By Dee Richard
In the midst of the lazy hazy days of summer, the dizzy busy days of the fall seem to be peeking over the horizon. In other words, things are starting to perk up a little and this fall shows all the promise of an interesting, if not a downright exciting season as it is an election year, which always generates lots of animated conversations.
On Thursday, I had the occasion to stop by Sen. Frank Padavan’s office to drop off a photo of my antique Rosewood Square Grand Piano, circa 1850s. The senator said he thought the Bayside Historical Society might be a suitable place for it. He said he would like to show the executive director of the society a photo in order to get her opinion. It seems as though it would be a good match, as they have ample room for it and are both approximately from the same era.
While there, the senator asked if I had read Monday’s New York Times. I replied no. About the only time I have to read the Times is on Sundays, when it publishes so many diversified and interesting special sections. The obvious next question was, “Senator, why do you ask?”
It seems the Times had assigned reporter Anne Barnard to cover him during his visits to the 105th, 109th and 111th precincts for presentations at the annual National Night Out Against Crime. Surprise of surprises, it was not a hit piece, which you would expect from the liberal-leaning Times when covering a conservative Republican. In fact, the article was not only fair, but flattering as well. It was a pleasant article. If you missed it, go online and check it out.
On Saturday night, the South Ozone Park Knights of Columbus held its annual tropical beach steak and brew party. It was a fun get-together complete with a DJ for everyone’s dancing pleasure.
Joe Kasper was there and happy to report he had survived all the challenges to his petitions and has no primary for his district leadership/state committeeman’s slate. But Dr. Myrna Littlewort was not so lucky. While she survived the challenges, she will have to face Ruby Mohammed in the September primary. Good luck, Myrna.
Allan Jennings also stopped by and asked everyone if they had heard about his altercation at the Board of Elections.
Apparently, Jennings and Ruben Wills, both of whom are running for the 28th Council District seat, got involved in a verbal dispute Friday at the Board of Elections in Kew Gardens. The dispute escalated into a physical one when Wills took a swing at Jennings, according to police and witnesses at the BOE. Jennings saw it coming and ducked, but his campaign worker, Frank Perero, was not so lucky, as he was the recipient of the punch intended for Jennings. In fact, it was so strong it knocked him off his chair. A full account of the incident can be found in this paper or online at YourNabe.com.
Wills and Jennings are vying for incumbent City Councilman Tom White’s seat. I guess Wills thought he would have a better shot going it alone rather than divide the vote between himself and Jennings. Wills did inadvertently furnish Jennings with thousands of dollars in free publicity. Talk about unintended consequences. That was another tidbit from the fascinating world of politics.
Councilman Eric Ulrich also dropped in to say hi. Eric is certainly a young, decent, dedicated elected. Young is the operative word, as he is still in his 20s. Eric is also campaigning hard, as he will be running again in November for his seat. As far as I know, this time he does not have to face a primary — only the general election in November.
Sunday was Family Day for the spouses and children of service men and women in Iraq and that part of the Middle East. It was held at Fort Totten, complete with a live band, many games to play and free hot dogs, hamburgers, corn on the cob, soft drinks, cookies, etc. Everyone had a great time on a lovely day in a beautiful location.
A sidebar to the event was that Eagle Scout Kevin Wong of Troop 1 in Flushing for his Eagle project totally filled up a Jeep with boxes of personal supplies for the same overseas personnel whose relatives were celebrating Family Day at the fort. Way to go, Kevin!
That’s it for this week.
I look forward to hearing from you with information on people, parties and politics or gossip.
I like receiving your voice mail at 718-767-6484, faxes at 718-746-0066 and e-mail at deerrichard@aol.com.
Don’t forget to check out the Focus on Queens page.
Till next week, Dee.
