hour help line at DEP-HELP. An open hydrant can waste a million gallons of drinking water a day.
About 1.2 billion gallons of water are used every day in the city. Presently the network of reservoirs that feeds the city is at only 40 percent of its capacity when it should be 80 percent full. This is the lowest rate since the 1960s. For now, water conservation measures are absolutely necessary.
SABINA SAYS — Our Memorial Day parade is set for Sunday, May 26, at 2 p.m. “United We Stand” will be our theme and will commemorate the war dead as well as those who died at the World Trade Center, including police, fire and rescue workers. If you would like to be part of the committee, please call Chairman Fred Mozzarella at 939-3393.
Reach columnist Sabina Cardali by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 140.
