________ Franklin square/elmont _______
HERALD Paws of War visits the library
Cars and coffee for Father’s Day
Juneteenth event returns
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Vol. 27 No. 25
JUNE 19 - 25, 2025
$1.00
Elmont marches on in joyful parade tradition By RENEE DeloRENZo rdelorenzo@liherald.com
Courtesy Dwayne Palmer
Rain or shine, Elmont showed up in style! On June 7, the community marched down Hempstead Turnpike for the 17th annual Paul Sapienza Parade, honoring the late Chamber of Commerce leader with marching bands, pom-poms, and plenty of hometown pride.
The Elmont community celebrated the 17th annual Paul Sapienza Parade, a tradition that honors the late Paul Sapienza, a beloved community leader and former president of the Elmont Chamber of Commerce. Despite rainy weather looming in the forecast, marchers lined up at the Alva T. Stanforth Sports Complex on Hempstead Turnpike at 9:30 a.m. With a bit of luck, the weather held out. The parade committee, consisting of community leaders from the Argo, Parkhurst, Locustwood Gotham and Jamaica Square civic associations began organizing the event in January. According to parade committee member Sandra Smith, chairperson of the Coalition for Sustainable Development and an Argo Civic Association member, the same group of committee members that began organizing the parade 17 years ago continue to do so today. COnTinuEd On PagE 19
Pride, pizza and a safe place for all; LGBTQ visibility By RENEE DeloRENZo rdelorenzo@liherald.com
Franklin Square residents came together in a show of pride and suppor t for the LGBTQ+ community during Howie’s Heart’s Slice of Pride on June 7 at the Franklin Square Public Library, where adult and teen LGBTQ+ members and allies celebrated inclusion and acceptance. Nearly 50 people — the nonprofit’s largest event turnout yet — gathered in the library meeting room, kicking off the celebration with pizza and a musical performance by local performer Jesse Nacinovich,
also known as Jesse Jams, who played the ukulele and sang the well-known rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. “I have been a children’s e n t e r t a i n e r fo r almost 20 ye a r s , ” N a c i n o v i c h s a i d . “Which is just a little bit less time since I have been an out and proud queer person.” Howie’s Heart co-founder Jen Camacho said she organized the event to support LGBTQ+ youth who are not accepted by their families or communities. She requested that attendees bring canned goods, toiletries and personal hygiene products for the Pride
for Youth food pantry, located in Bellmore, whose mission is to “enhance the health and wellness of the LGBTQ+ community through education, supportive services and personal development,” according to its website. Attendees also created crafts, including rainbow sun catchers and decorative rocks, to spread messages of kindness to LGBTQ+ youth who are in need of support and acceptance. “I just felt like I had never seen anything like this in our community,” Camacho said of the event. “I just thought about what families and kids and teenagers must feel like when
they don’t see themselves represented at different places.” She stressed that a disproportionate number of LGBTQ+ youth are homeless. According to the Trevor Project, a nonprofit focused on suicide prevention for queer youth, 28 percent of LGBTQ+ youth have experienced homelessness or housing instability at some
point in their lives. Camacho recalled the kindness shown by her father, Howie Conklin — Howie’s Heart’s namesake — to people from all walks of life. He even invited a homeless man to one of the Conklin f amily’s Thanksgiving dinners. “He just always included COnTinuEd On PagE 8