By Dee Richard
A good place to start would be with congratulations to Sofia Giansosis of the Queens Chamber of Commerce on the birth of her first grandchild, a precious little baby boy. Congratulations are also in order to Phil Ragusa, Joe Papillo, Gloria Piekarski et al on their reactivating the Whitestone Republican Club, which has been dormant for the past five years. They had a great turnout. Close to 175 people attended to hear their keynote speaker, Curtis Sliwa of the Guardian Angels and WABC Radio. He comes across as a hybrid between a Baptist minister on a Sunday morning and a US Army drill sergeant – very effective!We would also like to congratulate all the volunteers from the various community groups that have worked so hard cleaning up all the winter debris on our waterfront and our various local parks. Keep up the good work, you really make a difference.We do hope all our Greek Orthodox friends had a happy Easter last weekend. We were invited to three Greek Easter dinners. The first one was in Whitestone at the home of Zia Boskims, the niece of Napoleon Zambelis, the other partner in the Whitestone Diner. They roasted five whole lambs on large rotating outdoor grills. About 75 guests attended the festivities.The second was at the home of the Peter Boudouvas family in Bayside, which was also an outdoor spring lamb roast. About 35 friends and neighbors attended that one.Our third celebration was at my husband's cousin's apartment in Manhattan. More lamb, this time roasted in a conventional oven in the kitchen. All the warm hospitality and great Greek food was terrific but tough when you are trying to lose weight. “Kalo Pascha.”The Greek Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas in Flushing held its annual Good Friday candle-light procession, which traveled from the church along Northern Boulevard and around neighboring streets. On Saturday night they held their customary midnight mass, which was attended by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was there from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. The Rev. Paul Palesty Pastor of St. Nicholas said the church was very proud that the mayor attended their service.We would also like to congratulate Thomas Chen of Crystal Window and Door Systems of Flushing on the occasion of their 15th anniversary.One of the events we attended during the last two weeks was the 11th Annual Awards Dinner of the Queens Flag Day Committee at Ricardo's in Astoria. The event was sponsored by Dr. John Farrell, executive director of the group. We would have listed the awardees, but there were so many recipients it would fill up the whole page if we listed them all. Suffice to say a good time was had by all. The entertainment was provided by the Manhattan USO Troup and some traditional Korean entertainment provided by Rev. Dr. Peter Song, the committee's spiritual director. This seemed to be their largest event ever. It was a great dinner, Dr. Farrell!We also attended the Annual Installation Dinner of the Queens County Bar Association at Terrace on the Park. Catherine Crier, a former judge and now a participating judge and anchor on Court TV, was guest speaker. Congratulations to the president-elect George Nashak Jr. Barry Tivin, president of the Queen County Bar Association, outdid himself in providing an excellent dinner for the over 350 guests in attendance.The Queens County Bar Association is an admirable group. Two of their best projects are their Queens Volunteer Lawyers Project, a pro-bono group. The second is the Queens County Bar Association Scholarship Fund, which offers financial assistance to law students who are residents or who attend law school in Queens. The fund is funded by donations from members of the association.We also attended the Little Neck Douglaston Memorial Day Parade Committee Annual Dinner Dance at Terrace on the Park and the Long Island City Business Development Corporation's Cocktail event at the Foundry in Long Island City. But since everyone's events were on Thursdays and the venues were far from each other, we were unable to attend the Jefferson Democratic Club's meeting at which the guest speaker was Norman Seigel, former head of the ACLU and now a candidate for public advocate for the city of New York. The other one we missed was the Stevenson Regular Democratic Club's May meeting, at which Assemblyman Thomas DiNapoli, candidate for New York state lieutenant governor, was the speaker.Jeff Rosenstock of the Queens Theater in the Park said there are still some tickets available for their annual gala at the Theater in the Park on Thursday, May 19. It is not too late to put in a journal ad or perhaps purchase a few raffle tickets. They are a little shy of their desired goal. Could you help out with any or all of the above? Your help would be greatly appreciated.The 109th Precinct is holding its Annual Golf Outing and Dinner at the Timber Point Golf Club located at the last exit off of the Southern State Parkway. It is being held on Thursday, May 19. The cost is $135 per person for a foursome or $65 if you just wish to attend the dinner. For more information call P.O. Jimmy Chung or Lt. Pettit of the 109th at 718-321-2250. The entire proceeds of this event will be given by the 109th to the Matthew Brophy Scholarship Fund. Matthew, as I am sure you remember, is the only child of P.O. Thomas Brophy who died two weeks ago.That's it for this week. As usual you can reach us by voice mail at 718-767-6484, fax at 718-746-0066 or if you prefer e-mail deerrichard@aol.com.Till next week, Dee.
