Bethpage-Tribune_1998-09-25

              I VVOOLL. 32 NO. 40 Sept. 25-Oct. 1, 1998 40 CENTS
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Bethpage
MR -/MRS„ J„ } OUT qni n
2 CAROL DR L U V I o 0 L0
BETHPAGE NY 11714-3202
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C YOUR OFFICIAL HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER
Serving the Communities of Bethpage, Island Trees, Seaford, Plainedge, Old Bethpage and Plainview
CELEBRATE BETHPAGE!
Take Part in Bethpage Day '98
BETHPAGE CELEBRATES!!! On
the first Saturday in October, October
3rd. The Bethpage community stops,
takes a deep breath and celebrates
OUR TOWN!! The day begins with a
HOMECOMING PARADE starting
from the parking lot north of the rail­road
tracks, on Stewart Ave. At 11:30
AM. Marching will be the PAL Foot­ball
players cheerleaders, members of
town organizations, churches and
schools and the added attraction of
the parade of Classic Cars. All are in­vited
to join in the march to the Beth­page
Community Park where the PAL
Football Teams will participate in con­tinuous
football games cheered on by
the enthusiastic PAL Cheerleaders!!
At the Community Park your or­ganizations,
churches, schools, mer­chants
will be setting up tables at
10:00 AM. A wonderful opportunity to
raise money and raise awareness. All
Bethpage residentsare invited to par­ticipate
in the day. You can show and
sell your crafts, set up a flea market
table, sell produce or baked goods,
use your imagination! Join your
neighbor and have fun! No charge for
your participation, just call Lenny and
Laura Mulqueen at 935-2674 and re­serve
table space.
Model Railroad enthusiast will be
delighted to know the NTRAK Model
Railroad Club will be back and setting
up their wonderful displays for al to
watch and enjoy.
A Fun Filled Day!! Complete with
pony rides, fishing for apples and
pumpkins, food, and tables of wares
to explore, a time to cheer for your fa­vorite
football team along with the
cheerleaders.
BETHPAGE DAY issponsored by
the Central Park Historical Society!**
The Central Park Historical Society will
be selling Merchant Raffles; gifts 9§M'
hated by our local merchants, with the
grand prize a beautifully hand crafted
VICTORIAN SLEIGH built by our soci­ety
members.
See you on BETHPAGE DAY,
October 3rd!!
Kids HelpingKids:
The Spirit Of Giving
Pictured here, Paddy Rossbach of ASPIRE makes the presentation
to Desiree, with Tony Wiszowaty of Nationwide Insurance (L) and the
great youngsters from "kids Helping Kids" on hand to show their
support!
Among the highlights of the
Plainview -Old Bethpage Road Run­ner's
Club's September meetings was
the presentation of a two thousand
dollar scholarship to Desiree Best, a
young amputee in the ASPIRE Pro­gram.
Desiree was preparing to be off
to college on a scholarship when she
and her family learned the bad news
that she had bone cancer, and that it
would be necessary to ampute her
(Continued on Page 10
Dads' Club to Make Dedication to Tommy Hance
On Saturday, October 3, at 1:45 pm, on
the field before the football game, the
Bethpage HS Dads' Club will dedicate
the Snack Hut to the late Tommy Hance
for his many contributions to the
children of Bethpage. All proceeds from
the hut for the year will be donated to
the Tommy Hance Memorial
Scholarship Fund. All are invited to
come down and honor a man who has
done so much for his community.
Anybody wishing to honor Tommy is
welcome to make a donation to the
Scholarship Fund set up in his honor.
Any questions should be directed to
either Jim Stuart at 433-5541 or John
LGinty at 822-7897.
Who Was Tommy Hance?' i
Bom Thomas Charles Hence, he
was one of five boys born to Dorothy
and Charles Hance. Tommy was a
true middle child with Peter and Paul
(the twins) being the oldest and Den­nis
and Michael being the youngest.
When Tommy was a toddler, his family
moved from Queens Village to 19
Rose Street, Bethpage. He attended
and then graduated from St. Martin of
Tours Parochial School in 1964, then
graduate from Plainedge High
School in 1968. He also graduated
from Westbury Technical and Trade
Center, where he learned electronics.
During high school, Tommy
worked part time from Bill's Pizza and
for Marty's BP Gas Station, both in
Bethpage. After graduation, he
worked for Alltronics where he
worked on the Grumman Lunar Ex­cursion
Module. In 1971 he went to
work for MTA/LI Bus until February
1998 when he officially went on dis­ability
retirement as Transportation
Safety Manager. During that time, he
had taught most of the bus drivers
who work for the company to drive
and investigated accidents, handling
anything to do with safety.
When Tommy turned 18 years old
he joined the Bethpage Fire Depart­ment.
He didn't have his driver's li­cense
yet so he used to run from his
home on Rose Street to the fire
house on Broadway when answering
a fire call. He was very proud that he
used to make the second due pum­per
or the ladder truck after these
(Continued on Page 14)