Observer_1986-07-23; East Rockaway/Lynbrook Observer

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Newspaper
Inc Village
School District
Inc Village
School District
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Executive Offices: Seiffert Building, 2787 Long Beach Road. Oceanside, NY 11572
Post Office Box A, East Rockaway, NY 11518 (516> 764-2500
VOL. 33 NO. 30 Wednesday, July 23,1986
11513
"YOUR VOICE IN THE
COMMUNITY"
East Rockaway-Lynbrook Observer Publication 11165080 is ptib-
.J IJJ, gpj^Q Corporation. Second Class
" IN.V. 11570 and additional mailing
to The East Rockaway-Lynbrook MOllilt , N.Y. 11518.
30i PER COPY
Becker Scholarship Winner Board Approves New School;
Referendum Set For October 14
BECKER SCHOLARSHIP WINNER. The 1986 Con-gressman
Frank J. Becker Educational Foundation Scho-larship
was awarded to John L. Sullivan of 100 Merrick
Road, Lynbrook, New York. The runner up was Ann
Taranto, of Starks Place, Lynbrook, New York, Lynbrook
High School Senior. In the picture above, Richard Gover-nale.
Chairman of the Scholarship committee watches Phil-lip
Spina, President of the Congressman Frank J. Becker
Scholarship, present the award to John L. Sullivan, Mal-verne
High School Senior as his mom, Mrs. Sullivan, looks
on. John, who is third in his class at Malverne High School
will be attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the fall
and hopes to ultimately enter the Held of medicine. The
runner up, Ann Taranto, will be attending Princeton Uni-versity
in the fall and would be awarded the scholarship if
John would be unable to fulfill his commitment to attend
college in the fall.
The East Rockaway
Board of Education has
unanimously endorsed a
plan to construct a new
school on the site ol the
Rhame Avenue Elementary
School and has tentatively
scheduled the date of
October 14, 1986, for a ref-erendum
by the voters of the
School District.
Rhame Avenue School
was destroyed by fire in
January of this year. Stu-dents
attending Rhame
Avenue have been moved to
the "Annex" in the Merle
Avenue School in Ocean-side.
Btmtd President John
Van Houten stated that the
choice was between "replac-ing
an old, inefficient build-ing
or constructing a brand
new building at a lower cost
to the taxpayers." The cho-ice,
given the facts, was easy
for Van Houten and the rest
Lent Confirmed To Powerful
House Committee
The House Republican
Conference today con-firmed
Rep. Norman F.
Lent (R-4-N.Y.) as the new
Ranking Republican on the
powerful Energy and Com-merce
Committee.
"Fm very gratified to have
my colleagues' support. This
promotion will give me the
opportunity to have a signif-icant
influence on some
very important legislative
issues before the Commit-tee,
including several of par-ticular
concern to Long
Island and New York State.
I'm very anxious to get
down to business," Lent
said.
Rep. Lent succeeds
newly-appointed U.S. Sena-tor
James T. Broyhill (R-N.
C.) as Republican leader
on the Committee. North
Carolina Governor Jim
Martin appointed Broyhill
on July 3 to complete the
Senate term of the late Sena-tor
John East.
The Energy and Com-merce
Committee has juris-diction
over a wide range of
issues including energy,
health and the environment,
commerce, transportation,
telecommunications and
consumer protection issues.
In his capacity as a
member of the Committee,
Lent has been a key negotia-tor
in the current House-
Senate conference on Super-f
u n d r e a u t h o r i z a t i on
legislation. Last December,
the House approved the
Eckart-Lent bill, HR 2817,
to reauthorize and streng-then
Superfund, the nation's
hazardous waste cleanup
program.
Other landmark envir-onmental
laws Lent helped
craft include the Resource
Conservation and Recovery
(Continued on Page 3)
There's a - new pack in
town.
On Monday, July 21,
1986, the Board of Trustees
of Bethany Congregational
Church was presented with
Cub Pack 363's Charter,
officially bringing scouting
back to Bethany Church.
The Cub Pack leadership
will consist of Frank Monte-lione,
Cubmaster, Dave
Cub Pack 363
by Ruth Montelione
Shields, Chairman, and
Joyce Abrams, Den Leader
Coach.
The Cub Pack's new flag
was also presented at the
meeting.
There are still some open-ings
in the Pack for first
graders. Anyone interested
in joining should cpntactthe
Pack at 593-4254 or
599-4013.
NEW PACK. The Rev. William Over, Pastor of Hetnany
Congregational Church, accepts Cub Pack 363*s Charter
from Cubmaster Frank Montelione and Den Leader Coach
Joyce Abrams.
of the Board.
Under the plan adopted
by the Board, a new building
comprising approximately
45,000 square feet would be
built in the southeast quad-rant
of the school property.
A parking lot for teachers,
containing 40 spaces, would
be constructed with an
entrance on First Avenue.
Plans concerning the inte-rior
of the building have not
been finalized, and at this
time the amount of insu-rance
reimbursement has
not been determined. The
Board anticipates that the
funds necessary to finance
the project would amount to
between $0.67 and $0.80 per
h u n d r e d ot a s s e s s ed
valuation.
'''IThe new Building would"
have a rated capacity of 368
students, and since it classi-fies
as new construction,
would be aided by the state
at 100% as opposed to 50%
for reconstruction, based on
a cost index of $6,700 per
student.
The Board considered
and rejected a proposal to
retain the Althouse wing of
the school and construct a
new portion of the building
around it. This proposal
would actually cost more
than a complete rebuilding,
with a tax increase of
between $0.94 and $ 1.15 per
hundred needed to finance
the project.
The Board also rejected
by a vote of 4-1 a resolution
brought forward by Board
member Mary Jane Breze-noff
which would have made
Centre Avenue a 4-6 school
and the new school at
Rhame Avenue K-3. Mrs.
Brezenoff contended that
"the educational advance-ment
far outweighs the con-venience
of neighborhood
schools," and urged a restuc-turing
of the district's educa-tional
priorities. The other
Board members, wtiile
"intrigued" by the concept
of dividing the schools, felt
that there was a lack of sup-port.
in. the community for
the p r o p o s a f . Board
members noted that a recent
questionnaire sent to par-ents
found 58 of 83 people
responding opposed to such
a plan, and said that a movei^
at this time might jeopardize,
the passage of the referen-dum
in October.
If approved by the voters
in October, demolition of
the old school would begin
in December, 1986, with
construction of the new
school beginning in August,
1987. Timely completion ot
the new building would be
no earlier than September,
1988.
At the August 11 meeting
of the Board of Education,
the Board hopes to present
more detailed plans on the
interior of the building and
the final cost to the taxpay-ers.
The Board members
.stated that they would like
any comments from the
community and urged all
residents attend the August
11 and future Board
meetings.
Jets Draft
ERHS Grad
Pat (Paco) Ragusa, East
R^ockaway High School
Class of 1981, has been
signed by the New York Jets
football team.
Ragusa, who played col-lege
ball at St. John's Uni-versity,
was recommended
by former teammate Dennis
Bligen, who is currently a
Jets running back, and was
given a tryout and called
back for a second look last
week. He signed a free-agent
contract a few days ago.
We'll be looking for great
things from Paco on the
sports pages in the years to
come.
Dr. and Mrs. Wallace Smith Honored
A special fellowship hour
was held on Sunday, June
29, to give due recognition
to Dr. Wallace Smith, who
retired from the practice of
medicine on July 1st at age
79. His wife, Marian, was
also honored for her many
years of service to Bethany
and for her steadfast sup-port
to her husband. Both
was awarded certificates of
appreciation by Rev. Over.
Art Roemer, wlio has
Tcnown the doctor since the
mid-20's, opened the cerem-onies
with the following
remarks: "Dr. Wallace
Smith stands before us
today as our most senior
member. Hejoined Bethany
in 1926 and, except for an
absence during World War
11, he has been one of our
most loyal supporters for
the past 60 years. He is a
member of the Mens' Club
and Camera Club, and was
Chairman of the Board of
Trustees when Mr. Cousins
was pastor here in 1953.
Among the many church
positions he has held, he is
especially proud of his years
as a Deacon.
"As he retires from his
profession, it is only fitting
to note that as a medical
doctor and as a citizen he
has devoted his life to serv-ing
not only his patients, but
to the greater community
and to his country. My first
contact with him was when,
as a young doctor, he agreed
to teach first aid to the Boy
Scout troop at Rhame
Avenue School. He also
served for decades as East
Rockaway School Doctor.
(Continued on Page 3)
Rev. Overs presents a Certificate of Appreciation and a
bouquet of flowers to Dr. and Mrs. Wallace Smith. (Photo
by Ted Kell).