Mystery Pictures Welcomes Conversation
Gaby Treble called to answer the April 26 mystery picture on Monday afternoon, April 30, after we had gone to press. She had the correct answer, however. She said, “The mystery picture is the back of Christ Church, near the Oyster Bay Library.” Ms. Treble is a student at the Vernon school.
Ton Heijmen had called the past week to identify the picture of Christ Church, which he recognized because he sings there. We knew his wife, Peggy, from interviewing her about the new dog park being built by the Town of Oyster Bay. Unfortunately in the rush of deadlines we omitted him from last week’s mystery picture column. Luckily he called last week again. We had a fascinating discussion (fascinating to me) about the Finnish language.
Mr. Heijmen said he is a Dutchman and has been in the U.S. about 10 years. He said, “Finnish and Hungarian are related, but do you know the other language it is related to? The other is Korean. They went over the top of the world, into Mongolia and the Korean peninsula. It has the only alphabet language in the east. A lot of the Koreans are Mongolians that settled there for trade — and the climate was better there anyway.”
It was great talking to Mr. Heijman and I asked what he did for a living. He said, “I’m retired, but am still a senior advisor with an economic think tank called the Conference Board, and a senior advisor in globalization. I retired from PricewaterhouseCoopers.
“My wife, Peggy, is with Long Island Dogs and recently went to a soft opening of the Town of Oyster Bay Dog Park on the border of Massapequa and Suffolk County. The official opening will be in about two weeks [May 19]. Nassau County is the only place in the northeast where no one can take a dog anywhere [they want]. In Suffolk County, at various times of the day people can bring their dogs to the parks. We should do the same thing.
“Theodore Roosevelt Park is so beautiful. No one knows how the rules against dogs came into being there, of those who defend the law. There are 250.000 dogs in the town, with a population of 2.5 million. In Holland, you can take your dog everywhere.”
We chatted a bit more about how dogs are welcome in restaurants in Germany and France.
Tony Pilla sent an email saying, “I just wanted to let you know I have been checking the pictures for weeks, but haven’t been able to identify any. I was close on a couple times, but no cigar.
“I still enjoy looking forward to identifying the mystery pictures though. I talked to my aunt who lives in Oyster Bay last night and she said she missed seeing my name in the paper these last few weeks. Could you say ‘hi’, to my aunt Tootsie if possible for me. Thanks for all the fun.”
Hi, Tootsie.
Billy Minicozzi called but without a good guess. On a sports note we wanted to say what a great job Eli Manning did on Saturday Night Live (SNL), May 5. What was so interesting is that the skits covered a whole different range of subjects. It made us realize how important the guest star is on SNL in setting a tone for the show. Great job, Eli. Now his big brother, Peyton, will have to come back for another shot.
As for the May 3 mystery picture we are waiting for calls from the karate students and the Girl Scouts, and possibly the Kiwanis group. To give the reason would be “telling.” Keep guessing, it’s good for your brain. – DFK.
