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Friday, November 7, 2025
Vol. 2, No. 45
THE GATEWAY TO NASSAU COUNTY SERVING FLORAL PARK, BELLEROSE AND STEWART MANOR
The Marching Knights take second at State Band Championships
Tricia’s Kids brings joy, and toys, to children near and far BY RIKKI MASSAND
Receiving the second place award: Kaitlyn Conway - color guard captain; Chloe LaVaute - drum major; Aiden Ramballi - drumline captain; Emma Mathew - color guard captain Photo by Paul Walsh The Marching Knights of Sewanhaka proudly represented the district this past weekend at the New York State Field Band Conference Championships, held inside the iconic JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, NY. Competing in the Large School 3 Division, the Knights delivered a thrilling performance that earned
them second place in the entire state with an impressive score of 80.95! This season’s production, titled “Dead Men Tell No Tales”, brought audiences on a high-seas adventure as a daring crew of pirates set out in search of buried treasure. With swashbuckling spirit and powerful music, the band cap-
tivated the crowd and judges alike, proving once again that the Marching Knights are among New York’s finest. Remarkably, this marks the fourth consecutive season that the Sewanhaka Marching Knights have broken a score of 80 or higher at championships See page 12
The Floral Park Villager Published every Friday by Litmor Publishing Corp. Telephone 516-931-0012 Postmaster: Send Address Change to: The Floral Park Villager, 821 Franklin Ave., Suite 208 Garden City, N.Y. 11530 • Meg Norris, Publisher
The Floral Park-based nonprofit organization Tricia’s Kids is once again gearing up for its annual Holiday Toy and Donation Drive, which runs through Sunday, December 15th. Now in its seventh year, the drive continues its mission to make the world a happier place for all children, especially during the Christmas season. Founded by Tom De Maria, a longtime Floral Park resident and St. Francis Prep alumnus, Tricia’s Kids is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit named for his late wife, Patricia “Tricia” De Maria, who passed away in 2018 after an accidental fall at her mother’s home in Howard Beach, Queens. The couple’s love story began in childhood. They were neighbors in 1950s Howard Beach, classmates at Our Lady of Grace School, and lifelong friends before becoming husband and wife. “Our parents were among the new residents of homes built in the 1950s in Howard Beach, and my parents and her parents (the Contes) became best friends. My wife and I were the same age, and we were in the same class at the same school, Our Lady of Grace Catholic school. We received Communion together, our parents went out to dinner and we
had our Confirmation together. Tricia even came to all of my high school football games with my parents, even though she hated football,” Tom explained. In their senior year of high school, Tom finally asked her out. For college they were apart; Tricia attended Adelphi University and became a nurse, while Tom went to Bowdoin College in Maine. They got engaged after undergraduate studies and Tom returned to New York, where he attended Brooklyn Law School and earned his JD. In 1977 the couple got married. Before her tragic accident, Patricia worked as a labor and delivery nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center. At the time of Patricia’s death they had been married for close to 41 years. After Tricia’s passing, Tom and their two adult children— his son in North Carolina and daughter in Bellmore—founded the charity in her honor. The first toy drive, in 2018, gathered nearly 1,000 toys—far exceeding expectations. Since then, the generosity has only grown. “My son was about to get married in November 2018, and Tricia had passed in June. He told me we set aside some money for a gift for mom but she isn’t See page 10
Urban Explorers visit New York City PAGE 6 Sewanhaka celebrates board, students PAGE 8