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New member joins Baldwin school board win schools began as a volunteer. After her oldest daughter started kindergarten at Lenox Katrina Smith, a longtime Elementary School in 2014, Baldwin resident and active Smith joined the PTA and school volunteer, has been steadily took on greater roles, appointed to the Baldwin Board serving as treasurer, program of Education as the newest chair and, later, president for two years. trustee. “When I had children, I Smith, who has lived in Baldu n d e r s t o o d ve r y win since 2009, early on the imporbrings with her more than 20 years tance of parents of professional being involved in experience in the school,” she finance, along with said. “At first, it over a decade of was small voluninvolvement in the teer roles, but over s c h o o l d i s t r i c t ’s time it grew into PTA. something much A g raduate of bigger. That was my Howard University first exposure to with a de g ree in how the public f i n a n c e , S m i t h KATRINA SMITH school system began her career at Trustee w o rk s a n d h o w JPMorg an Chase important the parbefore joining Goldent voice is.” man Sachs, where Smith’s two she spent 15 years in the firm’s daughters, Kennedy and Courti n t e r n a t i o n a l a c c o u n t i n g ney, both attend Baldwin public department. Most recently, she schools. Kennedy is a junior at h e a d e d t h e c o m p e n s a t i o n Baldwin High School, while department at Mizuho Invest- Cour tney just be g an sixth ment Bank. g r a d e a t B a l dw i n M i d d l e “Finance and accounting School. have been my whole career,” Smith said she was motivatSmith said. “Now I’m adding ed to step into the trustee role another fun thing to my list.” to give back to the community Her involvement with Bald-
By HERNESTo GAlDAMEZ
hgaldamez@liherald.com
Maureen Lennon/Herald
Paul Yanantuono, left, was presented a certificate by members of the Baldwin Fire Department.
‘Butch’ honored for 50 years Firefighter celebrated for volunteer service By HERNESTo GAlDAMEZ hgaldamez@liherald.com
For half a century, Paul “Butch” Yanantuono has been answering the call — day or night, rain or shine — as a member of the Baldwin Fire Department. On May 7, the 71-year-old firefighter marked 50 years since he first joined Hose Company One in 1975. Earlier this month, fellow firefighters, family members and friends gathered to mark the milestone with a dinner celebrating Yanantuono’s decades of dedication to Baldwin and the brotherhood of the fire service. “Fifty years is just an amazing accomplishment,” Kevin Smith, an ex-chief of the department and one of the event organizers, said. “I think 30 years was a long time, but 50 is incredible. And to boot, he’s still our senior most active member.” Over the course of his career, Yanantuono has filled nearly every role in the department, including chief, captain and commis-
sioner, and he maintains one of the highest call averages in Hose Company One. “He’s not someone who just kept his name on the roster,” Smith said. “He’s still up at 4 a.m. for alarms, still driving the trucks, still training the next generation. He’s done it all, and he’s done it at every level.” Yanantuono’s 50th-anniversary dinner, on Oct. 4 at O’Connell Gardens in Oceanside, drew a large crowd, including colleagues from neighboring departments, instructors from the Nassau County Fire Service Academy — where he once taught — and friends he made in his work with the New York State Association of Fire Districts. “It was a surprise,” Yanantuono said. “I didn’t expect it to be that big, because in 50 years you meet a lot of people at the local, state, and county levels.” “He’s always been the teacher,” Smith said. “Even now he’s researching, learning ContinueD on Page 17
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understood very early on the importance of parents being involved in the school.
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