1971-03-04

              I- V
FARMINGD4LE OBS , M » <
WHERE THE HISTORY OF YOUR COMMUNITY IS RUORDED WEEKLY
An Of fioiaf Newspaper of The Incorporated Village of FarminRdale Serving Greater Farmingdale, Bethpagc and MelvUle
Vol. 8 No. 28 Second Class Postage has been paid at Farmingdale, N. Y. 11735
Thursday, March 4, 1971
GIRL SCOUT WEEK COMING LP - County Executive Ralph G.
Caso presents proclamation designating the period March 7- 13 as
Girl Scout Week in Nassau to ( from left) Cadet Jenny Bodendorf and
Junior Paula Antun, both of Westbury, and Mrs. James Karcher of
Earmingdale, president of Mid- Island Council of Girl Scouts.
Big Money Problems
Burden School Board
Money was the subject of most of the discussions at the Far­mingdale
School Board last Monday. The district's problems are
being compounded by a lack of increase in state aid to education in
public schools and the takeover of Republic airfield by the tax-exempt
Metropolitan Transit Authority.
^ Trustee Terry Weathers, who asking for support. The local civil
believes the lack of aid is the
bigger problem, described the
" insensitivity of everyone in the
legislature to the needs of public
schools throughout the state as
incredulous." He said that the
answers from Albany in
reference to state aid were
" deeply disturbing and deeply
negative." The board
unanimously passed a resolution
to meet with local legislators
about the aid situation. Trustee
Tom La van said it should be a
well publicized Friday night
meeting with a packed
auditorium to really impress the
legislators.
Dr. William A. Kinzler,
superintendent of Schools,
repeated that the MTA takeover
would cause the school district to
loose eventually close to a million
dollars of revenue. He explained
that the community has risen
together in opposition to this
takeover without adequate
compensation. The School,
Library, Village Board and
Youth Council have met and each
will be informing their coun­terparts
in other areas of the
state about the problem and
Village Firemen Plan
For Memorial Day
Don't look now- but Memorial
Day r just around the corner
says Deputy Chief Gus
Schlingloff of the Farmingdale
Fire Dept who will again host the
annual parade this year on
Monday, May 31.
Entry forms for parade par­ticipation
have been mailed to all
participants in last years parade.
However, if any organization was
inadvertently missed, or if an
organization just recently formed
and would like to have a place in
this year's line of march, ad­ditional
parade entry forms may
be obtained by calling CH9- 9820
or by stopping by the Village fire
house. Leave your name and
address and an entry form will be
immediately dispatched
service employees, PTA, and
CTA as well as other community
groups are contributing their
efforts. Dr. Kinzler commented
that the basic issue involved, one
which could in the future face
other communities, is that the
people in Farmingdale are
paying for a facility which serves
the whole state.
The new Citizens Financial
committee, working on the
problem of state aid, has started
with a core of 15 members ac­cording
to chairman Edward
Kennedy. Board President
Lucille Goulding has sent
telegrams in the name of the
board, to legislators, stating that
the first obligation of the
Legislature is to the public school
children of the state, saying " We
strongly urge that you not ap­prove
aid to non- public schools
until and unless this primary
obligation is fully met."
There were some comments
from the public that because of
loss of income, budget cuts
should be considered, including
some in the area of sabbatical
leaves.
In line with the policy of
allowing girls to participate on
varsity teams in non- contact
sports where no such sport is
available on a team basis for
girls, the school board approved
the participation of Denise
Martorana as member of the golf
team.
Two new courses were an­nounced
for September 1971. A
Home and Building Maintenance,
a general course open to both
sexes, will be offered by the in­dustrial
arts department and
Sociology will be offered in line
with directives from the State
Department of Education to
make 12th grade social studies a
choice of electives.
The board also announced that
the swimming pool would now
liave two sessions for open swim
on Thursday night, one from 7 to
8: 30 and the second from 8: 30 to
Marilyn llamctz
Vacant Library Seat
Was Filled - Almost
The Farmingdale Public Library wound up with a trustee to fill the
seat left vacant by the unheralded departure of trustee Carl Gorton --
almost. As things stand now not much chance exists that the seat will
be filled by appointment. This could mean a vacancy until July 1,
1972 when Gorton's term would have expired. Unless the next school
board election due in May will be utilized, as is permissible, to elect a
new library trustee.
The almost decided upon
trustee was Robert W. Leopold of
2 Arthur Street, Farmingdale, an
associate professor of
mathematics at the State
University at Farmingdale who
along with four other residents
had expressed his interest for the
vacant seat to the Library Board.
And so the board, having asked
publicly for these applications,
met in executive session to decide
on its course of action.
It shall be remembered that the
board has, in accordance with
advice received from the office of
the State Commissioner of
Education, a number of alter­natives:
Appointment of a trustee
to serve out the unexpired term,
election of a trustee at the next
scheduled school board election
or which would be May 4 ( unless
that date is postponed), or
election of a trustee at the
regular time at which this seat
had to be filled again, meaning
July 1, 1972, with the result of a
vacancy lasting more than one
more year.
The Library Board chose the
alternative of an appointment.
That was what the executive
meeting was all about and what -
made Mr. Leopold for a fleeting
moment a trustee.
The ground rules established
for this meeting called for
balloting. For each of the four
trustees a slip of paper was made
up carrying the names of the five
applicants: Catherine Russell,
Seymour Weinstein, Rose
Foucek, Walter Kooker and
Robert Leopold. With the ex­ception
of Walter Kooker, who
had to cancel out twice, each
candidate was interviewed by the
board previously.
Next to each name two columns
were drawn, one for Yes and one
for No. Any candidate receiving a
majority of Yes votes, in this case
obviously three, would be in the
running for a final determination
first by the board members
privately and then at a public
meeting. If only one of the five
candidates received a majority
he or she then would be the
automatic choice of the board to
be presented to the public.
This is how board chairman
Warren Altmann and board
members Crocco and Callahan
understood the informal
agreement among themselves.
They thought that trustee Irwin
Jaccvsky read it the same way.
That they were mistaken became
obvious just after only one of the
five applicants, namely Robert
W. Leopold, received three votes
- from Messrs. Altmann, Crocco
and Jacovsky.
This precious moment of
unanimity between Altmann,
Crocco and Jacovsky was too
short to be fully appreciated, to
ephemeral to be properly
savored. Mr. Jacovsky im­mediately
withdrew his support
of Mr. Leopold. The Board of
Trustees of the Farmingdale
Public Library is still faced with
a vacancy and three alternatives
in dealing with it . . . ( revert to
the third paragraph from the
top). In absence as in presence
LIA Supports Oyster
Bay- Rye Bridge
In a meeting with Governor Rockefeller, leaders of the Long Island
Association of Commerce and Industry urged " immediate con­struction"
of the Nassau to Westchester bridge spanning Long Island
Sound, a stand that should make them highly unpopular in the nor­thern
reaches of Oyster Bay Town.
They also urged that efforts be priority to the Nassau crossing
continued to achieve a bridge link because of the " urgency of the
between Suffolk County and New need and the practicalities of the
England. However, they gave situation."
In addition, they " strongly"
recommended that " as an in­tegral
part of the bridge plan
there be included a complete
piggy- back rail facility in the
Port Chester area for handling
Long Island goods which must
now travel through New York
City to and from New Jersey. In
addition, a truck freight terminal
for consolidation and distribution
of long- haul shipments to and
from Long Island should be part
of this plan."
According to Fred E. Merrell,
LlA's Executive Vice President,
" We see the bridge as a boon to
lx) ng Islanders because of the
ease of travel it will provide to
points upstate and in New
England. We see it helping to
reduce the cost of goods pur
chased bv the consumer on Long
Island/'"
Donkey Basketball
Farmers vs. Dalers
The Farmingdale Senior
High PTA. is sponsoring a
Donkey Basketball Game for
children in grades 4, 5, and 6
( younger children may attend
only if accompanied by an
adult). The date is Thursday,
March 11, 1971, at 4: 00 P. M. in
the Farmingdale Senior High
School gym. The price is 50
cents for children and $ 1.00 for
adults.
Tickets will be on sale in the
school's during lunch hours on
Tuesday, March 9, and
Wednesday, March 10. Tickets
will also be sold at the door.
Money raised from the
Donkey Basketball Game will
support the Scholarship Fund.
Mr. Gorton is causing trouble.
Messrs. Altmann and Crocco
feel that Mr. Jacovsky was acting
in an un- gentlemanly manner,
that he did make a commitment
to abide by a decision of the
majority readied in a democratic
way and that refusing to honor
his promise is neither sporting
nor cricket.
Mr. Jacovsky on his part
unequivocally denies that he ever
made such a commitment, that
he never understood this in­formal
polling to be a binding
vote and that his vote for Mr.
Leopold indicated his willingness
to meet Messrs. Altmann and
Crocco halfway but that out of the
four candidates he voted for Mr.
Leopold was his last choice and
that he would certainly not agree
to make him the only choice.
Furthermore, says Mr. Jacov­sky,
he only found out then and
there that he was deceived by
Mrs. Altmann and Crocco
because they had given the im­pression
that they did not know
Mr. Leopold very intimately
although the opposite is more the
case.
This then is where matters
stand and with its present
ideological division the Library
Board is unlikely to come up with
a majority decision and even
more unlikely an unanimous
consensus as to whom to
recommend for the vacancy. The
publicly elective process appears
to be the only uncontroversial
solution and in this respect Mr.
Jacovsky made clear his position
in favor of the earliest possible
date, to wit May 4 of this year.
St Killian's Choir
Invited To Vienna
Among the many honors
received by the St. Kilian
Boychoir, another outstanding
one has been added and one
which may bring this already
renowned Choir international
acclaim: It has been invited to
perform in Vienna, singing with
the Vienna Symposium of
American Chorale under the
direction of Prof. Gunther
Theuring, in a performance of
Mahler's " 8th Symphony".
The Boychoir would perform
the important part of the
" Knabenchor", which the
Symphony requires, in the
Vienna Konzerthaus August 1971.
Although this invitatiori is a great
opportunity no decision to
either accept or reject the in­vitation
has been made.
Financial arrangements have to
be resolved inasmuch as the
Boychoir is a self- sustaining
group.
The Choir has a full schedule of
concerts for March including a
performance at St. Frances de
Chantal's " Family Night" in
Wantagh, March 9. On March 14,
they join the St. Kilian Chorale in
a Lenten Concert featuring
Verdi's " Stabat Mater".
The following week, March 21,
at a Pro- Arte Concert, the Boy
choir will sing Stravinsky's
" Persephone" conducted by Dr.
DeCarvalhoat C W Post College,
March : « ) brings them to the
Julliurd School of Music at
Lincoln Center for a concert.