Clowning Around In Hope Gardens
     Clowning Around In Hope Gardens Hope Gardens Community Center held an Art Circus on Sunday, June 7 at its Central Avenue location in Bushwick. Headlined by the Bindlestiff Family Circus and the Palmetto A.I.R. artists collective, the day featured performances, arts and crafts, clowning around and all manner of circus fare, from hot dogs and popcorn to cotton candy. Shown above, attendees posed for a shot. (photo: Allen Epstein)
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A World Of Possibilities
     A World Of Possibilities P.S. 88 held its annual career day last Tuesday, June 2, and over 35 professionals came to talk to students from kindergarten to fifth grade about their jobs. Visitors included City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, optometrist Russell Mintz, author Perry Barber, Lauri Carpino of the Animal Center of Queens, police officers Elevelina Dove and Tony Jimenez of the 104th Precinct, Michael Of from FDNY Rescue 4, astrophysicist Marc Postman and Paul Kerzner of Con Edison. The event was organized by guidance counselor Marianne Djordjeivc and teachers Audrey Glass and Thinthia Mendez. Shown above, students and guests posed for a photo. (photo: Joseph Epstein)
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Pride Parade In Jackson Heights
     Pride Parade In Jackson Heights The 2009 Queens Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Pride Parade and Festival stepped off on Sunday, June 7 in Jackson Heights. Led by grand marshals Rep. Anthony Weiner, Rev. Pat Bumgardner and Hector Canonge, the parade marched down 37th Avenue from 89th to 75th streets, while the multicultural festival stretched from 73rd to 77th streets on 37th Road. The festivities was sponsored in part by the Times Newsweekly. (photo: Allen Epstein)
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Lent A Paw To Neighborhood Day
     Lent A Paw To Neighborhood Day The Kew Gardens Improvement Association held its fourth annual Spring Community Day on Sunday, June 7 at locations around the nabe. Shown above, a Pooch Parade stepped off from the TD Bank on Metropolitan Avenue and 118th Street; the daylong event also featured a Cat Photo Contest, performances by locals singers, dancers entertainers, art clinics, face painting and a demonstration from the FDNY at the Mobile Fire Safety House. (photo: Allen Epstein)
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Car Show Benefited Queens Kids
     Car Show Benefited Queens Kids Meyer Chevrolet held its annual car show on Sunday, June 7, attracting enthusiasts to the Middle Village dealership to check out the classic rides, and raising money fo the East Coast Car Association's (ECCA) Toys For Tots, which benefits patients at St. Mary's Hospital For Children in Bayside. Shown above, top: (kneeling, left to right) Danny Meyer and Mike Bilski; (standing) Jose, Tom, Harold, John, Bob, Carroll, Frank, Lou and Luis. The Meyer family provided free hamburgers, hot dogs and soft drinks throughout the day, and was happy to report that they have received word from General Motors that the 90-year-old dealership is not on list of dealers to be closed. Shown, bottom, a Green 1966 Corvette. The East Coast Car Club will have its cars out again next Sunday, June 14 at the Maspeth Street Fair. (photos: Allen Epstein)
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Ridgewood Kids Storm Albany
     Ridgewood Kids Storm Albany Students and teachers from St. Aloysius School visited the state capitol in Albany on May 20 and were welcomed there by Queens representatives to the state government including State Sen. Joseph Addabbo and assemblywomen Catherine Nolan and Audrey Pheffer. The students, led by teachers Carol Schefflin and Keith Gerdts, also visited the state museum; they are shown above with Addabbo, Pheffer (front row, first and second from left) and Nolan (front row, far right) in the capitol building.
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Graduated
     Graduated Air Force Airman Hendrick J. Martinez graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills. He is the son of Janet and Hendrick Martinez of 91st St., Woodhaven.
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Voices For A Cure
     Voices For A Cure Sixty people attended a classical music concert at Church in the Gardens, joining forces with the Weichert Realtors of Forest Hills on Friday, June 5 to raise over $2,000 for cancer research. Shown above, the performers included: (from left to right) tenor Vincenzo Scuderi, pianist Jacek Zganiacz, pianist Ivy Adrian, bass-baritone Cezary Doda, soprano Anzhela Kolkhidashvili and baritone Vasil Kolkhidashvili. (photo: Joseph Epstein)
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Talented Trio Eye Ray Kelly's Post
     Talented Trio Eye Ray Kelly's Post Three 10th grade honor students at Christ the King Regional High School won first place awards in the Police Athletic League's Police Commissioner For A Day Essay Contest, it was announced. Shown above (left to right), teacher Cass Cullen, award winners Kelly Quackenbush, Jessica Hensel and Joseph Carmine Russo, and school principal Peter Mannarino. The three winners from the Middle Village high institution were rewarded for their efforts with a June 3 ceremony at One Police Plaza. (photo: Alice Wenz)
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Hosts Comptroller Forum
     Hosts Comptroller Forum John Liu and David Weprin, City Council members and candidates to replace William C. Thompson as New York City Comptroller, stopped by the Ridgewood Democratic Club on May 28 to address the crowd of 40 assembled there. (Neither City Council Members Melinda Katz nor David Yassky, the two other candidate for comptroller, was able to attend.) Shown above (from left to right): James Van Bramer, who is running for Eric Gioia's Council seat; Jim Grayshaw, newly elecyted president of the Ridgewood Democratic Club; Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan; Council Member John Liu; past-president of the club, Charles Ober; and District Leader Tom Bornemann.
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Showed A Lot Of Character
     Showed A Lot Of Character Resurrection Ascension School held a Book Lovers Ball on May 29 at the culmination of the Rego Park institution's Spirit Week, and students were encouraged to come dressed as their favorite literary characters. Prizes were awarded for the best dress-ups, and the student council sponsored a series of fun activities to promote reading. Shown above (from left to right), the Cat in the Hat, Sponge Bob Square Pants, Blue (from Blue's Clues) and Pony Boy (from The Outsiders).
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Warm Welcome For New SUNY Chief
     Warm Welcome For New SUNY Chief Assemblywoman Audrey I. Pheffer welcomed to Albany the newly appointed chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY) Dr. Nancy Zimpher. Zimpher, shown above, left with Pheffer, holds a bachelor's degree in English Education and Speech, a master's degree in English Literature and a Ph.D. in Teacher Education and Higher Education Administration, all from The Ohio State University; she comes to SUNY from the University of Cincinnati, where she served as president.
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Anniversary Day Parade Kept High Spirits Afloat
     School was out in Ridgewood last Thursday, June 4 for the 100th annual Anniversary Day, also known as Brooklyn-Queens Day, which commemorates the founding of Long Island's first Sunday School in 1829. Shown above (top and bottom photos) students marched through local streets in the Ridgewood-Glendale parade; sponsored by the Ridgewood-Glendale Sunday School and Church associations and featuring music from the Francis Lewis High School Marching Band, the parade was attended by kids from Convenant Lutheran Church, Glendale Reformed Church, Ridgewood Presbyterian Church, St. John's-Ridgewood United Methodist Church, St. Mark's United Church of Christ and United Methodist Church of Glendale, among others. (photos: Robert Pozarycki)
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Bushwick Marchers Took Pride In Fallen Heroes
     Over in Bushwick, Community Board 4, the 83rd Precinct, Hope Gardens Community Center and a host of other community and youth organizations turned out for the Bushwick Pride Parade, which placed an emphasis on honoring the community's fallen heroes. Shown top, members of the Audrey Johnson Learning Center marched down Central Avenue; some kids carried placards with the names of departed public servants. Shown below, a local girl scout troop got in on the action; the march was also joined by the Horace Green Day Care Center, the 83rd Precinct Youth Council, students and teachers from P.S. 274 and many others. (photos: Joseph Epstein)
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Queens Library Thanks Legislator
     Queens Library Thanks Legislator The Board of Trustees of the Queens Library recently presented its Library Champion Award to State Sen. Malcolm A. Smith, it was announced. Shown above: (left to right) Smith, who was cited for his outstanding support of and commitment to the Queens Library; Board of Trustees president Mary Ann Mattone; and Library CEO Thomas W. Galante.
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Art Show For Woodside Kids
     Art Show For Woodside Kids Fourth and fifth grade students at P.S. 12 in Woodside were honored at HSBC Bank USA, N.A. for their participation in the Learning through an Expanded Arts Prgram (LEAP). Reportedly, the students completed a twelve week printmaking course for which they took photographs of the outdoors, enlarged them and used the photos to create collage. Shown above: (left to right) Ila Lane Gross, executive director of LEAP, Johnathan Kim and Diane D'Erasmo, executive vice president of HSBC. P.S. 12 students Xavier Colon, Mariam Alam, Adil Kabir, Jeffrey Kahn and Laiba Afzal were also honored; teacher Stephanie Moskos coordinated the project.
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Young Racqueteers Meet In Flushing Meadows
     Young Racqueteers Meet In Flushing Meadows The New York Junior Tennis League (NYJTL) hosted the 22nd Annual Mayor's Cup All-Scholastic Tennis Tournament Carnival and Awards Ceremony at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park on Sunday, June 7. The Mayor's Cup is said to be the largest scholastic tennis event in the United States and brings together more than 600 student-athletes; it was reported that seventeen scholarships and awards as well as tournament All-Star honors were bestowed upon the participants, who competed in singles, doubles and team events. Shown above, these student-athletes look like they had a great time.
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