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A new leader, with new ideas, at O’side library Oceanside as my second home. I really do love it here.” Samuel’s path to librarianMichelle Samuel, a familiar ship began early. She started face at the Oceanside Library working at her hometown Freefo r t h e p a s t s eve n ye a r s, port Memorial Library as a stepped into the role of assis- teen — shelving books and tant director at the end of July, learning the operations that succeeding the retiring Tony most patrons never see. After Iovino, and has taken on earning her master’s she spent responsibilities she previously 12 years at Freeport Memorial, moving up through shared with Direcroles before coming tor Chris Mar ra. to Oceanside. Samuel — who “I first met came to the library Michelle during the in March 2018 as very challenging the head of chilpandemic year of dren’s services — 2020, when she was said the transition Head of Youth Serhas been busy and in Oceanside full of face-to-face MIcHELLE SAMuEL vices Library’s and I was time with patrons, Assistant library fortunate enough to staf f and neighdirector be hired onto her bors. staff as a ChilSamuel, 43, who lives in Freeport with her dren’s Librarian,” said Adult 5-year-old daughter, is a career Programming & Outreach coorlibrarian who graduated from dinator, Sarah Campbell in an St. John’s University with a email. “Her unique blend of Masters in library science in organizational skills mixed 2007. Over the years she has with care, thoughtfulness, gained operational know-how sense of humor, and ability to and leadership skills to draw “see the bigger picture” have on in her new role. She says she a l w a y s m a d e h e r b o t h is dedicated to serving the approachable and a great leader. After five years and many Oceanside community. “I’m here to help them,” changes for us both, I feel Samuel said. “Freeport is my incredibly lucky to once again h o m e t ow n , b u t I l o o k a t Continued on page 11
By KEPHERD DANIEL
kdaniel@liherald.com
Deliah Roberts/Herald
MSSN gala ‘brings heart home’ Mount Sinai South Nassau President Adhi Sharma, far left, and his wife, Emily, applauded Stephen Bradley’s performance of the national anthem on Saturday at the Lanin, in Eisenhower Park, as the hospital’s 2025 Soiree Under the Stars honorees were recognized for their dedication, leadership and support in expanding cardiac care on the South Shore.
The Driscolls have plans for a ‘Miracle’ baseball field on L.I. By KEPHERD DANIEL kdaniel@liherald.com
When Oceanside residents Brian and Dena Driscoll took their son Liam to a Savannah Bananas baseball game on Aug. 2 at Oriole Park at Camden yards in Baltimore, they watched him light up — clapping and swaying to the music and dazzled by the lights and scoreboard. The simple joy of being in the middle of a loud, playful crowd is the driving motivation behind the family building a Miracle League–style, fully accessible baseball field on Long Island so children of all abilities can play, not just watch. Miracle League Baseball is a national baseball program that provides children and adults with physical or cognitive disabilities the opportunity to play baseball in a fun, inclusive environment. The league uses specially designed, rubberized turf fields to eliminate barriers for players with wheelchairs and walkers.
Liam, now 9, was born with tetralogy of Fallot, a rare condition caused by a combination of four heart defects that are present at birth, causing oxygen-poor blood to flow out of the heart and into the rest of the body. Liam underwent open-heart surgery at 3 months old. Over the years, he has faced permanent hearing loss that requires hearing aids, severe feeding problems that led to a “failure to thrive” diagnosis and placement of a G-tube, and a Nissen fundoplication, a surgical procedure used to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease, a condition where stomach acid flows back up into the esophagus, causing heartburn and other symptoms. After extensive genetic testing, doctors diagnosed Liam with ATR-X (Alpha-Thalassemia Mental Retardation X-linked) syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects development, muscle tone, feeding and vision. Liam is nonverbal and cannot Continued on page 14
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want patrons to know I’m here to help them.