Editor’s Note: Lou Sanders, who has his journalism degree from NYU, and his late wife, Grace, a graduate of Adelphi, founded the Mineola American in 1952, giving the village its first successful newspaper. Lou and Grace lived in Mineola for 60 years, and his popular column is a signature feature of this paper.
Alpha Auto Collision says that their business is booming on Herricks Road. They say that their new sign has been a great help.
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Cugini’s Veronica Ywasz has worked there for the last year and a half. Joe and Regina, the owners, are very pleased with how their business is going. They could actually use more parking spaces.
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Margarita O’Callaghan was hit by a car while crossing the street near Western Beef and broke her shoulder. Her husband, Dick, is a retired assistant police justice of Mineola.
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Dan Flynn reports that Corpus Christi pastor, Fr. Malcolm Burns, has installed new lighting in the main church building. There is also going to be new lighting in the vestibule and in part of the school that still belongs to the church.
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Stacy Rosello is the daughter of Jack and Rita Gayson. Stacy and her husband Steve bought a house on Mineola Boulevard which they are completely renovating. They will be moving to the new house in March.
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John Herling is the reference librarian at the Mineola Library. He is an avid Islanders fan and used to attend a lot of the games at the Nassau Coliseum. He has not been able to go to any games since the Islanders moved to the Barclay Center in Brooklyn.
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FIST (Families In Support of Treatment) and other agencies organized an event called “Hands and Hearts Against Heroin Addiction.” It was held on the eve of Valentine’s Day. Families remembered lost loved ones and recognized the importance of the community in overcoming this epidemic. The event took place at the Nassau County Executive Building on Franklin Avenue.
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Emuneo Pereja has worked at the Heart of Portugal for the last 10 years. The Heart of Portugal has been located on Mineola Boulevard for the past 40 years and is owned by Manny Pereria.
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Jim and Maureen Howard have been faithful parishioners of St. Aidan’s Church for a long time. Jim has a brother who is a priest and who has completely recovered from a very serious illness. Jim and Maureen live on the street right behind IHOP and have very good friends that live here at Maria Regina Residence.
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Peggy and Paul May of Mineola get along fine even though Paul is a big Republican supporter and Peggy is a leading figure in the Mineola Democrat Club. How do they do it?
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When I used to play golf in Brentwood many years ago, the area was a quiet, peaceful place. Now it has become a mecca for Salvadoran gangs. Most of the Salvadorans are good people and are used to working closely with the local cops. President Trump’s anti-immigrant policies have now left them completely terrorized and driven into hiding.
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Lisa Elnick and Diane Hassett, two good friends of my daughter from their high school days, came to visit me. They attended Maria Regina High School in Uniondale, which is now Bishop Kellenberg High School and is where both Lisa and Diane have been employed for many years. During our visit we talked about their children and we reminisced about old times. Diane’s mother, the late Wanda Rudzinski, owned Dana Travel Agency which she operated for many years in Mineola. Diane used to work there with her mother.
