Observer_1988-02-24; East Rockaway/Lynbrook Observer

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VOL. 35 NO. 7 Wednesday, February 2 4 , 1 9 88 30f PER COPY
Rally Set To Protest
Tax Change
The Lynbrook Independ-ent
Party has scheduled a
rally on Monday, March 7,
1988 at 8:00 P.M. at the Vil-lage
Hall to protest the
Board's decision to change
from a semi-annual to an
annual tax collection.
' i t proves what we have
been saying all along about
the current administration:
they are completely insensi-tive
to the feelings of the
people of Lynbrook," stated
William Smith, Executive
Leader of the Lynbrook
Independent Party. Smith
noted that only will senior
citizens have difficulty pay-ing
their taxes in one lump
sum, but that the change will
"wreak havoc" on the
e s c r o w a c c o u n t s of
homeowners paying mort-gages.
"This will probably
require assessments against
all owners of cooperative
apartments in order to come
up with the additional tax,"
Smith said.
The controversy began
when Mayor Geier and the
Village Board voted to
change the Village's tax col-lection
schedule in January.
Trustee Stephen Grogan, a
member of the Mayor's
Good Government Party,
voted against the proposal.
Trustee Dominick DeCarlo,
the lone representative of
the Independent Party on
the Village Board, abstained.
Mayor Geier announced
at the February 8, 1988
meeting of the Village Board
that the proposal which had
been approved would not go
into effect until June, 1989,
instead of the original date
of June, 1988. The measure,
which is expected to be
approved at the next meet-ing
of the Board, retains the
annual collection schedule.
Independent Party lead-ers
criticized the move as a
hidden tax increase. Party
President Eugene Scarpato
stated that he believed
Mayor Geier wanted to
include the investment
income that an annual tax
payment would create into
this year's budget because
"the Village is looking at
another huge tax increase."
Scarpato pointed out that
the Village experienced a
20% tax increase last year,
which he believes would
have been 25% had the
Independent Party and
other residents not opposed
the Mayor and Village
Board.
Smith vowed the Inde-pendent
Party would fight
"to the bitter end" this legist
lation which he termed "fis-cally
irresponsible." He
invited all residents and bus-iness
owners to participate
in the rally. "The Mayor and
Good Government Party
have proved themselves to
be fiscally incompetent and
this proves how desperate
the financial situation of our
Village is for such an act to
be necessary," Smith
concluded.
W A VERLY PARK SCHOOL STAFF AND FACULTY HONORED. Hempstead Town
Presiding Supervisor Joseph N. Mondello presents a town citation commending the
achievement of academic excellence by the faculty and staff of Lynbrook School District's
Waverly Park Elementary School. School administrators honored the staff by celebrating
"Faculty and Staff Day" on January 26. Accepting the citation are: Barbara Hayes (left).
Principal, and Alicemarie Bresnihan, Board of Education President.
Alumni
Grist
Plan June
Tribute
by Mildred Roemer
The ERHS Alumni Asso-ciation
will present a show
celebrating the 300th Anni-versary
of the Grist Mill
built in 1688 on June 11,
1988, at 8 p.m. in the high
school auditorium. A Cast
Call has been issued for 7:30
p.m. on Tuesday or Wed-nesday
evening, March 8 or
9, in the All-Purpose room
at Centre Avenue Elemen-tary
School.
A light-hearted romp
During this 300th anni-versary
year of the building
of the old Grist Mill, now
East Rockaway's prized
Museum, it behooves all to
scrutinize old documents
and tales in order to try to
separate fact from fiction.
One story that has per-sisted
throughout the years
is that when George
Washington was in our vic-inity
during the Battle of
Long Island, that Col.
Richard Hewlett (a Tory)
planned to invite Washing-ton
to his home on Main
Street and have him served
poisoned green peas for
dinner! However, it was
never proven that the good
General ever accepted the
invitation or ever came to
East Rockaway. However,
Col. Hewlett did have to flee
to Canada after the war.
through 300 years of east
Rockaway history, the show
will feature song and dance
and comedy (we hope!),
with some ghastly ghostly
appearances, as the Grist
Mill "weathers" a modern
crisis that threatens its very
existence.
Beginning and ending in
modern times, the show
transport us back to such
periods as 1688, 1776, 1865,
1900, 1920, and 1945.
Fiction or Fact?
Another rather strange
statement came to light in a
paper stating that after
Joseph Haviland (who built
the Mill in 1688) died, that
his widow sold the Haviland
"marshlands" including this
area. In no other place has it
been noted whether the
famed builder even had a
bonny wife.
How the name "Huckleb-erry
Frolic" came about has
always been connected with
festivities held around the
Mill in olden times. That is
and seems to be a certainty,
but according to a well-written
paper, the idea for
the Frolic came from an
annual event held at a local
race track (possibly in Lyn-brook
or Hempstead) that
"began with athletic events
and games, ending in rowdy
r i o t s and funmaking."
Reserved seat tickets at
$7.50 each can be ordered
now. Remember to hold the
date! A fun evening is com-ing
on June 11!
Alumni and other resi-dents
aching to get back on
the stage are uirged to show
up for the Cast Call on either
March 8 or 9. Potential cast
members unable to attend
on either evening can con-tact
Genie Kubat by tele-phone
(516-599-5627).
Thankfully, that does not
describe the E.R. Frolics!!
There are many fond and
interesting tales told about
Irene Davison, unwed, and
one of the wealthiest of the
Davisons. She was anti-liquor
and anything "evil".
She once routed a pair of
bookies who were operating
in what is now Herbros
Pharmacy and was forever
"cleaning up" the Village.
There are also some interest-ing
facts to be found in the
Woods Avenue School
records. One states that after
a meeting of the Board that
25<t would be allowed from
the funds to purchase a key
for the school. Another that
a new flag could only be
purchased to replace the old,
tattered one, if the new flag
would only be flown in fair
weather and the old one
flown only during storms.
Grievance Day Held In Lynbrook
The Lynbrook Board of
Trustees held a Board Meet-ing
during the special Grie-vance
Day which was held
on Tuesday, February 16,
1988 from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00
by Annette Ling
p.m. at Village Hall.
Mayor Bill Geier explained
that the Mayor and Board of
Trustees also were the Lyn-brook
Board of Assessment
Review.
ERA Dinner/Dance
The East Rockaway
Action Party will hold its
22nd Annual Dinner Dance
on Saturday, February 27,
1988, at the Main Street
Firehouse in East Rockaway.
This year's honoree will
be Mr. Mel Weitz, who is
known throughout the Vil-lage
as "Mr. Foodtown."
ERA Party President Wil-liam
Kelleher stated "Mel
Weitz has done so much for
the Village of East Rocka-way
and its residents. The
ERA Party is privileged to
honor him at our dinner-
/dance."
The dance will be held
from 8:30 pm until 12:30am.
Donations of $30 per person
are requested.
To reserve your seat,
please contact Anthony
Santino at 599-3748 or
D e n i s M o t h e r w a y at
599-1890.
The village departmental
reports were accepted as
submitted but not read and
placed on file.
Village Assessor Marion
Cash explained that about
250 petitions had been
received which had been
filed at the proper cut-off
date. One senior citizen tax
exemption petition had
come in on January 21st
after the final date of
December 31st for such
a p p l i c a t i o n s with the
resident claiming that she
had been away and had not
received the notice on time.
The matter was referred to
Village Attorney Jay Korth
with the Mayor stating that
every possible consideration
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