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Vol. 89 No. 42
oCToBER 10 - 16, 2024
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South Shore Arts Festival debuts at rec festival drew a solid turnout of between 450 and 550 attendees, giving the council confidence The Long Island Arts Coun- that it can grow the event in the cil at Freeport hosted its inau- years to come. “Everyone who signed up gural South Shore Arts Festival at the Freeport Recreation Cen- showed up,” Dresner said about ter on Sunday, Oct. 6, coincid- the artists’ participation. T h e f e s t iva l f e at u re d a ing with the council’s 50th diverse ar ray of anniversary and original artwork, thus marking a sigranging from paintnificant milestone ings to pottery and for the organizaj e w e l r y. A r t i s t s tion. were pleased with The organizathe foot traffic and tion was created in the opportunity to 1974 to bring arts to sell their creations. Freeport and has Dresner emphatirelessly done so sized that the feedsince; prog ramback from artists ming summer conwas overwhelmingcerts, putting up a ly positive, with new artist’s work at many expressing the recreation ceninterest in returnter’s Ar t Alcove ing in 2025. every two months, RoBERT KENNEDy “They made hosting residencies money,” Dresner a n d wo rk s h o p s , Mayor, Freeport said. “They’re and much more. happy with the size Local artists of crowds coming s h owc a s e d t h e i r original work at the festival, in, and they want … to make from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the sure that they know about the next thing.” festival attracted hundreds of In addition to showcasing attendees, solidifying the event as a new cultural attraction in visual art, the event served as a lear ning experience for the the community. “ T h i r t e e n o r 1 4 a r t i s t s council, which sought to undershowed up,” Larry Dresner, the stand how best to market future council’s executive director, festivals. While the festival was a sucsaid. “We had … several hundred folks stopping by … the cess, Dresner admitted that he artists were very happy with was initially worried about the response and the foot traf- how many people would attend. fic, so they’re interested in “I was just nervous about how many people show up,” he said, doing it again next year.” According to Dresner, the Continued on page 4
By MoHAMMAD RAFIQ
mrafiq@liherald.com
Courtesy Randy Milteer/Village of Freeport
Sgt. Tim ortiz “Walks out.” Sgt. Tim Ortiz shares a hug with his granddaughter during his “walkout” ceremony at the Village of Freeport. Ortiz, who began his career on March 15, 1993, is retiring after 31 years of service on the force.
Nonprofit led by Itoka changes lives in the nation of Liberia By MoHAMMAD RAFIQ mrafiq@liherald.com
In 2008, a group of transplants from Gyaboland, a region of the West African country of Liberia, who were scattered across the United States, began receiving distressing news and visual images from their homeland. The remote area, which is largely cut off from Liberia’s infrastructure and government support, had been ravaged by the nation’s 14-year civil war. The photographs they saw showed children attending school in dilapidated structures, struggling to learn in conditions unfit even for live-
stock. Heartbroken, Comfort Itoka, a member of the Freeport-Merrick Rotary and a native of Gyaboland, knew something had to be done. So she founded a nonprofit called Gyabolanders & Friends. “The organization came into existence in 2008 when we, the descendants of Gyaboland that lived in the U.S. — very few — began to receive news from home and also images — very, very sad images — about the condition of the people of Gyaboland, most especially the children,” said Itoka, who lives in Queens. Gyabolanders & Friends set out to help, and in the years since, it has grown from humble beginContinued on page 7
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ne of the nice things about this type of event is that people get to meet the person who created the work.