The-Helm_1974-12-04; Lynbrook Helm Independent Review

              y A L V r f^ N c 1> u o
f > \ r.T T W n i l A o
Vol. 14 No. 27 E n t e r e d a s Second—Class Matte/
P o s t O f f i c e , l , y n b r o o k , N.Y. LY 3-1300 THE FAMILY NEWSPAPER Wednesday, Dec. 4,1974
Personalities Malverne Environmental Council Serves Commnnilj
Julian L. Van Bellinghen,
assistant vice-president of The
Suburbia Federal Savings Bank,
with many branches all over
Long Island, including the
beautifuly designed bank in
liynbrook on Merrick Rd., is
somewhat of a youthful genius.
He is a fascinating and warm
human being and one of the most
interesting people I have ever
had the pleasure of interviewing.
He was born in New York City
and is the first Belgian-American
I have ever contacted. He was
born 31 years ago to Julian L. Van
Bellinghen and his wife, Juliette,
who now makes their home in
Franklin Square. Julian, (which
is the American spelling of his
family name,) is the oldest of
four children. He has one sister,
Jean, (now Mrs. V. Kaiser) of
Franklin Square, a brother, Paul,
a resident of New Hampshire and
his younger sister, Maureen, age
16, who is a student at Frank
Carey High School in Franklin
Square.
He attended school in St.
Thomas. The Postle School as his
family moved to the Island when
he was a mere three years-old.
He graduated from Sewanhaka
High School and subsequently
earned degrees at Adelphia, at
night, while engaging in an
amazing variety of jobs that
interested him and supported his
family. It is not easy to go to
college at night and be respon-sible
for a family during the day.
He was 1-A in the draft for Viet-
Nam for eight years but was
considered more valuable right
here. The reason for that will
become apparent later.
An interesting point about
Julian's grandfather is that he
did take two trips back to Ant-wep,
Belgium, in 1937. Julian's
Dad found himself drafted in the
Belgium Army and actually
completed a full tour of military
service and was preparing to sail
home on board an Ameriaan
vessel when news came that
Germany had invaded his
country. The American captain
just let in a hurry without tug
escorts and Julian lost no time
enlisting in the American Army
where he had" a much better
chance of being of use. Julian was
just 21 years old when he married
his lovely wife, the former
Carolyn Zalackas, and the couple
have a fine son, Julian, the third.
Mrs. Van Bellinghen is expecting
a baby or babies next May. Julian
hopes it will be twins, especially
girls.
He has held all types of
A policeman, returning to college to further his career,
called the office of the Malverne Environmental Council a few
weeks ago.
He had a problem, an environmental problem in fact. He
had to write a paper on the causes and effects of air pollution,
but could find very little specific material in the libraries.
Could the Malverne Environmental Council help?
Indeed it could. Within half an hour, a volunteer put to-gether
a packet of information including booklets, diagrams
and essays on the whys and wherefores of air quality. The ma-terial
was lent to the policeman for a month, more than
enough time for him to complete his paper on air pollution.
Being able to help this student and many others like him is
exactly what members of the Mal-verne
Environmental Council had in
mind more than three years ago when
they first met to discuss a program
which would reflect their concern for
the earth's resources.
It all began in the early months of
1971 as a response to someone's sug-gestion
"to do something about
Earth Week this year." Several Mal-verne
residents put out a call through
local service organizations and the
religious community to send repre-sentatives
to a meeting to discuss lo-cal
environmental problems.
By the second meeting, it was de-cided
to organize a council to enable
individuals and groups to contribute
to the growing environmental movement with positive, prac-tical
action.
Soon after these initial meetings, a recycling center (open
daily, 24 hours a day) was set up in the parking lot behind the
Malverne Theatre on Hempstead Avenue. A massive publicity
campaign was launched to alert residents of Malverne and
surrounding communities to the availability of nearby recycl-ing
facilities.
T h e response from the community has been truly impres-sive.
Thousands of Malverne area residents have since deposited
nearly 900,000 pounds of glass, more than four tons of alum-inum
and hundreds of tons of newspapers at the site.
Every Saturday morning, members of the council and vol-unteer
workers, armed with sledgehammers and safety glasses,
show up in force to crush the glass and bundle papers.
Getting off to such a good start, the Malverne Environmen-tal
Council was soon able to furnish a small office (donated by
a local church) with printed and photographic materials on the
environment. A telephone was also installed to answer ques-tions
from the general public.
While recycling is not only a practical solution to Nassau's
solid waste problem, it also provides much needed funds for
the council's activities.
The council completely financed the construction of a
permanent concrete building, housing a massive bottle and can
crushing machine, with the revenue from recycling. The profits
also help pay for the council's wideranging environmental edu-cation
programs.
School programs in districts No.
12 and No. 13 (Malverne, Lynbrook
and Valley Stream) have been en-riched
by council sponsored lectures,
slides, plantings and guided trips.
This October, an outdoor education
course, with four scheduled field
trips, is being offered to adults for
the first time.
To round out its environmental
education program, the council spon-sors
lectures on environmental topics
and is responsible for the celebration
of Earth Week each spring.
The Malverne Environmental Cou-ncil
has been active in many other
ways. With the encouragement of
council members, the Village of Mal-verne
started a leaf mulching program which converts'
fall leaves into spring mulch. It also instituted mandatory
newspaper pickup throughout the village.
The Malverne Environmental Council is an object lesson in
what can be accomplished by citizens who take an active in-terest
in their environment.
If you would like to learn more about the Malverne En-vironmental
Council or volunteer your services, please call
887-3433 for more detailed information.
Other communities in Nassau can well profit by Malverne's
example and set up their own local environmental council or
organization. The Nassau County Environmental Management
Council is always happy to assist any individual or group
interested in establishing such a council in their community.
This article has been reprinted
from the October, 1974 Issue of
EGOS, a Nassau County Environ-mental
Management Council pub! .
fascinating jobs while working
his way through college, in-cluding
a five-year job with
Sears-Roebuck and four years
with the Burroughs Co., who
introduced him to the wonderful
world of computers and made
him an expert computer
programer and engineer. He has
even been a programmer and
engineer for a major New York
network. He showed me his small
or "baby" computers which
communicate directly with
master computers on the top
floor of Suburbia's beautiful new
Lynbrook building. He has been
with Suburbia for three years and
loves his work. He had been a
computer engineer for Burroughs
and a programmer for W.H.N,
and their television affiliates.
He is an even six feet tall, quite
strong and muscular with light
brown hair, neat mustache and
(Continued on Page 3)
Malverne Schools Release DIslriet Survey
The Board of Education of the
Malverne Union Free School
District has completed a District-wide
mailing asking the com-munity
to make its feelings
known about refurbishing the
elementary facilities, or about
building a new school.
The poll is the result of four
community meetings which were
held in the District during Sep-tember
and October. At that
time, Board President Robert L.
Fraissinet reported on the con-dition
of the two elementary
schools—at Davison Avenue and
Lindner Place. Those who at-tended,
responded with a number
of suggestions, but it was the
consensus of opinion that a poll
should be taken so that everyone
has an opportunity to express
views on the subject.
Essentially, the survey asks
three questions: (a) Should the
facilities be renovated at a cost of
$850,000—and should that be paid
through a bond issue over 20
years, or be made a part of the
budget in equal installments over
a five-year period? (b) Should
that renovation take place as well
as additions to the existing
buildings at a total cost of ap-proximately
$2,170,000? (c)
Should a new Central Elemen-tary
Building be erected on
District property at an estimated
cost of $4,700,000?
The survey indicates that a
proposal for a new school was
turned down in March of 1973, as
were renovation propositions
authorizing the expenditure of
$268,250 and $110,000, in 1974 and
1973 respectively. Fraissinet, in
his covering letter, points out that
both buildings are more than 50
years old and require refur-bishing
"on a fairly regular
basis."
District residents have been
asked to respond by Etecember
15.
Want lo earn 6 perccnl interest on
your savings? Start buying U.S.
Savings Bonds this Christmas. Only
$18.75 will purchase a $25 H Bond
that matures in 5 years.