By Dee Richard
Memorial Day weekend has always been the official start of summer. When is all this rain going to stop? The flowers could use some sun and all that water on the trees roots puts them in danger off toppling over. We have already lost a lot of magnificent old trees, I guess their root systems were too shallow to deal with all that excess water and dampness.
All the political clubs are having their last meeting of the summer. They will have July and August to recharge their batteries so that they can come back in September refreshed and raring to go, to work hard to get their candidates elected and over the top in the November.
Nettie Mayersohn’s Stevenson Club will celebrate its last meeting with a petition and poll workers pizza party at the J.I.B. Building at 8 p.m. on June 3.
The Jefferson Democratic club and the FDR clubs hold their last meeting the same day at 8 p.m. Their guest speaker will be Brian McLaughlin. Some of Brian’s topics will be the New York state budget process and whether New York City will be shortchanged by New York state?
John Frank needs players for his baseball team to trounce the Northeast Queens Republican Club on July 17 for the challenged softball game. In last week’s column we had announced the date for the game was July 7 That was the original date since they had planned on playing the game in John Golden Park. But both the date and park were unavailable. The only open time was on July 17 in Alley Pond Park on ballfield No. 7 at 9 am.
Come on down to play or cheer your team on. It’s going to be lots of fun. They are in the process of obtaining shirts and hats. Win, lose or draw, you have to look good or at least look professional. See you there!
Assemblywoman Ann Margaret Carrozza tells us that as of June 1 she is moving her office from Francis Lewis Boulevard to its new location at 213-33 39th Ave. on the corner of Bell Boulevard in Bayside. It is located on the second floor and the phone number is 718 357 3588.
City Comptroller William Thompson is hosting the Empire State Pride Agenda and the Human Rights Company. He cordially invites you to join them at the celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride on June 8 at 200 West 13th St. in Manhattan. It’s located on the third floor between Seventh and Eighth avenues. An RSVP is necessary, 212-669-4466.
Don’t forget, that June 6, the first Sunday in June, is the time the Jackson Heights Gay Pride Parade is held. This annual event gets bigger and better every year. They also have a street fair and entertainment stage. Check it out.
On the same first Sunday in June the “Bikers Against Breast Cancer” usually have their annual ride as well. They take off from the Harley showroom on Northern Boulevard in Long Island City. If you’re interested in the ride you can register that morning. The ride often consists of a run through all five boroughs winding up with a picnic in Forest Park. It’s a very successful event and they have raised lots of money for breast cancer in the past.
In lieu of their regular monthly meeting, the Northeast Queens Republican Club and members of the 26th Assembly District. held a retirement party for Marie Warhola, who left her job at the Board of Elections and also retired as district leader for the 26th A. D. The party was held on Saturday afternoon in the Reception House wedding garden. What a lovely place to have a cocktail party on a beautiful summer day.
Young ladies out there, Marie and her husband Paul still have one good-looking, unmarried eligible son named Keith. He is as nice as he is good-looking. So check that out, too.
The Independence Party held its 10th annual dinner at Zenon Restaurant in Astoria. Most of the pols attending were hoping to get the nod for the Independence line come November. All were hoping Queens County Independence Chairman Jerry Everett would give them a favorable nod. Some of the hopefuls there were Serf Maltese, Michael Cohen, Ann Margaret Carrozza, Leroy Comrie and Peter Boudouvas. They also presented Leroy Comrie with a plaque of appreciation for his support. According to Everett, the Queens Independence Party was pleased with both the attendance and the amount of money they raised that evening.
Of course, Mike Niebauer was outside Zenon handing out protest fliers to everyone as they left the dinner. Mike, you remember, was the original Queens chairman of the Independence Party and apparently has some unresolved differences with them.
The Correctional Officers held their seventh annual Widows and Children’s Fund Award Dinner at Astoria Manor. Denise Richardson was the emcee, Valerie Flake sang the National Anthem. Valerie is the niece of Rev. Floyd Flake. What a powerful voice that young woman has. COBA President Norman Seabrook as usual had a great turnout. Mayor Mike Bloomberg was one of his guests of honor. It seems Mayor Mike played in a golf tournament with Norman and his honor won. Norman awarded him with his trophy, a lovely statue of a golfer. It seems we have a multifaceted mayor.
Comptroller Bill Thompson held his Annual South Asian Heritage Celebration. Two of the honorees were Morshed Alam and Harbachan Singh at the event. Congratulations to Queensites Morshed and Harbachan.
Bill Briggs held his 22nd annual Gold Tennis Ball Annual Awards Dinner at Antun’s. Among the honorees were Queens Borough President Helen Marshall; Thomas Early, executive director of Health Plus and Charles Mera, assistant director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Congratulations to all.
Brian McLaughlin held his annual art show, fund-raiser at the J.I.B. Building. Some of the works were quite impressive. It was good to see Arthur Cheliotes there. Recently Arthur had a health problem, but he looks great now.
Brian was nice enough to acknowledge Mary Anderson. He said he and his family valued her friendship and her support over the years and he would not hold it against her that she was a registered Republican. Furthermore he guaranteed her a safe exit from the building. While there we ran into an old friend who said she had heard Chet Szarejko was out as district leader of the Eastern Queens Democratic Club. Our source also said that Chet would be replaced by Mark Weprin and she thought Chet would become a state committeeman. If it’s true, we will fill you in with more details later.
The Eastern Queens Democratic Club is planning to have its annual dinner dance at Douglaston Manor on June 10 and we’ll be there.
That’s all folks. Remember call me on my voice mail at 718-767-6484 or fax me at 718 746-0066 or e-mail me at deerrichard@aol.com
Till next week , Dee
