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.
William Donohue of Mineola, the president and CEO of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, was recently on CNN commenting on Pope Francis’ remarks about the possibility of married priests in the Catholic Church.
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Tina Trombettas is a nurse at Maria Regina Residence who used to live on 11th Avenue in Mineola. She has worked at the facility here for a year and a half.
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Pat and Bob Hinck of Andrews Road sent me a St. Patrick’s Day card with the blessing that starts off, “May the road rise to meet you.”
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John Colbert did a great job as the mayor of Mineola way back when. Now he spends most of his time as a professional financial advisor. He and his wife, Eleanor, have lived on Emory Road for more than 50 years.
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Gavin and Irene Duffy were great neighbors, living across the street on Beebe Road from us. When my late wife Grace and I would come back from grocery shopping at King Kullen, Gavin, Irene, or one of their two boys, Tigue and Cody, always rushed over and carried our packages out of my trunk and into our kitchen. Gavin is a retired New York City cop who would dress in sloppy clothes and mingle with large crowds, hunting for drug dealers and pickpockets.
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Tony Donnelly and his wife, Beverly, have lived in Mineola for 84 years. In fact, Beverly was born in Mineola. Tony was a long-time usher at Corpus Christi Church and had the job of counting the collection money at the end of the masses on Sunday. Both Tony and Beverly have been long-involved in the affairs of Corpus Christi.
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Scott and Linda Fairgrieve went to the Mineola Fire Department dinner that raised funds for the juniors. Judge Scott spoke last week at Mineola High School on the dangers of drunk driving, fake IDs and the heroin epidemic. The Fairgrieves live on Mineola Boulevard.
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Mary Ann Guarino is doing very well. She is active again in the First Presbyterian Church in Mineola where she sings in the choir, as does Mary Matson and the Rev. Esther Easton.
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Frank and Terry Hettinger have lived in Mineola for 40 years. Frank is a retired civil engineer, and Terry works as a secretary and also in the Corpus Christi Rectory office.
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Jim and Maureen Howard live on Primrose Road in Williston Park, right behind IHOP. They love Williston Park, St. Aidan’s and are very fond of the pastor of the church, Msgr. Jim McDonald. They have lived in Williston Park since 1980. They also like Mayor Paul Ehrbar. The Howards are great friends of Ken and Mary Kiernan who live with me at Maria Regina.
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The first St. Patrick’s Day Parade ever held was in 1771 when 10 Irish soldiers serving in the British army paraded down the street of what was later Broadway in Manhattan.
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Marge Hogarty of Latham Road, after her accident, is now able to drive short distances, if someone else is in the car.
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“Ain’t it the truth?” The word “ain’t” was used in Ireland and England in the early 1800s and quickly made its way to America. The word was not considered poor English; it was simply used as a contraction for “I am not.” By 1830, the contraction began to be used for “is not.” In 1850, when grammarians said it was poor English, it became a sign of ignorance.
