By Dee Richard
Happy birthday to me! What could be a more apropos day — April Fool’s Day? The only question is who was playing the joke on who? Several of you have asked me how old I am. Do you like the Jack Benny answer — 39 again, of course! Or do you prefer a variation of the military: Don’t ask me, as I won’t tell!
This was a mixed bag of a week. It ran the gamut of all sorts of interesting and varied events. Monday evening was the monthly meeting of the Little Neck Pines Association. This month it was combined with the Westmorland Association. The guest speaker was City Councilman Dan Halloran, who brought everyone up to date on current events and listened to their concerns. He advised them that his staff was always there ready, willing and able to deal with their concerns.
We all left there early to go to the Community Board 7 meeting in Flushing. As it turned out, there was no reason to rush as the meeting went on to well after midnight. They are still trying to resolve the construction of the Flushing Commons project to everyone’s satisfaction. In any event, whatever conclusions they arrive at will be years before the total completion.
Tuesday night was the second meeting of the QTIP committee for its May 24 gala. It is working hard to make it one of its best fund-raising galas ever. Try and support QTIP, as it has evolved into a professional venue for the entertainment of all of Queens and beyond. If you enjoy its productions, help by supporting them. If you are a parent, there are wonderful programs for children. Check out its schedules.
On Friday night, we attended the Inner Circle’s dress rehearsal at the Hotel Sheraton in Manhattan. It was the Circle’s 87th annual show and what a marvelous lampoon it was. Every year it’s exceptional entertainment, but this year it seemed the writing was especially outrageous. The only problem was that the audience laughed so hard and long it caused you to miss some of the lines. If you are able to get tickets for next year’s Inner Circle, do it! It’s one of the best political satires in New York.
As if that were not enough for a Friday evening, after leaving the show my other half and myself decided to drive the 150 or so miles up to Saratoga Springs for the second and last day of the New York State Press Association’s convention in the Gideon Putnam Resort in the middle of Saratoga State Park.
If I were ever going to move out of the city, I think it would be to Saratoga. It has all the charm of the country along with much of the sophistication of the city. It’s a combination of the best of two worlds.
Its Saturday luncheon guest speaker was state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. DiNapoli, aside from coming across as a nice guy, seems intent on trying to do his job. Lots of luck! With the mess the most dysfunctional state Legislature has created, you are not in an enviable position. As an outsider looking in, it would seem you would need a miracle to even put a dent into the myriad of problems — let alone try and solve them. Good luck!
The New York Press Association has two days of interesting and helpful seminars. We missed the first day, but attended the Saturday lecture on “Computer Assisted Reporting, 60 Sites in 60 Minutes.” Google and Facebook, move over! The second one I attended was on “Ethics,” which gives a member of the media much to contemplate — especially since the general consensus of John Q. Public is that the three least respected professions are lawyers, politicians and members of the press in that order. Hmm!
Sunday was a lost day due in no small part to our total exhaustion. Remember, we left Friday midnight to drive up to Saratoga Springs. It was non-stop go, go all day Saturday. We left Saturday night after the NYPA final awards dinner. That put us on the road to drive back to Queens around midnight Saturday.
What a marathon of an endurance contest that was. It’s a good thing I’m a staunch proponent of vitamins and supplements. Otherwise, I could never have accomplished it all, but I’m sure we will do it the same place, same time next year.
That’s it for this week.
I look forward to hearing from you directly with information on people, parties and politics or gossip.
I like receiving your voice mails at 718-767-6484, faxes at 718-746-0066 and e-mails at deerrichard@aol.com.
Don’t forget to check out the Focus on Queens page.
Till next week, Dee.
