Freeport Historical Museum
Celebrates Its Fortieth
Anniversary
The actual building that houses the Historical Society has been home
to the Museum since March 3rd, 1962; and to commemorate the 40th
Anniversary, the Society is celebrating with a dinner at Bedell's at West
Wind on Sunday, March 3rd, 2002. The dinner will be held from 4 p.m. to
7 p.m., and there will be entertainment provided by members of the
Historical Society, including Camilla Weir. Freeport's Library Director,
David Optow will serve as the Master of Ceremonies.
The Museum is open every Sunday from April through December,
from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., and by appointment during the week for special
programs for school children, seniors and others interested in the history
of Freeport. The Society has accumulated a broad array of historical
items, including photographs, costumes from the days when the Village
was home to many famous entertainers, clockwork toys, and Freeport
High SchooLyearbooks._TicketS-for_the-dinner are-$30,-and-mernbership
in the Historical Museum Society is $5. For further information, you may
call the Museum at 516-623-9632. —
Last Call For
Little League
Registration
Freeport Fire Department Delivers in Response to
Critical Blood Shortage
The recent blood drive sponsored by
the Freeport Fire Department brought in
over 90 pints of blood to the Long Island
Blood Service. Thanks to the recruiting
efforts of Ex-Captain Kenny Lewis, and the
generosity of Freeport's Fire Department
volunteers, village employees and resi-dents,
the blood drive was a major success.
Individuals who were not able to
donate blood on January 4th may still
arrange for a donation with the blood
center by calling 800-933-2566 and set-ting
up a private appointment at their
convenience. The center is still in need of
blood donations, especially type 0 blood.
Pictured in the photo are, Left to right: Long Island Blood Services Account Manager Tina Kovolisky;
Freeport Fire Department Ex-Captain Kenny Lewis; and the Rockville Centre Unit Manager Susan Arnold.
[.-ON
OZSU AN aivd
QIS
OZSLLAN
UB9DQ 'ON 917
FEBRUARY, 2002 www.FreeportNY.com THE HOME OF CHAMPIONS
BJ's Wholesale Club Opens
In Freeport
Joining in the official "breaking of bread" at the opening of BJ's Wholesale Club were: Christopher Creamer, First Vice President, Chamber of Commerce; Trustee Don Mauersberger; John Nuzzi, Sr., President
-Chamber of Commercei-Ken Hayes,-BJ's Zone Director of Operations;-Dan Smith,-BJ's Freeport General Manager; Paula Lein, Archer Street School Principal; Jim Bartell, BJ's Regional Marketing Manager;-
Mayor Bill Glacken, and Trustee Bill While, Jr.
the awards for school contests. "For exam-ple,"
explained Archer Street Principal Paula
Lein, "BJ's has made an initial donation of
$500 to the school, and has agreed to help us
by donating the cake for our cake sale fund-raising
program, the awards for our reading
marathon project, new refill cartridges for
our computer printers, and various other
supplies that we may need throughout the
school year."
The Freeport store is the 130th whole-sale
club in the Massachusetts-based chain.
"We chose Freeport for a number of rea-sons,"
explained Julie Somers, Assistant Vice
President and Manager of Pubic Relations
and Communications for the company. "It is
ideally located for our customers on the
south shore of Nassau County because it is
easily accessible to major highways and by
public transportation, and the area offers a
The new BJ's Wholesale Club, which is
located in Freeport on Mill Road in the for-mer
Caldor building, has been packed with
customers since its opening in December. The
members-only discount shopping club offers
a broad variety of items, including food in
large economy size packages, dry goods and
electronic merchandise, televisions and com-puters,
tools, hardware, sporting goods, toys,
baby and children's products and clothing.
Mayor Bill Glacken said in officially wel-coming
BJ's to Freeport, "This company is an
ideal example of the type of commitment to
the community we like to see in new busi-nesses
coming to our village." BJ's has a
special Adopt-A-School program, and has
chosen to sponsor the Archer Street
Elementary School by assisting fund-raising
projects, donating products, offering
employee volunteer support, and providing
broad variety of skilled and semi-skilled
employees. Freeport also provides low-cost
electrical and water utilities, which is a major
factor for BJ's, a company that likes to keep
its operating costs down so we can pass the
savings along to the customer." BJ's has
approximately 140 individuals working at
the Freeport site, many of them employees
who have been promoted from within the
organization.
"BJ's will be a major asset to Freeport
and it is just one of the many new companies
we expect to welcome in the coming
months," concluded the Mayor, who cited
the recent opening of the Roslyn Savings
Bank on Smith Street, and the Bramson
House custom upholsters warehouse which
recently re-located from Rockville Centre to
Freeport's industrial park.
Dear Neighbor:
Freeport is welcoming new busi-nesses
to our village every day. In the
past few months, several companies
have opened, including _BTs_
Whjojejs.aJfi-Club, which took over the
former Caldor building located on
Mill Road. The members-only dis-count
wholesale store has been busy
since its opening day. BJ's offers dis-count
prices on brand name items
such as appliances and food and dry
goods to customers who pay a mem-bership
fee to join the club.
Another newcomer to Freeport's
business community is the Roslyn
Savings Bank, which recently opened
a~branch office^orrBedell and 'Smith
Streets in the building formerly
occupied by Chase Bank. The Roslyn
Savings Bank is another organiza-tion
that believes in making a posi-tive
contribution to the local com-munity.
Along with offering the
usual array of banking services,
Roslyn Savings is exploring plans
with the Village to provide, with the
assistance of the Community
Development Corporation of Long
Island, a home ownership program
in Freeport targeted to low to mod-erate
income individuals who are
first time home buyers. The program
would also include training courses
on maintenance and minor repairs
for homeowners.
We also saw the official opening
three months ago of The Bramson
House, a custom upholstering com-pany
that numbers among its clients
many of the largest hotel chains in
the world. Begun over 30 years ago
by Jules and Betty Abramson, the
company specializes in designing
arid smirig'drap¥s,~ bedspreads,""fur"
niture upholstery, as well as fabric
treatments for walls for clients from
Singapore to Melville. The Bramsons
believe their success lies in the fact
that they provide a full-service oper-ation
from designing, to measuring,
to manufacturing and installing
every item right from their own
warehouse. None of the work,
including the installation of orders
in foreign countries, is sub-contract-ed.
A family owned and operated
firm, The Bramson House was
attracted to its new location on
Albany Avenue in Freeport for the
same reasons other businesses have
come-tcrour village: Freeport can
deliver low-cost electric and water
utilities, a readily available labor
market and affordable space in the
industrial park. The company cur-rently
employs more than 125 peo-ple,
and expects to expand now that
it has moved into its spacious 75,000
square-foot warehouse.
I've cited only three of the most
recent and larger new businesses
that chose to locate in Freeport.
With the beginning of construction
on the Main Street Mews and the
groundbreaking of the Plaza West/
project this year, Freeport will expe-rience
a surge of economic growth
that has not occurred in the Village
since the late 50's.
Freeport provides the ideal
resources for business, professional
and residential growth. The village
offers low-cost electric and water
utilities, along with a school district
that is a role model in delivering an
excellent education, while offering
its students a diverse and multi-cul-tural
environment. Ultimately, our
downtown business district, which
has already experienced a facelift
with our recent facade and street
improvement project, will benefit
from the same renovations that have
been so successful on our 'Nautical
Mile'. Our commercial area will be,a
model for other communities work-ing
on revitalizing their own down-town
areas.
Freeport welcomes these recent
newcomers, and looks forward to a
bright and prosperous economic
future. We have been able to
achieve the right blend of economic
incentives and commitment to pride
in our community that has led to sec-ond,
third and fourth generations of
families choosing to call Freeport
home. This is certainly true of my
family.
News 12 Panel Discussion
on Diversity Highlights Freeport's Achievements
Freeport's Deputy Mayor Renaire
Frierson was among the panelists on News
12's recent program "Melting Pot or Not?',
which examined in depth the ethnic and cul-tural
diversity of Long Island communities.
Ms. Frierson, as Executive Director of the
Nassau County Commission on Human
Rights, described the discrimination prob-lems
facing minority individuals, including
efforts that are made to discourage them
from purchasing homes in certain communi-ties
in Nassau County.
Along with the panelists, the program
also provided discussions with several
Freeport families who gathered in the home
of Pat and Richard Dina on Maryland Ave. in
Freeport. Among the guests invited to be
interviewed were Raquel and Bob Pachas,
who are 22-year residents of the village, Jan
Wilson, former principal of the Caroline G.
Atkinson School in Freeport, and recent
arrivals Charmaine and Eric Harvey, and
Brenda and Gregg White. The families
described why they chose to live in Freeport.
Several individuals praised its ethnic diversity
and multi-cultural environment, and also
Scott Feldman, News 12 program moderator; Michelle Santantonio, Executive Director, Long Island Housing Services; Fred Brewington, Civil
Rights Attorney; Miriam Garcia, Executive Director, Adelante of Suffolk County; Dr. Lee Koppelman, Executive Director of the L.I. Regional
Planning Board; Renaire Frierson, Deputy Mayor of Freeport and Executive Director, Nassau County Commission on Human Rights; and
John Logan, Director of The Mumford Center at SUNY Albany
mentioned the high quality and variety of
affordable housing in the village. They also
cited the low-cost electrical and water utili-ties
as an additional economic advantage.
Ms. Wilson described the appeal to
many families of the Freeport School District
with its extensive music, art, and technology
programs, as well as the advantage of raising
children in a community with a broad range
of ethnic and cultural diversity. Anyone who
missed the program and is interested in
acquiring a copy may contact Patricia
Murphy, at 516-377-2246, or email
p.murphy@vil.freeport.ny.us. for informa-tion
on how to order the videotape.
Freeport Memorial Library Hosts Commemorative Event
Honoring Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Front row: Jonathan Howard and John Norris of Operation PRIDE; Adam Rubin, Director of the Jazz Ensemble, Dodd Middle
School; Belle Sylvester, member of the Freeport Commission on Human Relations; Deputy Mayor Renaire Frierson; Michael
Kirwan, Director, Freeport Commission on Human Relations; Anna Marie and Deanna Kirk; and Tedd Levy, Executive
Director of Operation PRIDE. Back row; Youngsters from Operation PRIDE and the Dodd Middle School Jazz Ensemble.
"tb'ho'nor the'memory
of Dr. King. Ms.
Frierson quoted sev-eral
statements made
by Dr. King in sup-port
of equality
toward all human
beings, including,
"As long as there is
poverty in the world,
I can never be rich,
even if I have a bil-lion
dollars...as long
healthy." -Ms.'frierson-added that Dr.-King
was a champion of equal rights for all indi-viduals,
and Freeport, a multi-cultural com-munity,
is an excellent example of all that Dr.
King taught.
The program included special perfor-mances
by the Greater Voices of Praise
Chorus from Freeport's Greater Second
Baptist Church, the Jazz Ensemble from the
Freeport Dodd Middle School, entertain-ment
by the Youth Committee Vocal Group
of Operation PRIDE, and singing by Anna
Marie and Deanna Kirk.
Freeport's Deputy Mayor Renaire
Frierson welcomed the guests attending the
special event and thanked them for coming
as diseases are rampant and millions of peo-ple
in this world cannot expect to live more
than 28 to 30 years...I can never be totally
