by barbara morris
Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a gentleman of his word, and one with an interesting sense of humor. He also has creative ways of dealing with problems. As he said he would, he participated in the Laurelton Memorial Day parade. We were delighted. Many were also astounded, not only that he came, but that he came in spite of a downpour.
Bloomberg was good-natured throughout and claimed that the rain was the mayor’s initiative against another drought. I thought of that speech as I left the Laurelton parade to participate in the Rosedale parade that started a little later.
I thought of it as I walked in the rain along North Conduit Avenue to Francis Lewis Boulevard and Sunrise Highway, where I stood in the rain with the Rosedale folks for ceremonies at Veteran’s Square and later at the Vietnam Memorial. After another service at the American Legion, members of that post in Rosedale treated us to lunch, after which we went home to change out of our very wet, cold clothes.
One day the following week, the weather report predicted clouds but not any rain. I scooped up everything that had been prepared for the laundromat and took off with my shopping cart. The washing went as usual, but as the drying process was underway I noticed a strange darkness outside. Suddenly the sky had become a threatening, very dark gray.
I then noticed people running along the boulevard with newspapers draped over their heads. It wasn’t supposed to rain! It must just be one renegade cloud, I thought to myself, and by the time I finished folding and packing my things, the rain seemed to have stopped. I wished everyone a good day and left.
But it was a trick. That cloud let me get all the way to the corner and then “shook itself” again. I thought about going back but instead decided to try for home. Once I reached my own street there was another downpour, which continued until about half an hour after I was in the house changing my clothes. Later that week I had the same kind of luck with a full load of shopping.
Luckily, I am philosophical about rain. Years ago, I spent vacations in the mountains at a resort near good swimming, hiking and fishing. It rained a lot, sometimes for days on end. I paid a lot of money for that.
Now when it rains at home, at our garden and the public gardens where Fred Kress directs the work of his volunteers, the water is free and the process is done without participation by any of us. Kress is president of the Rosedale Civic Association, Queens Coalition for Parks and the Cornucopia Society.
Unless it floods someplace, rain is a blessing. It is also a blessing to be able to help the city care for green spaces. As I have often written, being a volunteer has many rewards above and beyond getting free exercise, fresh air and the satisfaction of a job well done.
We meet and work with wonderful people. Ann English, for instance, recently received two awards from New York City Councilman James Sanders Jr. (D-Laurelton) for her extraordinary volunteer work with the American Association of Retired Persons, the Rosedale Civic Association and Patrol and more.
Sanders even presented me with an award from the City Council for community service. I am not only grateful for that award, but for the way he and his staff asked us for specific information about our problems and pledged to help us. And they have been doing that ever since. Sanders has earned respect and a lot of friends here.
All the volunteer Parks and Recreation wardens (Kress, Joyce Lawrence, Joe Locoteta and I) also received invitations to meet Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, Queens Parks Commissioner Richard Murphy and the other 350-plus volunteer wardens at Gracie Mansion for the annual Park Warden Investiture.
The event was held June 5 under a beautiful, huge tent on the lawn. In spite of (you probably guessed) the pouring rain, everyone was in good humor. The mayor welcomed and thanked all of us and told us the happy news that we should all be grateful to our state and federal legislators who came through with enough extra funding to help prevent some of the losses that we had thought would be necessary.
As the mayor said, we are grateful. Besides enjoying a delicious repast, we were invited to have our pictures taken with Bloomberg and Benepe. When it was my turn in that rapidly moving line and as I was positioned between those two gracious gentlemen, I thanked the mayor for joining our Memorial Day parade. He thanked our community for giving him the opportunity to have fun with us.
