Bethpage-Tribune_1987-07-02

              BETHiy^E :K.*i-
BT 4-copies
Bethpage Library
47 Po^^^-^.i^ 11714
Island Trees Plainedge
also serving
Seaford Old Bethpage Plainview
VOL. 32 NO. 9 July 2,1987 to July 8, 1987 20 cents per copy
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Musket fire, patriotic
speeches and temperance
demonstrations will be just
pari oi a 'lively and festive
Fourth when an "Old
Fashioned Celebration of a
Patriotic Holiday" is held at
Old Bethpage Village Resto­ration
on Saturday, July 4,
from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. The
day will be the kind of glor­ious
Fourth of July that
Long Islanders crfelebrated in
1851.
Visitors are invited to
bring their lunches to the
Temperance Society Picnic
behind the Noon Inn, where
fiddle music will be played
until 1 P.M. A program of
patriotic songs by the Old
Bethpage Singers is sche­duled
at the church at 12:30
and 1:30 P.M., to be fol­lowed
by an Independence
Day parade and formal
ceremonies at 2 P.M. The
festivities will also include
brass band concerts, militia
drills, a greased pole climb
and children's games at the
Village Crossroads.
The first of four evening
picnic concerts for the sea­son
will begin at 6:30 P.M.,
with "Star Spangled Music"
from the 18th and 19th
Century.
Picnic tables will be set up
behind the Noon Inn, where
visitors may bring a picnic
supper. There is a '/^ mile
walk to the picnic site from
the parking area.
Looel Stydeiits Cited
Senator John R. Dunne recently hosted an awards
ceremony tor the winners of his 1987 "There Ought To Be a
Law" contest, at which each of the winning students was
presented with a New York Senate "Certificate of Merit".
The contest, sponsored annually by Dunne, is open to all
sixth graders in Dunne's Sixth Senate District. The students
propose ideas for new state legislation as part of their study
of New York's governmental system. A winner is selected
from each school, as well as one district-wide Grand Prize
winner. This year, over 2,600 students from 30 schools
participated.
Pictured at the awards ceremony are (1. to r.): Lisa Wigd-zinski
(Kramer Lane School), Senator "Dunne and Sherry
O'Neill, (Charles Campagne School).
Aid To Taxpayers Constructing '1n-Law" Apartments
Senator Norman J. Levy (R,C-Merrick) announced that
legislation he is co-sponsoring which will aid those
homeowners wishing to have their parents and/or grand­parents
live with them, by offering tax incentives for the cost
of renovating their homes to include an "in-law" apartment,
has been approved by the Senate.
Levy explained that the proposal allows opting munici­palities
to provide assessment exemptions for part of the
capital construction costs incurred as the result of providing
living quarters for parents or grandparents, 62 years of age
or older.
"Homeowners could receive this exemption each year in
which the senior relative(s) reside within their home," said
Levy, adding, "This proposal would allow all homeowners
constructing such senior citizen "in-law" apartments,
regardless of their income level, to be eligible for the assess­ment
exemption.
Levy pointed out that many times taxpayers will fix up
part of their homes to provide living quarters for their
elderly parents or grandparents, "By giving an assessment
exemption for the cost of such construction, we are promot­ing
this activity and fostering the three generation extended
family," Levy stresed.
"Older citizens can and should become meaningful and
involved members of their families, not only to aid their own
psychological and physical well-being, but to allow the
younger generations to learn from their wealth of experien­ces,
knowledge and talent," Levy said.
Levy indicated that the measure has passed the Senate on
numerous occasions, but has been blocked by the Demo­cratic
Leadership in the Assembly. "I urge all local residents
interested in this important measure to write to Assembly
Speaker Mel Miller, at the New York State Assembly, Legis­lative
Office Building, Stale Capitol, Albany, New York
12248, urging him to support S. 1178 and to permit the bill to
come the full Assembly for a vote," concluded Levy,
200 Years of Freedom
This year we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Consti­tution.
In many ways, the creation of our Constitution was a more
important event in our nation's histoi7 than the Declaration of Inde­pendence
in 1776.
In the 11 years between the Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution, America was little more than, a collection of 13
bickering former colonies.
Under the Articles of Confederation, America could hardly be
said to have a government at all. Congress and the courts were inef­fective
and the executive branch of government was nonexistent.
So in 1787, many of the same leaders who had so recently won
our independence gathered in Philadelphia. Included in their num­ber
were such men as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin,
Alexander Hamilton and James Madison.
Their goal was to create a new form of government that would be
strong enough to unify the states while absolutely guaranteeing in­dividual
rights and liberties.
That we are able to celebrate the bicentennial of that Constitution
is testimony to their genius. That basic document still protects our
right to worship as we please, to speak freely on all issues and to
freely communicate with one another through newspapers and mag­azines
without fear of unwarranted government interference or
censorship.
That our founding fathers were able to produce a document that
would stand the test of time is a tribute to their great political skills
as well as their wisdom. Those who went to Philadelphia represent­ing
their states began with major differences. Each had a vision of
how America should be governed. Hamilton had an aristocrat's fear
of "the mass of the people." He was countered by such advocates
of democracy as Virginia's Madison and George Mason.
That our Constitution began as a result of compromise, of give
and take between widely differing viewpoints, may be one of the
secrets of its greatness. It is our legacy of seeking peaceful solu­tions
for difficult problems and allowing opposing opinions to be
openly and freely debated. | | |