They say as you get older time passes…
By Dee Richard
Where does the time go? It seems like when I finish one column and turn it in, it’s already time to turn in the next one. Is it just me, or do you find that time goes by so quickly it is hard to keep a handle on it?
They say as you get older time passes by much faster, but that can’t be the case with us. We are all going to be younger than springtime forever, right?
My two big complaints in life are not having enough time to attend all the interesting events we receive invitations to and enough room to display all the photos taken and wonderful gossipy details. Oh, well, c’est la vie.
Congratulations to Henry “Starquest” Stern on the second anniversary of his New York Civic organization. I don’t know about you, but I miss Henry and his golden retriever, Boomer. There was never a dull moment when Henry was present — an ordinary event would be transformed into a happening by the mere presence of the quintessential, unpredictable Henry. He is truly one of a kind.
The Stevenson Democratic Club was scheduled to have U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner as a guest speaker at its February meeting, but he was stuck in Washington and could not attend.
The substitute speaker was Edo Banach, deputy general counsel to the Medicare Rights Center. He spoke on the new prescription drug program, which he doesn’t think much of. He provided an e-mail address and Web site for those interested in the program. They are ebanach@medicarerights.org and www.medicarerights.org.
Cardozo High School held a coat and clothing drive Feb. 8 to help the needy. The 33 Cardozo students wish to thank Borough President Helen Marshall for her generosity in opening up Queens Borough Hall and letting students use it as a distribution center. It helped them conduct a very successful clothing drive.
The same day, Queens County Democratic Organization Chairman Tom Manton was the guest speaker at former Councilwoman Julia Harrison’s Democratic Club, which meets in Flushing Hospital’s auditorium. Tom said he pledged his support to former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean for president and said until Dean drops out of the race he will continue to support him. Councilman John Liu and Assemblyman Barry Grodenchik were both on hand to show their support for Julia and her club.
The Queens Village Republican Club held its annual Presidents’ Day dinner on Feb. 8 as well. This year the honorees were William Horowitz, Neil Pugh and Joe King.
Joe is the owner of Antun’s in Queens Village, and he was awarded for his efforts on behalf of community organizations. While Joe is a successful businessman, he always has time to help local groups. He believes in giving back. Kudos to you, Joe, and your son, who also is involved in the day-to-day running of Antun’s.
I had a lot of fun on Feb. 7. I met with former Queens Independence Party Chairman Mike Niebauer, who hosts a weekly show on Queens Public Television on Friday nights. I was his guest speaker and we discussed — what else — Queens politics. He calls his show “The Spin Doctor,” which I think is a great name.
The producers, William and James Struhs, said the program had to be edited and they would let me know when it will be aired. It was lots of fun and I loved it. Hmm, is there another possibility looming on the horizon for a political columnist? It does seem to fit in quite nicely with the status quo. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Woof! Woof!
The Queens Borough Public Library held its annual congressional delegation cocktail party fund-raiser at Caffe on the Green in Bayside. The purpose of the party was to raise funds for much-needed children’s programs in the Queens Library.
Members of the Queens Borough Public Library board would like to thank U.S. Reps. Gary Ackerman, Joe Crowley and Greg Meeks for their support. They would also like to thank Joe Franco, owner of Caffe on the Green, for his continued generosity and support of the event each year.
Eileen Auld, Citibank’s community relations director for Queens, had CEO of New York Community Bank Joe Ficalora help her present a Citigroup Foundations check for $35,000 to the library. Thomas Galante, library director; Diana Chapin, executive director of the Queens Library Foundation; and James Van Bramer, the community affairs manager, were all pleased with the turnout and donations.
A few of those in attendance were the aforementioned congressmen, Councilmen David Weprin and Hiram Monserrate, Judge and Mrs. Nicholas Garaufis, LaGuardia Community College President Gail Mellow and York College President Robert Hampton.
Carol Conslato of Con Ed was there with their new vice president, Thomas Newell, outgoing Library Foundation President George Stamatiades and incoming Library President William Jefferson. Though there were many more of you at the event, we have run out of space, but your attendance was appreciated.
You may contact me at my voice mail, 718-767-6484; fax, 718-746-0066; or e-mail, deerrichard@aol.com.
Till next week,
Dee
