Bethpage-Tribune_1982-10-14

              BETHPAGE OLD BETHPAGE PLAINVIEW
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L I H P A G L L t B R A ft Y
7 P 0 W E L L A V E
t F H P ft G i: NY I ! 7 I 4
ISLAND TREES PLAINEDGE SEAFORD
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VOL. 17 NO. 27 Week of Oct. 14-20,1982 20 cents per copy And The Band Plays On
Resplendent in dark blue blazers and powder blue shirts the Nassau
County Golden Age Senior Citizens Orchestra set up and tuned their
instruments just prior to a recent performance for the Long Beach Senior
Citizens Club.
As the Long Beach seniors settled into their seats in expectation, the
Golden Age Orchestra swung into their opening number "Taking a Chance
on Love". Before long, the delighted seniors were up dancing to "The Night
I Looked at You," "Back Bay Shuffle," "Stardust," "New York, New
York" and selections from "Fiddler on the Roof." Another uplifting per­formance
was under way.
The 20-member aggregation with a Glenn Miller-type big band sound
was organized in 1972 by the Nassau County Department of Recreation
and Parks and is now co-sponsored by European American Bank. The
bank is tendering the band a tenth anniversary luncheon during October at
Nassau Beach Park's East Terrace ballroom.
Leader Ralph DeSanctis has been there from the very beginning. A
retired Army Chief Warrant officer, DeSanctis was band master of 13th
Regiment in 1945-46 and the 77th Infantry Division, United States Army
Reserve from 1949 to 1965. He has also been assistant conductor and a
member of the Island Senior Symphony for the past ten years.
Besides playing and rehearsing weekly at Nassau Beach Park, the
orchestra, as well as the combo — a select group from within the orchestra
—play many engagements at Nassau County schools, nursing homes,
senior citizen centers and various civic functions.
It's A First-—
After 19 years of study, planning, testing and construc­tion,
the Nassau County Waste Water Reclamation-
Recharge system - first of its kind in the world - was put into
operation today by County Executive Francis T. Purcell.
The return to the ground of treated waste water began as
Purcell pressed a button at the East Meadow recharge site
on Salisbury Park Drive. It activated a cycle, which moves
waste water entering the Cedar Creek Pollution Control
Plant into the Waste Water Reclamation plant on the same
Wantagh site, puts it through a complex series of treatments,
and pumps it 6.25 miles through a 24-inch main to East
Meadow, where it is returned to the ground via a series of
basins and wells.
"This is the culmination of nearly two decades of dedi­cated
effort by the Nassau Department of Public Works, in
conjunction with federal and state agencies and private
firms," Purcell said. "In this process, some 4.5 million gallons
of water per day will be returned tb the aquifers, which are
Long Island's sole source of water supply.
"The system is unique in the world and will serve as a
It is estimated that in the ten years of its existence, the Golden Age
Orchestra has played more than 600 engagements.
In addition to band leader Ralph DeSanctis, six others were members of
the original group formed in 1972. Among these are violinists Rick Prin­cipe,
in charge of the combo, and Ralph Gemino, who had played in the
Loew's Theatres pit band, in clubs and on radio; Ernest DePasquale,
proficient in the violin, string bass and electric bass guitar; Otto Pagano,
violinist and trumpeter; Jay Dale, bass guitarist, formerly with Richard
Himber, Lester Lanin and other bands; and guitarist Dr. George LoCas-cio,
a practicing optometrist.
Vocalist Virginia McTernan has been with the orchestra three years and
is a member of the "Swinging Seniors" who also perform at senior centers
and nursing homes. She spent many years working for lyricist Howard
Dietz, composer of such hits as "Dancing in the Dark" and That's
Entertainment".
Drummer Ed Camps, still active with the Lester Lanin Orchestra, has
also played with Sammy Kaye and Freddy Martin. Other bandsmen
include George Lewis who plays sax, clarinet, piccolo or flute; trombonists
Joe Carr and John Fiore; trumpeters Rich Cohen and Bob Spargue;
saxaphonists Mike Altimano and John Bittner and pianist Irma Vander-beck
Miller, a former music supervisor in New York State schools.
Although the bandsmen admit they play to a large extend for their own
enjoyment, to a man, they all say their main reward is the happiness they
bring to the various groups who hear their music.
model and pilot project for other municipalities, states and
nations. The water recaptured from the sanitary system and
returned underground is the first man-made replenishment
of the potable water supply."
Purcell pointed out that other nations have already sent
engineers to study the Nassau project, including South
Africa, Australia, Israel, England, France and Russia.
"Today, we send an invitation to every nation, state,
municipality and locality, which wants or needs information
on our system, to send qualified representatives to gain
knowledge from what we have achieved," Purcell said.
The process goes into operation with the full approval of
the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the state's
Department of Environmental Conservation, which gave
the county its permit at the end of May.
"Our public works engineers and officials have worked
with EPA and DEC officials all through the development of
the program and its construction," Purcell said. "The federal
government provided 75 per cent of the cost, the state twelve
and a half per cent and the county the remainder.
"The total cost for planning, testing and construction
exceeds $32 million."
Costs for the plant, transmission line and recharge system
were about $24 million. Operating costs to date, including
the exhaustive testing program, amount to slightly more
than $8 million.
The process and system will be tested and monitored on a
daily hour-by-hour basis, manually and by computer. The
U.S. Geological Service and the county Departments of
Health arid Public Works will view, test and trace the water.
When the waste water is released from the Cedar Creek
plant to run through the pipeline to East Meadow," Purcell
said, "it will be drinkable water. It will exceed the standards
of most public water services at that point. It will, however,
be returned to the underground aquifers to join the natural
water supply."
Officials of the federal, state and county agencies as well
as representatives of the private consulting and engineering
firms involved were present for the start of operation in East
Meadow.