By Anita Valenti
The next PBTCA meeting will be on Monday, December 15, at St. Theresa’s cafeteria. Refreshments at 7 p.m. followed by our meeting. The 2009 dues can be paid at our meeting which include the Bronx Times Reporter delivered weekly to your home.
Now that Thanksgiving is behind us and Christmas is around the corner, I am annually reminded that Canada celebrates Thanksgiving on October 1. A close friend of mine from San Francisco has been on a mission to change our Thanksgiving to October 1 also. I think it is a great idea but I have been told it will never happen.
Why not? Roads are safer for driving because of less chance of snow and ice storms. Thanksgiving piggybacks Christmas and Hanukah
The harvest occurs in October. I believe the moms who do all the shopping and cooking for Thanksgiving need a breathier before the December holidays. To date, my friend has not been successful but she keeps trying and perhaps, one day, in the not too distant future we will be celebrating Thanksgiving on October 1st.
With today’s economic downturn, it is unconscionable that state monies will be used to bail out the builder of the Waterbury Estates. One million dollars to purchase and renovate the building in order to accommodate six developmentally disabled adults. The workshop for the Association for the Help of Retarded Children on Mayflower and Wilkinson avenues was welcomed into our neighborhood decades ago. Many of our residents worked there.
We are not against group homes. We are against the astronomical cost of this home for six adults. The governor is slashing monies for many needed programs, the mayor is cutting back on police, firemen and our October Rebates. So why is it okay for a million dollar bailout for the Waterbury Estate developer? Assemblyman Michael Benedetto, Kenneth Kearns, and Community Board 10 are all opposed to this bailout.
As I have stated before, the better idea when the economy improves, would be to build three, four group homes adjacent to a workshop. This would eliminate the need for bus transportation to scattered group homes. The Hutch Metro and also the former horse stable site on Pelham Parkway and Stillwell Avenue would be ideal locations. You and I can demand that this group home at Waterbury Estates does not happen. Call 311 and demand that the State cannot and must not approve our tax dollars being used for an over priced small building at a time of budget crisis for the city, state and country.
A good friend of everyone in Pelham Bay has passed away. Charlie Carrocetto, the owner of the original Italian Deli where Vito’s is now on Crosby Avenue. We had no need to drive to Arthur Avenue for the holidays. The line formed outside his store to buy the best mozzarella and ricotta in New York.
Charlie and his wife Lena, celebrated their 67th anniversary before Lena passed away. They were true soul mates. Charlie helped a lot of people in our community. Many who are grown men today, got their first job at Charlie’s, my son among them. He also did not accept the offer for his store to build a tower on Crosby Avenue. He cared deeply for his community. He was over 90 years old and his son Richard drove him to several of our PBTCA meetings and he told us he was happy to see the PBTCA re-vitalized. The Quiet Giant has left us to be united with his beloved Lena. We, and his family will miss them and remember them fondly.
