By Dee Richard
Last Saturday, the Dwarf Giraffe Athletic League held its annual Fun in the Sun Day Picnic. This year, it was held in Harvey Park in Whitestone. The picnic included hot dogs, hamburgers, sodas, cotton candy and Lido the Clown with his inflated fun bouncer house.
Many of the children received trophies and medals for their outstanding athletic abilities. The children showed great sportsmanship in the various competitions. I don’t know who enjoyed the picnic more, the children or their parents. It really was a fun day.
Last Monday night, was the last dinner for Community Board 7 until September. Among those present were Gene Kelty, Marilyn Bitterman, Ed Braunstein, Peter Koo, Pauline Chiu and Don Capalbi. It was held at the Magna Restaurant in Flushing. There was a nice turnout and the meal was rather enjoyable.
In addition, last Monday night was also the night that Matthew Silverstein celebrated his 29th birthday with a fund-raiser at the home of grandmother Marilyn’s Bayside home. Happy birthday, Matt!
Last Wednesday night, the Queensboro Hill Neighborhood Association held its last summer meeting at the Palace Diner. The items under discussion were personal overviews of the emerging Flushing Urban Centers. The guest speakers were Myra Baird Herce, president of the Flushing business corridors; Dian Yu, executive director of the Flushing Business Improvement District; and Jukay Hsu, president of the Coalition for Queens Silicon Valley 2.0. It was an informative and thought-provoking evening.
This past Saturday was the day we attended the funeral services for Janet Malone’s son, Larry Entenmann, which were held at the Christ Episcopal Church in Oyster Bay, L.I. Prior to the church service, a special service was conducted by his Masonic brothers of the Matinecock Lodge 806.
I was deeply moved at the turnout and outpouring of feelings of the members who gathered in respect of their brother Larry. I counted over 70 Masons that took their place for the Masonic ceremony. After the Masonic ceremony, the Rev. John G. Zaker, also a brother Mason, officiated at the formal church service.
After the services, Matinecock Lodge 806, the lodge of President Theodore Roosevelt, invited all present at the church to refreshments at their lodge building on West Main Street in Oyster Bay. Everyone was deeply saddened by the loss of Janet’s son. It was totally unexpected and the services were scheduled on the July 4 weekend, which prevented many people from attending due to prior commitments. Janet has made arrangements for another small service in Flushing to accommodate the folks that could not attend the service in Oyster Bay.
This Monday was the annual Fourth of July barbecue that Barbara and Ralph Barba hold every year on the lawn of their Douglaston condo. That, too, is always an enjoyable event that we look forward to attending every year.
This year was no exception. Some of the people attending that party were ex-state Sen. Frank Padavan, Bob and Janet Bishop, Joe Dubowski and his wife Marion and Chet Szarejko, Frank Mileski of the Polish American Congress, Barbara Leonardi, Joyce Gasser, Lois Marbach and her friend Joan Jacobs as well as numerous family members, friends and neighbors of the Barba’s. The barbecue was great and had something for everyone: hot dogs, hamburgers, Italian sausage, grilled chicken, salads and beverages of every variety and all kinds of fabulous deserts. Every year it gets to be bigger and better and we always top the day off by watching the Macy’s fireworks display on TV. It is a patriotic way to end a most enjoyable American holiday.
It’s a tough call as to who will be in the running for Anthony Weiner’s congressional seat. From what I understand, there will only be a year left to serve in that capacity, and there is talk that the seat might be earmarked as one of the two in New York state that are scheduled to be eliminated.
I do hope you all had a safe and enjoyable Fourth.
That’s it for this week.
I look forward to your voice mails at 718-767-6484, faxes at 718-746-0066 and e-mails at deerrichard@aol.com.
Till next week, Dee.
