By Dee Richard
Now that 2003 has come to a close and 2004 is barely a glimmer in our eye, perhaps this is as good a time as any to play catch-up and fill you in on all the local bits and pieces.
At the New York Press Club party on Dec. 16 I ran into former local community newspaper editor Tamara Hartman. Tamara lives in Brooklyn and is doing some free-lance writing, but she said she had two interviews coming up before the end of the year for full-time jobs. Good luck, Tamara. At the same party I also ran into Nick Abadjian, who had been a reporter for the same community newspaper. Nick is now employed by Debbie Caruso in her public relations firm and said he loves it there.
Assistant Commissioner of the Department of Parks and Recreation Estelle Cooper and all the people on the various committees of the two World’s Fair anniversary celebrations in Queens had a breakfast meeting at 8 a.m. in the Ramada Inn on 114th Street in Corona. The date for the gala is April 15, 2004; you can’t forget that date — it is income tax day.
The reception and a dinner will be held at Terrace on the Park, and the tickets will be $275 each unless you reserve a table of 10, in which case they will be $250 each. The enthusiasm for the event is running very high. Everyone had fond memories of the World’s Fair or Fairs, depending on their age. TimesLedger Newspapers publisher Steve Blank picked up the tab for breakfast. Thank you, Steve. Their next scheduled meeting is Jan. 15.
Santa brought a lovely present to Gina and Richie Murphy. The present was a baby girl named Gianna. Mom, dad and baby are doing fine. Good luck and congratulations to all.
Good friend Harbachan Sing, who is recently retired from his position as chairman of the headquarters committee on contracts and also as the chairman on the headquarters property survey board for the United Nations, said he has been called out of retirement to return to work. It must be a good feeling to know how necessary you are, or at least how much you are appreciated. Good luck on your return to the United Nations. Harbachan is also the president of the Sikh-American Friendship Foundation.
My sources tell me that Mike Reich, executive director of the Queens Democratic Organization, held a reception at his home for all the Queens elected Democratic women who were able to attend. The guest of honor was U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton. The women were in quite a dilemma; while they were very much interested in what Hillary had to say, they were also very much interested in Mike’s beautiful home and its fascinating contents.
Mike, of course, had his daughter sing for all his guests. She has a great voice and tremendous composure for one so young. Kudos to you, Mike, on being the proud, loving father you are. It is too bad more children are not lucky enough to have a dad like you.
The women said they cannot wait until 2008, when they can get on board to help Hillary get elected as the first U.S. female president. They wish she would run in 2004 but said they understand her reasons for waiting. Now you see why politics is such a fascinating hobby and occupation.
This column will be short this week as we have lost a day to the Christmas holiday. Believe it or not, losing a full day in this industry makes quite a difference.
I hope your respective holidays were happy ones and that you got everything you wanted — and wanted everything you got. Remember, do not make your New Year’s resolutions too tough or you will find them too hard to keep.
Don’t forget to check out the photos on the Focus on Queens page, and don’t forget to call me on my voice mail at 718-767-6484 or fax me at 718-746-0066.
We are looking forward to continuing to receive all your notices, invitations and gossip about what is happening in Queens.
Let me leave you with another one of my favorite quotes: “From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.” — Arthur Ashe.
It has been a very fun year and I am looking forward to doing more of the same.
Till next year,
Dee
