We ate the other night at Eleanor Rigby’s. Larry and Cathy Menachelli have owned the restaurant for 21 years. “Eleanor Rigby” is a Beatles’ song and the Menachellis have built the restaurant around the Beatles with songs like “Yellow Submarine,” “You Say Goodbye and I Say Hello,” and others. They made a big success of the place where others like The Fireplace and Scales of Justice failed. By the way, our waiter was James DeLay of Roselle Street. He has worked there for five years, that being his first job that he started in 10th grade.• • • •
It was good to see John’s Variety Store on Channel 12 with John Robinson himself.
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Fred Sweetapple, who recently turned 90, was one of the last New York American fans. This old hockey team was the one I used to route for, and named this newspaper after. The Americans played in the National Hockey League for 17 years. Fred, who lived on Wardwell Road, has the same birthday as me, July 22.
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The ladies at the Cuttin’ Club, who still do Grace’s hair, were all asking about me, including Laura, Pat and Janice.
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Theresa and Thad Zimmer are eagerly awaiting to give birth. Their baby will be the 26th grandchild of George and Helena Sommers of Skelly Place.
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Cathy Salevick has worked at the Mineola Library for 15 years. She started at the reference desk and worked her way up to become the assistant director. She and her husband, George, live in Garden City.
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The New York Times now has one million digital subscribers. The revenue, however, is not enough to help too much with expenses from what I read. All the money still, hopefully, lies in the print edition.
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Monsignor Robert Batule sometimes attends St. Vincent’s Church in Florida in the summer. This is the same church that Eileen Leone often attends. Monsignor Batule is the pastor of Corpus Christi Church.
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Jim and Maureen Howard wanted to visit the Holy Land in a tour headed up by Fr. James Martin. They saw the ad in the magazine, America, but the tour was sold out. They’ll have to wait for the next one.
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Lino Ferreira and family visited Portugal for 10 days.
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I see that there is a hotel in Japan run completely by robots. Incidentally, the word “robot,” comes from the Russian word “robitski,” meaning to work.
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Ray Sikorski is a past president of the Mineola Chamber of Commerce and is now its program chairman. His business, Rista Print & Graphics, opened its doors in 1982 and moved to Westbury in 2011. Ray is assisted by his brothers, Len and Ed.
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During pioneering times, cornmeal was put to a new use. When fried in butter, it became a fluffy treat—a delicious thin cake which everybody liked. Thus, we get the expression, “selling like hot cakes.”
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Pat and Bob Hinck live in Mineola. I first noticed Bob when he was opposing a new proposed shopping center that he felt was too close to a residential area. Bob later became one of the best mayors Mineola ever had and he did a wonderful job heading the village’s centennial celebration. Pat worked for many years at the Mineola Library.
Editors Note: Lou Sanders, who has his journalism degree from NYU, and his wife, Grace, a graduate of Adelphi, founded the Mineola American in 1952, giving the village its first successful newspaper. Lou and Grace have lived in Mineola for 60 years, and his popular column is a signature feature of the newspaper.
