Fall is just beginning, giving us some chilly days here and there, and it is starting to sweep the leaves off the trees. Still, there is plenty to do in the Channel.
You might just get in under the wire to do the 6-Hour Defensive Driving course this Saturday, Nov. 15. The class will be given all in one from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at St. Camillus Catholic Academy auditorium, 185 Beach 99th St.
Call now!Call Helen at 917-553-2409 or 718-945-4648 now.
You get a 10 percent discount on your car insurance for the next three years and take 4 points off your license. No tests and there’s a lunch break. Your $45 fee guarantees your seat. Call now!Call Helen at 917-553-2409 or 718-945-4648 now.
There’s an American Legion Auxiliary meeting on Friday night, Nov. 14, at 7:30 p.m.
The American Legion Brunch is this Sunday, Nov. 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. come and enjoy eggs, pancakes, omelets, bacon, ham, fried potatoes, rolls, hot coffee, juice, dessert and plenty of good company.
The Legion Hall is at 209 Cross Bay Blvd. Proceeds go towards the Children’s Christmas Party. “Out of towners” are welcome!
It’s a big day for the Vollies this Saturday, Nov. 15. At noon they will present a donation check to Linda Tantawi, the CEO of Susan G. Komen, at the firehouse on Noel Road.
As part of their fund drive this year, the BCVFD announced that a portion of what they collected would go to that organization in their fight against cancer.
Everyone is invited to turn out and show Broad Channel at its best.
Got your ticket for the $5,000 Giveaway Raffle? The drawing is Nov. 22. There’s $10,000 in prizes in all. But only 400 tickets, at $50 apiece, will be sold. All proceeds go to Broad Channel Christmas Lights 2014 to light up Cross Bay Boulevard for the holidays. Donations are also accepted atwww.gofundme.com/bclights.
Our very active BC Civic Association is once again on the case. Civic president Dan Mundy Jr. writes “The Broad Channel Civic Association has received a number of complaints about the American General Contractors.”
“We are looking to find out if other Sandy Damaged residents in Broad Channel, Rockaway, and Breezy Point area have had any experiences with this company where money was paid and no work was performed. If anyone has had such an experience and would like to share it, please forward an email to mundyfive32@msn.com.”
On Tuesday, Dec. 2, at 7:15 p.m. at St. Virgilius there will be a celebration of the memory of the four American church women killed in El Salvador on Dec. 2, 1980. One of the women, Maryknoll Missionary Sister Maura Clark was from Rockaway and I believe she still has family here.
As Sister Rosemary McKenna, from our Daughters of Wisdom convent here in Broad Channel, writes “We will also celebrate other martyrs whom we revere. Some of these we have known and loved personally because they were members of our religious congregations.” It is a moving and beautiful service. Please come, be part of it, remember and honor these brave souls.
This week Broad Channel says goodbye to Edward Kragel. On Nov. 9, he passed away at age 88 after a long illness. A Navy vet who served during WWII, he lived in Broad Channel all his life. He will be missed by his family, his many friends, neighbors and by our community.
Mark off the date now. The Broad Channel Crafters and the American Legion Auxiliary are presenting their 26th Annual Craft and Christmas Gift Sale. That will be at the American Legion Hall on Friday, Dec. 5, from 6 to 9 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 6; from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Proceeds will go to the Wounded Warriors Project.
There will be homemade jewelry, ornaments, baked goods, raffles, seasonal decorations and items and more. Kitchen will be open for hot soup, chili, hot dogs and knishes and more for sale.
Finally, it is customary, when somebody provides you with a service, to say “What do I owe you?”
So as we pass this Veterans Day, we might ask all those men and women who served, “What do we owe you?” I can’t speak for them. But for the rest of us, I think I can say we owe them a quite a few things.
I think we owe them a united states of America, not a divided one. I don’t think anybody fought and died, all the way back to the Revolution, for a nation where so much division, anger, bitterness and hatred has been stirred up. Should we all lock step agree with everything? No. But did they show us that together we can accomplish much more than we can divided? Yes.
Their service was selfless. We owe them better than the stark corrosive greed that has been allowed to run rampant in our country.
These men and women were willing to sacrifice their lives for something greater. By the millions they were wounded. By the millions many made that last sacrifice. So I think we owe them better than the ‘I’ve got mine, the hell with you.’
They came from every background, every part of our country and every part of the world. They came from the many, not the few. I think we owe them a country that actually works. And one that works not for only the few, but for the many.
I don’t think they paid that price for us to blunder into our future foolishly, fighting each other all along the way. We owe it to them to go forward wisely and with courage, to protect and build on what they fought for. There is so much more that we owe them; so much that they paid for for us.
What do we owe you, our veterans? A nation, a United States of America, which does not promote or tolerate its worst, but reaches always to be the best that it can be.
You secured a great debt for us. One which we, as a nation and as individual Americans, can only best repay by always being worthy of your example.
Thank you for your service. Be well
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