By Dee Richard
The weather so far has been both delightful and invigorating. It's good for performing many of our annual rights of spring. If you live in a house, it's inspection time to assess all the winter damage and to decide what has to be repaired or replaced. It's time to plan this year's gardening projects, take your car for its spring tune up.It's also family planning time. Are the children going to camp this summer? Is the family planning a vacation or trip together? Is it possible to accomplish both? Decisions! Decisions! But its fun and something we look forward to each year.Speaking of fun, this upcoming weekend has a list of wall-to-wall Memorial Day parades.The following are a few for your consideration. On Sunday, May 29, there are three that we know of. They are Maspeth, Forest Hills and College Point. On Monday, May 30, there are two large ones: Whitestone and the Little Neck Douglaston Memorial Day Parade. Check the posters in your local communities for the time and parade route, or contact your local elected official's office for details.Try to attend a parade of your choice, bring the children and flags for them to wave to show your support and patriotism. It's not old-fashioned or out of date to do so. If it were not for the sacrifices of our military men and women, we would not be able to enjoy the freedoms we all have.On Monday, May 16, we were invited to a party at Club Scopo at 28th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan to celebrate the beginning of Fleet Week. It was a fun party attended by Commander Robert Benwitt of the Navy Region NE, the USO Troupe of Metropolitan New York, which consisted of Miss USO 2005 Lynelle Johnson, Genna Griffith, Josette D'Ambrosi, Tad Emptage and Lesly Donald. They presented a fabulous performance as usual. There was a sprinkling of Navy and Marine Corps personnel, representatives from the Intrepid, the Fisher Houses, the New York Chapter of the National Academy Arts and Sciences, the Queens Flag Day Committee and various other groups.The Queensites in attendance were Barbara Leonardi, John Farrell, Joyce Gasser, Betty Carroll, Cheri Jou, Ira Cohen, Jim Rodgers, Jim Fitzgerald and TV and radio personality Joe Franklin. A special thanks to Chet Marcus of the Ernie Pyle USAR Center at Fort Totten. Chet was the one who put it all together and made it happen.We understand there is a very real possibility that all our friends at Fort Totten from the 77th Regional Readiness Command may be moved to New Jersey due to military budget cuts. We sincerely hope not, as they have been very good neighbors.On Wednesday, May 25, the ships will sail into New York Harbor to help celebrate Fleet Week. If you have never seen it, it's an impressive sight to see. Try to view it in person. If that's not possible, catch it on TV. The week will be full of marvelous entertainment for both your children and yourself. We understand the Circle Line, with the purchase of a ticket, is providing a breakfast and a close-up viewing of the ships entering New York Harbor. We also understand the public will be able to board many of the ships to tour them. We do not know if there is a fee involved. Also keep in mind the Intrepid Air and Sea Museum is also available for you visit. There is, however, a fee for that. If you are interested, check it out. Your children will love it. It is something both you and your children should view at least once. These types of events seem to have much more impact if you view them personally rather than on TV.On Thursday, May 19, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall and Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion co-hosted a New York Hometown Series Celebration at Queens Theater in the Park in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. The event was sponsored by Unisphere Inc. Of course, it is too early to comment, but nonetheless the rumor mill has it that Carrion may have his eye on the mayoral seat next time around.From there we toddled off to Antun's to catch the Queens County Democratic Organization's spring celebration. As it was our second stop for the evening, we were too late to hear Andrew Cuomo or newly elected Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi. We were, however, in time to hear City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields and former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer. As you know, they are the three Democratic candidates vying for the position of mayor.Good News! Tom Manton was back at the helm and it was great seeing him again. The last few events that Tom missed weren't quite up to snuff. Tom is, after all, the quintessential Mr. Democrat of Queens. His party as usual was a full house and as such it would be impossible to announce everyone present without slighting those too numerous to mention. A good time was had by all.We understand U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman is losing one his staff members, one of our favorites. Susan Graff's husband has been transferred to Chicago so she will be leaving Queens. Good Luck, Susan, in your new life. We will miss you.This last week has been a rather slow week, both event wise and issue wise. We will have lots for you to read about next week, as it will be a very busy week.Remember, we look forward to hearing from you via voice mail at 718-767-6484, fax at 718-746-0066 or if you prefer e-mail at deerrichard@aol.com.Till next week,Dee.
