It looks like I have a new neighbor. The other night I saw a large raccoon scampering across my “backyard,” which I share with the bay.
Standing on my cozy deck the other morning I was looking at him eye to eye as he stood in the yard. If he’s willing to share the rent, we may have an understanding here.
.If you don’t have plans for tonight, Friday, May 29, read on. If you do have plans, you may want to change them. At 7 p.m. at the American Legion Hall the PS/MS 47 Parents Association is having a fundraiser. There will be entertainment, auctions, 50/50s, an up to date Name That Tune contest and music by DJs@Work. It sounds like good time, and it raises funds to support our local school.
This would be a good time to sign up for the Shad Creek Association’s annual golf outing. That’s on Friday, June 12 at 3 p.m. Come enjoy 18 holes of golf at the Riis Park Pitch n Putt, kicking off with a shotgun start. It’s $75 per golfer or $300 per foursome. There will be refreshments on the course and an awards dinner back at the SCA clubhouse at 529 Cross Bay Blvd., plus T-shirts and more. Contact Mike Kelly at 917-868-4453 or michael_ p_ kelly@yahoo.com right now to reserve a spot for your foursomes. All proceeds go to support Shad Creek Association
Also coming up on Friday June 12 is a magic show over at the BC Library. “We’re celebrating Summer Reading with an interactive comedy magic show - and a real live rabbit!” It starts at 4 p.m.
Don’t forget, our former St. Virgilius pastor Father Charles White is celebrating his 50th anniversary as a priest. There will be a Mass on Sunday, June 7, at 1:15 at St. Mary’s Star of the Sea and a reception afterward.
There may be neighborhood traditions elsewhere. But I have never seen anything like those here in the Channel. I have also never seen any place where nearly the whole neighborhood is involved and holds them to be important.
This past Sunday, May 24, saw Broad Channel’s veterans and people of many faiths fill Christ Presbyterian by the Sea Church for a special service in observance of Memorial Day.
All then filed into St. Virgilius Roman Catholic Church just across the way. There they joined the congregation for another moving ceremony.
In each church, the names of Broad Channel’s fallen were read aloud, along with their age and the road they lived on. It brought home that they were living, breathing people and they lived on and walked on the same streets as we do today. More than anything it made them a part of us and we of them.
Afterward, many people gathered at the Broad Channel Volunteer Fire Department. There in front of the firehouse the roll was called of each department member, man and woman, who has passed away going back to the Volies founding more than 100 years ago. A fire bell was sounded for each. In the afternoon, the BC Memorial Day Parade had a full complement of marchers and was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd along the way. There were two moving ceremonies, one at the memorial flagpole at 17th Road Park, the other at the George Riekers Memorial Park. There was a large gathering at the end, including many veterans from the St. Albans hospital. (Kudos to my friend Jessie May for singing the national anthem.)
After the parade it felt like everyone in town walked back over to the VFW to enjoy a hot barbecue, cold drinks, good music and a great long sunny afternoon in the Post’s backyard. Nobody wanted to leave. These are neighborhood traditions like no place else.
As we have just marked Memorial Day and this might be very important to a veteran’s family, let me repeat this note from Donna and Bob Badamo. “My husband Bob and I were unpacking some boxes from Hurricane Sandy. We came across a flag that had washed up to our bungalow on Lanark Road during the storm. (It says, “In memory of Lt. T.J. Lynch World War I veteran died Sept. 6 1948.”) We forgot that we packed it away. If you go to my Facebook page ‘Donna Badamo’, you will see the photos. I did some research on the Department of Veterans Affairs website and found a 2nd Lt. US Army Ignatius Joseph Lynch with the same date of death. We would love to be able to return the flag to its rightful owner. Hopeyou can help. Thank you.” You can contact Donna at keyspleaze@hotmail.com if you have information.
Last week, VFW volunteer Amy Mahon wrote about the importance of joining organizations that help support our veterans. We always stop to say thank you and wave our flags on days like Memorial Day and Veterans Day. This would be a good time to put that ‘thank you’ to work and volunteer over the rest of the year. Our local Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion would be happy to have you.
If you’ve picked up the latest Simplicity patterns or looked it up on line, look under #1119 - Children's Pillowcase Dresses. The smiling young lady modeling the snappy dress in the upper right cover corner, Emma, is the granddaughter of a very proud Kathy Reardon Savino.
Finally, there seems to be a little confusion about where I live, possibly because people are used to seeing me in so many places. Sometimes at the same time.
Happily, I live right here in the Channel and have for the past 25 or so years. I got pushed out after the storm, first to Forest Hills then to South Ozone Park, for about a year. But this August marks two years that I am back home and in my new place at 1430 Cross Bay Blvd., right between East 14th and 16th roads. There’s no place like the Channel!
Got BC news? Send it to workingstories@aol.com.
Thanks for reading.
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