Woodside Herald 12 2 11

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2011 THE WOODSIDE HERALD PAGE 1

Lights Up The Night

Launch Of BAVR Coat Drive

VOL. 77, NO. 48 WOODSIDE, L.I.C., N.Y. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2011 FREE

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The Chamber Lights Up The Night

The Man With The Big Red Bag!

Support ForImmigration Legislation

Call for Further Bipartisan Actionon Comprehensive Immigration Reform

(Continued on Page 8)

This past Tuesday evening,cheerful community membersignored the rain and wind togather at Sabba Park’s AnnualTree Lighting.

As soon as you arrived, youwere met by the hospitality ofWhite Castle, not only supplyingthe lights for the tree, but servingfree hot chocolate - a generousgesture that has become a stapleat this annual tree lighting.

Gatherers mingled, with um-brella in hand, catching up on familystories as well as the latest goings onthe local business community.

Shortly after arrival, excite-ment filled the air as theSunnyside Drum Corp, led byTony Lana, began to play fromdown the street. This too, hasbecome a staple at the tree light-ing and is the ignition that sets offthis event.

As the Drum Corp marchedthrough the park, traffic began toslow on both sides of Queens Blvd,as entertained drivers rolled down

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Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Queens, the Bronx), an advocate forcomprehensive immigration reform, voted in favor of the Fairnessfor High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2011 (H.R. 3012), whicheases the current burdens on employment-based and family-basedvisas. Rep. Crowley issued the following statement on the need forfurther bipartisan action to truly address our nation’s brokenimmigration system:

“The House of Representatives is considering legislationthat would ease current burdens on employment-based andfamily-based visas. This bill may be a small step, but it is atleast a step forward. And I am heartened to see the bipartisanrecognition that there are workers and families who need reform ofour broken immigration system. For employers, workers, familiesand communities, all the misguided enforcement-only bills in theworld won’t help without a real immigration reform solution.

The legislation recognizes that we need to provide some relief tothose trapped in a system that is not meeting our economic or socialneeds. But let me be clear: our job is not done. I am glad that both sidesof the Judiciary Committee were able to work together on this bill. Ifonly we could find more bipartisan ground on an issue so fundamentalto the success of our country, I believe we would all be better off.

I remain hopeful that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle willjoin me in recognizing that the problems of our immigration systemare not going to go away on their own, and that we need a real solution.That means a comprehensive immigration reform package that willsecure our border, crack down on exploitation of immigrant labor,improve the legal immigration system and require those who arealready here to register, pay taxes and earn their way to legalcitizenship. I hope that this bill is a promise of good things to come,not an excuse for why more doesn’t get done.”

Photo by Joe Gurrado

United 40’s

Holiday Get Together

Wednesday, December 7th @ 7pmSt. Teresa Auditorium, 50-22 45th St, WoodsideParking off 44th St in yard adjoining the Church.

All Are Welcome!

(Story on Page 4) (Continued on Page 3)

Sandra Bigitschke (Daniels VFW Post Aux Pres), Deidre Ferrick,Eric Gioia and his daughter.

The Anoroc Club and the Young Democrats hosted abreakfast on November 12th at the Club, to solicit coats andsuits for the Veterans at the Borden Ave. Veterans Residence(BAVR) who need the clothes in order to be presentablewhen they go out on job interviews.


FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2011THE WOODSIDE HERALDPAGE 2

43-11 Greenpoint Ave., Sunnyside, NY 11104Telephone (718) 729-3772

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Shannon Carlin, Kimberly Clarry, Peter A. Ross, Rob MacKay

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS AND PHOTOGRAPHERSJoe Gurrado, Robert Flanagan

Marlene Sabba ............................................................... Publisher

Sherilyn Jo Sabba ................................................................. Editor

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SeniorYoga

The Visiting Nurse Service ofNew York (VNSNY) CHOICEAdult Day Center in Woodsidehosted a sit & fit yoga class forseniors Monday, November 21st.Helping to breathe their way to amore peaceful holiday season,VNSNY CHOICE members partici-pated in the hour-long class designedto address their cognitive and physi-cal challenges and break the barriersthat often make life quite stationaryfor the elderly surrounding the holi-days. Led by Nina David, certifiedyoga instructor with more than 20years experience developing medi-cal, educational and spiritual pro-grams for sick, suffering and under-service populations, and theircaregivers, this yoga class is part ofa unique program run by VNSNYCHOICE. For more informationplease call 1-855-AT-CHOICE.

Long Island City Farmers’Market To Stay Open

Photo Credit: Janet Charles

Members of the VNSNY CHOICE Adult Day Center practiceflexible yoga moves to help relieve seasonal stress.

Photo Right: Yoga instructor, NinaDavid, teaches VNSNY CHOICEmember, Delores Espinosa, amemory-promoting yoga move.

by Rob MacKay

The 2011 harvest season hasended in the Northeastern U.S.,but the farmers’ market in LongIsland City will continue intothe cold-weather months with afew adjustments. Instead of freshproduce, items such as artisanchocolates, sauces, jewelry andcrafts will be on sale. And themarket, which is located in thelobby of the Standard Motorsbuilding at 37-18 NorthernBlvd., will be open on Wednes-days from noon to 5 p.m., a bitshorter than before.

Pat Pilla from Chee Bonnetselling her designer cheesecakeballs.

KarenSchnell fromGraciousFoods sellingher designernuts.



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HEAT HELP ATBOROUGH HALL

Queens Borough President HelenMarshall announced that although NewYork City hit a record-high temperaturethis week, Home Energy Assistance Pro-gram (HEAP) applications are now avail-able at Queens Borough Hall.

“The temperature can plummet any daynow as winter officially arrives in a matter ofweeks,” said Marshall, who urged residents tofind out if they qualify for assistance withhome energy costs.

Marshall said that a representative willbe on hand until March 16th to processapplications in Room 225 from Monday toFriday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to4:30 p.m. Borough Hall is located at 120-55Queens Boulevard in Kew Gardens. Masstransit users can take the E or F train to theUnion Turnpike station or one of severalbuses that stop at Queens Boulevard andUnion Turnpike.

The HEAP provides qualified low-incomehouseholds with assistance to pay heatingbills and make needed repairs. The programcan generate up to $450 for regular or emer-gency benefits, and up to $3,000 for equip-ment repairs or replacement.

The federally-funded program requiresdocumentation that includes: utility bills and/or property tax bills, a birth certificate, proofof a Social Security number for each house-hold member, proof of children in the house-hold under the age of six or adults over 60, oranyone with a permanent disability, and proofof income (pay stubs for four weeks, rentalincome receipt, pension check or other verifi-cation means).

Additional information about the HEAPis available by calling 1-800-342-3009. Youcan also call the Borough President’s Office at718-286-2650 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Launch Of BAVR Coat Drive

Ms. Deidre Ferrick, of the Anoroc Club, who is on the BAVR Advisory Committee,organized the project. George Custance, representing Queens County American Legion onthe BAVR Advisory Committee Exec. Board and Chamber of Commerce Exec Board,announced that thanks to a grant from the U.S. Dept of Health and Community Services,a full service Medical and Mental Health Clinic is under construction in the BAVR facility.It will service not only the Veterans, but also some 4,000 homeless and underservedresidents of Long Island City. The Grand Opening is expected in 2012.

(continued from front page)

Committeewoman, Marie Konecko, Ciaran Stauton (Molly Blooms owner),Hon. Judge Rudy Greco, Deidre Ferrick and John Smyth.

Deidre next to the pile ofdonated coats.

Peggy Ferrick (Deidre’s mom), Hon. Judge Rudy Greco and Deidre.

Anna Damas and George Custance.

Joe Kenton (representing CM Van Bramer)



by Sue Baldock

Last weekend kicked off thesecond annual Santa Pic-Stop atSunnyside Shines. Nearly 200children and over 10 dogs werecharmed by Santa! Each childgets their own picture (one inprint and the rest emailed) in arelaxed and fun filled winter won-derland. We also take familyphotos and don’t forget Fido!

To get your free picture, justshop local and bring in one of thebig red Santa bags or one of thebusiness cards. No bag? No prob-lem. We ask that you to make asmall donation to support ourneighborhood. Cash donationswill go to a local foodbank or youcan bring an unwrapped toy forages 4 -11 for the 108th PrecinctCommunity Council’s Toys forTots drive helping local childrenin need. Last weekend we col-lected $250. Every penny helps!

Supported by the local busi-nesses, Santa will be in Sunnysidethree more weekends – nowthrough December 18th. Santa isat the Sunnyside Shines Busi-ness Improvement District in theheart of Sunnyside.

Come in for your freepicture with Santa!

The Man WithThe Big Red Bag!

(continued from front page)

Weekends through December 18th Saturday & Sunday 12 – 6pm Sunnyside Shines Business Improvement District Office 45-56 43rd Street - between 47th Avenue andQueens Blvd Call (718) 606-1800 or visit sunnysideshines.org for more information.



Letters To The EditorThe following letters are the opinions of its authorand not necessarily those of the Woodside Herald.

Bulova WhistleDear Editor,

Please contact Don McCallian,

President of U.F.C.A. at (718) 392-0416

WANTED!United Forties Civic Association is currently inneed of a Treasurer. Preferably someone with

‘grant review and writing’ experience.

I am writing a little collection of fond reminiscences ofWoodside as I knew it the late 1960s. I wonder whether anyof your older readers can answer a question that I now find,after all these years, difficult to answer. Namely, I used tohear a factory whistle in the mornings and afternoons. Cananyone remember the time the factory whistle sounded atthe Bulova watch factory in the morning? And did it soundin the afternoon? My recollection is that you could set yourwatch in Woodside by Bulova watchtime! Ah, yes. But whatwere those times,

I wonder?Best wishes

J.Henry BieneckWoodside Resident 1969-1971

Be Heard!

Letters To The Editor

Email them to [email protected]

Deadline: TUESDAY 5 p.m.

Send In Your

Talk to Your Children (and Parents)about Shared Financial Picture

It’s Thanksgiving week.And if you’re fortunate, youcan look around your Thanks-giving table and see severalgenerations of your family. Ofcourse, as you know, manytypes of cohesiveness are in-volved in knitting a family to-gether. But one connection thatfrequently gets ignored, at leastin terms of family dialogue, isthe financial linkage betweenparents and their children onone hand, and these same par-ents and their parents on theother. So if you find yourself inthis “sandwich” group, it maybe worth considering your fi-nancial position.

If your children are veryyoung, you might want to start byemphasizing the importance ofthree separate concepts: saving,spending and sharing. If you givethem an allowance, or if you paythem to do some minor tasksaround the household, you canencourage them to put the moneyin three separate containers. The“spending” jar is for them to useas they choose, the “saving” jar isto be put in some type of savingsor investment account and the“sharing” jar is to be used forcontributions to charitable causes.You can extend the spending,

saving and sharing themes byencouraging your kids to spendwisely, watch how their savingsgrow and feel pride in the workdone by the charitable groupstheir dollars support.

Later, when your kids areolder, and can earn money bybabysitting, mowing lawns orworking part-time, you can fur-ther encourage good financialhabits by offering to match theircontributions to a Roth IRA.And be sure to discuss the dif-ferent types of investmentsavailable; they may enjoy learn-ing about the ways in whichthey can participate in the fi-nancial markets.

Above all else, talk to themabout the importance of develop-ing good financial skills and howthese skills will play a part inyour family’s overall well being.

Now, let’s turn to your par-ents. If they’re elderly, you mayfind that talking to them aboutfinancial issues may be consider-ably more challenging than talk-ing about these issues with yourchildren. It’s unfortunate, buttrue: People are sensitive aboutmoney and often don’t want totalk about it.

You may find that you needto be persistent, especially if your

parents are getting on in years.Perhaps you encourage them toconsider their current position,and what planning might need tobe considered. Do they have ac-counts in a local bank? Where aretheir investments held? Do theyhave a financial advisor? Havethey worked with legal profes-sionals on any arrangements?

If your parents have expressedinterest in leaving a legacy orpassing assets to family mem-bers, you might consider encour-aging them to seek assistancefrom the appropriate profession-als. After all, if something wereto happen to your parents with-out them having made the properarrangements, their wishes maynot be carried out.

So this Thanksgiving, as youthink about the value of yourfamily, you might take sometime to consider issues that needto be addressed. . It may taketime and diligence — but whenit comes to your loved one’swishes and well-being, it’sprobably worth the effort.This article was written by EdwardJones for use by your local EdwardJones Financial Advisor VincentRenda, located at 47-01 QueensBlvd. Suite 203 Sunnyside NY 11104.Phone him at 718-361-1306.

Cost-of-Living Adjustment forSocial Security Beneficiaries

Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Queens,the Bronx) applauded the an-nouncement by the Social Secu-rity Administration that SocialSecurity beneficiaries will seetheir first Cost-of-Living Adjust-ment (COLA) increase in twoyears to help meet the growingcosts for consumers. Starting inJanuary 2012, Social Securitybeneficiaries will receive a 3.6percent increase in benefits.

“Seventy-five years ago,America’s seniors were made apromise of economic security andstability – a promise that after alifetime of hard work, their fi-nancial future would be pro-tected,” said Rep. Crowley. “Af-ter two years without any cost-of-living adjustments, seniors

who are struggling to make endsmeet can now breathe a sigh ofrelief.”

While seniors received a $250rebate from the federal govern-ment under the Recovery Act in2009 to help manage the eco-nomic downturn, they went with-out a COLA increase in both 2010and 2011. Recognizing manyseniors were struggling as a re-sult of not receiving a COLA, inlarge part because seniors’ basicexpenses like rent, food and pre-scription drugs did rise, Rep.Crowley introduced the SeniorsProtection Act (H.R. 2590). Un-der the Crowley bill, seniors,veterans, and other Social Secu-rity beneficiaries would receivea one-time payment of $250 in

2011 to help make ends meet.“With six out of 10 seniors

relying on Social Security formore than half of their income, itis critical that we help seniorsmeet today’s rising costs. Frommy seat on the Ways and MeansCommittee, I will continue tostand up for New York’s seniorsand be a strong advocate for So-cial Security, including fightingto ensure seniors receive an an-nual COLA increase and againstefforts to privatize the program,”added Crowley.

Signed into law by PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt in 1935,Social Security was created at atime when the Americaneconomy had crumbled and wasstruggling to recover. Pensionswere almost non-existent, and amajority of seniors were unableto support themselves after re-tirement. Today, more than 50million Americans, including 3.2million in New York, rely onSocial Security’s guaranteed ben-efits for retirement security or tomake ends meet, put food on thetable and stay in their homes.

Monthly Social Security pay-ments average $1,082, or about$13,000 a year. A 3.6 percentincrease will amount to approxi-mately $39 a month, or just over$467 a year, on average.



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by Rob MacKay

Sunnyside Reformed ChurchPastor Neil A. Margetson, whoseethnic background mixes Carib-bean and European Jewish heri-tages, and Elder Vice PresidentJohn Jager, who is from Holland,welcomed new members of Ital-ian, Puerto Rican, Hungarian andRomanian lineage on Nov. 20. Inphoto, Reverend Margetson,whose back is to the camera, leadsthe initiation ceremony as (fromleft) Wayne F. Marine, Ana G.Marine, Gyöngyi Veres and El-der Jager pay attention. A bit later,Veres’s daughter, Alexandra Pal,was baptized.

Grinch Won’t StealWoodside Christmas

by Al Volpe

Woodside has united to install and decorate our Christmas tree for thelighting ceremony on Saturday evening, Dec. 3rd. After several years,Woodside leader Barbara Coleman and Queens Parks CommissionerDorothy Lewandowski succeeded in planting an evergreen tree, whichwould survive.

Unfortunately, this past July, the grinch destroyed the beautifulspruce, which survived last year’s brutal winter. Five years ago,the grinch had vandalized the power box and power cord for thetree lighting.

On Monday, Nov. 28th”everybody” was at Sohncke Square at58th St in Woodside, helping to install a cut fir tree. CM VanBramer, who financed the work, his aide Joe Kenton, BarbaraColeman, Cay Volpe and Parks people David Bentham, Paul D’Amore, Nick and Jack did the hard work. No grinch in sight!

Parks and Recreation Manager Bentham promised to install asurveillance camera to deter the grinch this year and in the future.



Holiday Gift &Adornment Expo

Sunday Dec. 4th - 9am - 3pmBrand new items to aid your Christmas Shopping andDecorating needs. St. Raphael’s Rectory basement

(35-20 Greenpoint Avenue, @ the L.I.E., LIC)For Info: (718) 729-8957

Holiday Tree Lightingat The Manton’s!

Sunday Dec. 4th @ 6PMJohn & Rita Manton’s House

33-30 58th St, Woodside(between Northern Blvd & Broadway)

After the Tree Lighting, please join in a holiday reception at ChristLutheran Church, 33-57 58th St, Woodside Everyone Welcome! FreeAdmission! For more information, please call NWC (718) 205-1030Funding has been provided in part by the NYC Council, CouncilMembers Jimmy Van Bramer and Peter Vallone, NYC Dept of CulturalAffairs, Astoria Savings and Christ Lutheran Church. Presented by TheNorthern Woodside Coalition in Assocation with Goliard Concerts

Annual Holiday Party& Building FundraiserTo Support

The RidgewoodDemocratic Club

Friday, December 2nd @ 7PMBuffet & Refreshments / Suggested Donation $20

(All Other Donations Appreciated) 6070 Putnam Avenue, Ridgewood(One Block Off Fresh Pond Road)

For more information call: Tom (347) 432-3511 or Lois (718) 229-4201

their windows in the rain to boptheir head to their rhythmic holi-day sound.

After the sounds of the drumsfilled the park with holiday spirit,the YMCA choir caroled additionalmelodies to a building crowd, de-spite the rain. Even CM VanBeamer joined in the caroling atone point! You could truly feel thefesitviness in the air!

Members of the SunnysideChamber of Commerce, the orga-nizers of the event, addressed thecrowd, along with CM VanBramer, Senator Gianaris and Fa-ther Brian Dowd, who led in a

The Chamber Lights Up The NightPhotos by Joe Gurrado(continued from front page)

spiritual holiday blessing to beginthe 2011 holiday season.

Ramone Segree (LaGuardiaCollege) lit the lights on the SabbaPark tree (I was privy to insideknowledge that there was slightconcern about the tree’s lights ac-tually lighting, as they went un-tested on this night, due to the rain.You could see the insider breathe asigh of relief when the lights shoneas bright as ever.).

All were invited to a specialholiday dinner at the ever fabu-lous, Dazies Restaurant onQueens Blvd. On this particularnight, Dazies was truly the place

to be. The attendees were in-volved in conversationsthroughout the room, whichvaried from political debates,family stories, jokes, Pres.Obama, foreign policy, OccupyWall Street, Apple vs Windowsand even capital punishment. Alittle something for everyone,which made it feel like a truefamily gathering. But most ofall, were the wishes for health,happiness and a wonderful holi-day season for everyone.

There wasn’t a better place intown to be that night for food drink& conversation.

Woodside Herald 12 2 11

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