_________ Oceanside/island park ________
HERALD
$1.00
DECEMBER 26, 2024 - JANUARY 1, 2025
What’s
INSIDE
Vol. 59 No. 53
HERALD PERSON oF tHE YEAR Karen DavIs
Continuing a legacy of helping Island Park By Kepherd Daniel
As a child, Oceanside resident Karen Davis, 56, always expressed a desire to become a teacher, as evidenced by schoolbooks in which she repeatedly marked "teacher" as her career aspiration. She now fulfills that dream at Lincoln Orens Middle School in Island Park, enriching not only students, but residents as well, through different avenues like the Island Park Kiwanis Club. Like much of her family, she is making the Island Park community, where she grew up, a better place. For her efforts through the years, the Herald is proud to name Davis its 2024 Person of the Year. Davis began college at Nassau Community College before transferring to he took the Emerson College in Boston, majoring in radio. She transitioned to marketing and time and public relations, earning a communicathe patience to tions degree after a professor's discouraging remarks led her to reconsider a keep it together, career on the air. Davis spent eight years and doesn’t ask working in the corporate arena before transitioning to teaching. She decided for anything. to leave the business world after feeling unfulfilled and inspired by her husband’s JoE PoNtECoRVo suggestion to pursue her dream of Member, teaching. Island Park Kiwanis She earned her master’s in education from LIU Post in 1998 and began her teaching career. Davis remains deeply connected to Island Park despite moving to Oceanside after marrying in 1995. She taught for one year in Rockville Centre, at Riverside Elementary School, balancing the challenges of starting her teaching career while becoming a first-time mother in 1999. Her daughter, who is now studying to become a math teacher, gained an appreciation for the demanding nature of the teaching profession by observing her mom’s dedication. After teaching in Rockville Centre, Davis she returned to her hometown, securing a teaching position in Island Park in 2000, where she has taught for 25 years. She is actively involved in the Island Park community not only as a teacher, but also as president of the Kiwanis Club, while maintaining family and social ties there. Davis’ s family has deep roots in Island Park. Her uncle Mickey Hastava was the owner of Hastava Real Estate, which was one of the oldest continuously operating businesses in the Island Park area before it moved to Garden City. Hastava also devoted decades of service to the village. Not long after he graduated from high school in 1954, he founded the Kiwanis Club. He
S
Lights on the Green brings holiday joy to Oceanside. Page 19
The Class of 2024 goes forward fearlessly. Page 12
For BrEAKING NEWS go to liherald.com
envisioned serving the children and families of the village, and now, through his niece, that mission is still being fulfilled. Davis has been involved with the Kiwanis organization since she was 16 years old. In high school she was a member of the Key Club, the high school version of Kiwanis. She was the president of the Key Club, and in her 20s she became its adviser. “She's a dedicated Kiwanian, a leader, and she's really got community spirit and all skills that are necessary to motivate the club to move it forward,” said David Rothman, a former Kiwanis member. Along with her uncle, Davis’s cousin John Esposito also left a legacy in Island Park. The Commodore Fishing Station, which was at the base of the Long Beach Bridge on the Island Park side, was a cherished community hub that fostered connection, pride, and excitement in Island Park for over 60 years. The business had been in the Esposito family since the 1940s. John Esposito, along with his brother, Clement, and their mother, Rose, dedicated themselves to the family business. Esposito had a lasting impact on generations of Island Park residents. He would anonymously charter boats to take local students, or Cub Scouts, fishing. After Hurricane Sandy, he anonymously donated over $10,000 to Lincoln Orens to replace stringed instruments in the music department that were destroyed Continued on page 2
Tim Baker/Herald
Oceanside resident Karen Davis, Lincoln Orens Middle School teacher and Island Park Kiwanis president, inspires her students both in the classroom and through her efforts in support of community initiatives.