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HERALD Hearty farewell to a bartender
Honoring church’s past and future
Saving ducklings at Sandel Center
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Vol. 36 No. 25
JUNE 19 - 25, 2025
$1.00
Teens ignite torch for the Backyard the program’s co-founder, who mentioned that in earlier years, students had taken the reins The Backyard Players & creatively. Chiara, who started Friends brought its annual the- volunteering at Backyard Playater production to life this year ers & Friends in her freshman year of high school, with a fresh twist: and Rocafort and an original show Breen, who started written and choreovolunteering the graphed entirely by summer before three South Side their junior years, High School stuinstantly became dents. interested. Megan Chiara, “Me and Char17, Charlotte Rocalotte said, ‘That fort, 17, and Amalia sounds like such a Breen, 16, develpositive and o p e d “ B a c k ya r d rewarding experiOlympics,” a colorence,” Chiara said, f u l , h i g h - e n e r g y CHARlottE and Breen agreed. perfor mance that RoCAfoRt They began followed perform- Student volunteer, brainstorming and ers from the Back- Backyard Players shaping the script. yard Players on a & Friends Much of their whimsical journey inspiration came across the globe in search of the Olympic torch. from the Olympic-style games The show was the culmination they had already been playing of the Backyard Players’ sum- with the Backyard Players during the program. That playfulmer theater program. The idea was sparked by a ness helped set the tone for the conversation with Ellen White, Continued on page 11
By KElSIE RADZISKI
kradziski@liherald.com
Tim Baker/Herald
A ‘hole’ lot of good in RVC The Independent Order of Odd Fellows came together for a cornhole tournament to raise money for local charities. Story, more photos, Page 3.
Preserving the village’s history, saving one building at a time By KElSIE RADZISKI kradziski@liherald.com
A renewed effort to document the historic architecture and neighborhoods of Rockville Centre’s South Side is gaining momentum — not just to honor the village’s past, but also to guide its future. Led by the Rockville Centre Historical Society, the initiative aims to expand the village’s historic resources survey and explore new ways to recognize and preserve the character of its homes, commercial buildings and community spaces. Residents have expressed concerns over the
past few years about the loss of local historical buildings, including a 19th-century home at 220 Hempstead Ave. that was demolished in 2021 and a Civil War-era house at 24 S. Park Ave. that was knocked down in May. The historical society expressed its regret for not being able to save those structures, but at a community forum on June 12, members Matt Cliszis and Jennifer Santos outlined just how much goes into historical preservation and what the organization plans to do going forward. The pair detailed how properties can gain recognition through the national and New York Continued on page 15
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veryone was collaborating ... [on] different tasks, but all for the same thing.
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