By Dee Richard
This tidbit has to be listed as an item for the It's a Small World Department.
The end of last week I drove down to Washington to attend another political seminar. It was an excellent crash course on how to manage the last 60 days of a campaign leading up to the general election.
Although they are expensive, each time I take one of these courses, I come away much richer in knowledge. The seminar was over Friday evening and rather than stay over, I opted to drive home, as I had several early appointments on Saturday.
From the Washington area straight to New York City we experienced torrential rains! We finally decided to stop in the only diner off of I-95 in White Marsh, Md., for a cup of coffee, a bite to eat and a break from the miserable weather. As I was finishing up my dinner, suddenly a male voice said, “Dee Richard, is that you?”
The voice belonged to none other than Councilman Eric Gioia. How's that for odds? Two New Yorkers running into each other hundreds of miles from home at 10 p.m. on a rainy night in Maryland. It seemed Gioia and one of his aides were also attending a seminar in Washington, although not the same one we attended. It is a small world after all.
Wednesday evening Jim Genarro held a fund-raiser cocktail party at the Woolworth Building on lower Broadway in Manhattan. It was well-attended and from what I understand was rather successful.
Also on Wednesday evening, the Northeast Queens Republican Club had its first fall meeting after the summer hiatus. It was held at Sen. Frank Padavan's headquarters in Bayside instead of its usual meeting place at the Reception House in Flushing. Rather than a having a guest speaker they opted to work on Padavan's re-election strategy.
Thursday at noon, the Queens Chamber of Commerce held its annual Business Persons of the Year award luncheon at the LaGuardia Crown Plaza Hotel. The Small-Size Business Award went to Rao Sannidhi, a partner in the Sunnyside Pharmacy. The Medium-Size Business Award went to Mark Schienberg, the president of the Greater New York Automotive Dealers Association. The Large-Size Business Award went to Peter Meyer, the New York market president of Commerce Bank, and a special Hall of Fame honoree, Bruce Bendell, chairman and CEO of the Major Automotive Group. It was, as usual, one of the Chamber's successful events. Special kudos to the Crown Plaza's Dolly DeThomas for her part in arranging such a lovely luncheon.
Thursday evening the Queens County Democratic Organization held its judiciary nominating meeting at Antun's in Queens Village. The place was packed and their judicial candidates were excellent choices.
Civil Court Judges Bernice Daun Siegal and Lee A. Mayersohn were both voted on and nominated as candidates for the State Supreme Court. Special congratulations to both of them. I have known them both personally for years and have admired their integrity and dedication.
The other nominees were Douglaston resident Sheri Struhl Roman, who has been best friends since childhood with my friend JoAnn DiMartino, a vice president with HSBC Bank — another Small World item. Additional nominations were made for Orin R. Kitzes from Flushing, Jaime Antonio Rios of Rego Park, Martin J. Schulman of Far Rockaway and Frederick D.R. Sampson of Long Island City.
This was the first time that I had ever attended one of these events. I came away very impressed with the professional and efficient manner in which the selection process was conducted.
The Democratic organization members conducting the evaluation of candidates were Democratic Queens County Chairman Joseph Crowley, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, Judge Seymour Boyers, County Vice President Dora Young, Michael Reich and Frank Bolz. The proudest person there had to be good friend Assemblywoman Nettie Mayersohn, the mother of Judge Lee Mayersohn. Nettie was just bursting with pride. The event ended with a moment of silence honoring both former Chairman Tom Manton and colleague Judge Joseph Dorsa. It was the opinion of all present that both men were looking down on the gathering and smiling their approval and everyone felt both men were there in spirit.
That's it for this week.
I always look forward to hearing from you directly with information on people, parties, politics or some plain old fashioned gossip.
I also like to receive your voice mail at 718-767 6484, your faxes at 718-746-0066 and your e-mail at deerrichard@aol.com
Till next week, Dee
