Observer_1986-04-23; East Rockaway/Lynbrook Observer

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VOL 33 NO. 17 Week of April 23,1986
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No Tax Increase In Lynbrook
SOUTH NASSAU FLOWER DAYS. The Lynbrook-East
Rockaway Auxiliary to South Nassau Communities Hospi-tal
will be celebrating spring by selling cymbidiums for $1.50
apiece on Thursday, May 1 and Friday, May 2 for the
hospital's Annual Flower Days. Mayor Theodore Reinhard
proclaims the event, as he receives a beautiful orchid from
East Rockaway Auxilian Rosemary Dillon. All proceeds
will benefit the 429-bed teaching community hospital in
Oceanside.
by Annette Ling
Mayor William Geier and
the Lynbrook Village Board
have approved a 1986/87
budget with no increase in
Village tax. The tax rate
remains at the rate set last
year, or $2.56 per $100 of
assessed valuation.
This is the third time in
the past four years that
Mayor Geier and the Board
have kept the tax rate stable
with no increase.
Mayor Geier carefully
went over each item in the
budget and explained that
municipal liability insurance
costs for the Village have
gone up sharply. There is an
estimated rise of 116%. A
bill passed by New York
Reminiscenses Of Lynbrook
This is the second of a
two-part article about the
Original Henri Restaurant,
Lynbrook's most famous
restaurant from the early
1900s to 1930s. This article
was compiled and written by
Dorothy Perrich of the
Lynbrook 75th Anniversary
Historical Committee on the
occasion of Lynbrook's 75th
birthday. The article con-cludes
with Henri's world-famous
recipe for crepes
suzette.
Madame Sarah Bern-hardt
came to Lynbrook
with a party often in 1917. It
was a time for recalling past
memories of Havre, Henri
as a little assistant waiter
who managed to spill hot oil
on himself while serving the
Great Bernhardt and her
kindness to him at the time.
Henri still had her handker-chief
of "cambric and point
lace" which she had used to
care for his blistered fingers,
so long ago. With a bow and
a dramatic flourish he
returned it to her. When it
was time to leave she said,
"how glad 1 am 1 once was
kind to the little boy who has
become Henri, the restaurateur."
"The restaurant con-tinued
to prosper until the
Eighteenth Amendment to
the Constitution ushered in
prohibition. In April, 1930,
twelve government agents
"swooped down on the
mecca of ultra-society," as
the press reported, "smash-ing
hundreds of bottles on
the premises and confiscat-ing
appoximately $100,000
worth of rare wines and
champagnes." "Even the
soup was made with wine,"
an incredulous agent testi-fied
in court."
Though the restaurant
wasn't forced to close, it
might as well have been.
Most of the food on the
menu required wine or
brandy in its preparation
and since this was forbidden
by law it would become a
felony to serve dishes con-taining
either of these two
ingredients, "...prohibition
put an end to this type of
(Continued on Page 3)
Elks Installed
On Saturday evening,
April 5, 1986, the Lynbrook
Elks Lodge No. 1515, held
its annual installation of
officers. Lawrence Contratti
of Lynbrook is the new
Exalted Ruler for a one year
term. Mr. Contratti is a
Syosset High School Eng-lish,
and Social Studies
teacher, and has been very
active in the Elks for almost
nine years.
The ceremony was held in
the Lodge Hall where over
200 Elks, and guests were
present. In his acceptance
(Continued on Page 16)
State Legislature removing
A.T. & T., property from the
tax rolls, has also had an
effect on taxable property.
N.Y. State new veterans's
exemptions also had an
impact on the Vilage budget.
The Mayor mentioned the
rising cost of solid wast dis-posal
as a cost escalating at
an alarming rate. Despite
these increases in Village
expenditures resulting in a
figure of $9,651,842 for this
year, there will be no
increase in tHe Village tax
rate. With no tax increase,
the tax rate is $2.56 per $100
of assessed valuation. The
loss of revenue was offset by
the sale of the old Village
Hall at 266 Merrick Rd. The
first payment on the sale of
the property has been
included in the budget of
1986/87.
The Board approved the
request of St. James United
Methodist Church to hold a
Flea Market and Collecti-bles
Fair on Saturday, April
26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Mothers' Group of Our
Lady of Peace Church was
granted permission to hold
its Annual. Flea Market on
Saturday, May lOth, from
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Christ
Church was also given per-mission
to hold its auction,
which will take place on
Saturday, April 19, 1986
from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. All
the fees were waived for the
three events by the Board.
The Board has approved
the sale of Long Island
Lighting Co. street lights
and Mayor Geier was given
permission to sign the final
contract.
R e t i r i n g Fire Chief
Robert CitKovic was con-gratulated
by the Mayor and
Board of Trustees and he
introduced the new Fire
Chiefs to the Board: Chief
Robert Gleason, First Dep-uty
Chief Peter Skeris,
Second Deputy Chief,
Richard Nydecker, and
third Deputy Chief, Bill
Donnellan.
Three bids were received
for the Lynbrook Fire
Department "pagers" which
will greatly enhance the effi-ciency
and communications
of the Lynbrook Fire
D e p a r t m e n t . The bids
include the following com-panies:
Motorola Company
Communications for 275
Pagers, $118,418, Long
Island Commmunication
Sytem, $130,882, SMJ
Leather Products for the
leather Pager cases only,
$5,156.22. The Bids were
accepted and turned over for
review to Mike Shindler,
Communications Commis-s
i o n e r and the Fire
Department.
The Board approved a
sign feie of $10 for permits
for new signs. Canopy and
awning Fees were set at $25
for the permit.
The Board adjourned to,
executive session at a fairly
early hour.
What Is Rock Rivalry?
ELKS. The Lodge Officers for 1986-87 are as follows, stand-ing
left to right: James Marco, Secretary; William Goerke,
Organist; Murray Levitt, Trustee: Fred Bortasch, Trustee;
Peter Maffucci, Trustee; Al Greser, Tiler; Ralph Di Paiola,
Trustee; and Ed Montgomery, Treasurer. Seated, left to
right: Mike Soscia, Inner Guard; Francis Becker Jr., Cha-plain;
Bruce Bregman, Esquire; Lawrence Contratti,
Exalted Ruler; William McKeon, Leading Knight; Roy
Solace, Loyal Knight; and Philip Geraffo, Lecturing
Knight. (Photo by John Cribbin)
by Mildred Roemer
That was the question
asked by a newcomer to East
Rockaway last week to a
boatman who was carefully
planning and nailing his craft,
not in the harbor, but on the
stage of the High School
auditorium.
The question was ans-wered
over and over again'
by H.S. alumni who had
joined to celebrate the Fif-tieth
Anniversary of the
event.
First on stage was Andy
Durso, class of'37, with his
daughter Andrea. Andy, as
a freshman, was the first to
step on stage for the first
Rock Rivalry ...only it
wasn't really on stage, "for
the auditorium had not been
built and activities were held
in the old gym. At that time
Murals were hung on the
walls there and the audience
sat on the bleachers to watch
the performer burst through
the gym dqprs for their
entrances.'^
/^n even dozen of "guys
and dolls" from the thirties
returned to show the teenag-ers
in the audience that their
Moms and Dads were hot
stuff in those days. They
sang many "Golden Oldies"
and tripped the "light fan-tastic."
The forties alumni
took a "sentimental Jour-ney"
in song and dance. This
group included so many
familiar names to Ye Olde
Historian that many flash-backs
crept in while the sing-ing
went on. The Class of'48
won THE CUP in their Jun-ior
and Senior years...in
spite of the fact that in their
Junior entrance they had a
student climb up onto the
basketball backboard in the
gym to fold a spotlight that
turned out to have a short-time
bulb. It broke, scatter-ing
sparkling glass on the
dancers. Luckily the alumni
performers sparkled with-out
any glass!
The fifties saw the benefit
and challenge of a REAL
stage. The Class of '50 also
grabbed the cup in their Jun-ior
and Senior Years. The
Class of '49 declared the
only reason that they had
lost the cup was due to the
fact that the M.C. in their
entrance ("The twenties")
had delivered some risque
jokes that had not been
heard during the rehearsals
and did not set well with the
judgers. That battle of who
REALLY won The Cup still
goes on today! The fifties
alumni did have a huge
"Chick Sales" in a field of
sunflowers for their skit,
"Mountain Music." Humor,
songs, and dances were
good.
(Continued on Page 13)
Members of the Classes of the 1940*s are: Jeanette Conklin
Jonassen, Josephine Costanzo Marinaccio, Donald Cle-mente,
Loretta Conklin Keane, Phyllis Talfor Cooke, Fran
Kasold Healy, Marilyn Gerth Piatt, Kathleen Clemente
Noon, and Dorothy Hughes.