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HERALD LOOK InSIDe
Senior Health expo and Beyond VOL. 74 nO. 18
Student artists honored for work
Levittown’s Career Day
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APRIL 30 - MAY 6, 2026
$1.00
Celebrating Emily Crupi’s 100th birthday that would define her life. In 1948 she married Peter Crupi, and together they built a Wantagh resident Emily close-knit family, raising three Crupi reached a major mile- children. Over the years their stone this month, celebrating family grew to include three her 100th birthday surrounded grandchildren and five greatby family and friends in the grandchildren. In 1962 the coucommunity she has called ple settled in Wantagh, and the home for more than community would six decades. become central to To h o n o r t h e Crupi’s life and legaoccasion, her family cy. organized a drive-by While her huscelebration outside band served as a her Wantagh home. detective in the New Well-wishers lined Yo rk C i t y Po l i c e the street with signs Department for 33 and balloons, and years, before he died among those joining in 2004, Crupi in the tribute was became a familiar S t a t e S e n . S t eve and trusted presRhoads, who has ence as a Nassau known Crupi since County crossing he was a child, and STeVe RHOADS guard at Mer rick stopped by to recog- State senator Road and Atlantic niz e her lifelong Avenue in Wantagh. contributions to the For 25 years she community. ensured the safety of countless C r u p i w a s b o r n E m i l y students in the Wantagh School Bruno on April 8, 1926, in District, many of whom would Brooklyn, and her early life later remember her kindness was shaped by hardship and and dedication as a part of resilience. After losing her their daily routines. mother at the age of 12, she One of those children was moved in with her sister, an Rhoads himself, who rememexperience that helped instill bers Crupi on patrol when he the strength and determination
By HUnTeR FenOLLOL
hfenollol@liherald.com
I
Courtesy Brian Redash
“I just fell in love with the game,” the trailblazing 12-year-old Olivia Redash, a Seaford Middle School seventh-grader, says.
Meet Seaford Middle School’s first girl on the baseball diamond By HUnTeR FenOLLOL hfenollol@liherald.com
Seaford Middle School seventh-grader Olivia Redash is making history, and she’s doing it on her own terms. The 12-year-old recently became the first female player ever to earn a spot on the school’s baseball team, but she refuses to approach the milestone as a barrier-breaker. “I just see myself as another player,” she said. Playing baseball for about eight years, starting at age 4, Olivia’s love for the sport isn’t surprising. She grew up around the game, with an older brother who played, and a father deeply involved in baseball. She said that this quickly developed into a
passion that never wavered. “I grew up with my brother and my dad coaching and playing baseball, and I just fell in love with the game,” she said. While most girls tend to favor playing softball, Olivia chose a different path and stuck with baseball, continuing to develop her skills as both a catcher and second baseman. Her dedication paid off this spring when she earned a spot on the Seaford Middle School team. She’s not only the program’s first girl, but also one of its youngest players. “I was so excited,” Olivia said of making the team. “It was just crazy.” Known for her competitiveness behind COntInued On page 2
t really was a reflection of the lives that she’s touched throughout the course of her 100 years.
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