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UNIONDALE _____________
HERALD BEACON
Bird watching in Central Park
Celebrating Haitian Flag Day
Students earn scholarships
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MAY 22 - 28, 2025
In Uniondale, school district budget approved By STACY DRIKS sdriks@liherald.com
Holden Leeds/Herald
James Sesti tried out the different types of cereal at a popular new attraction, “The Cereal Club,” at Cradle Con 2025.
Cradle Con stimulates old time childhood nostalgia By STACY DRIKS sdriks@liherald.com
Families, fans and cosplayers packed the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Uniondale last weekend for the museum’s annual pop culture convention, Cradle Con. This year, a new attraction sparked particular buzz — and plenty of childhood memories. Called “The Cereal Club,” the exhibit was tucked inside the museum’s Hangar Two, and cost an additional $10 to enter. Attendees were invited to relive a retro Saturday morning ritual: sugary cereal and nonstop cartoons. Dozens of vintage cereal boxes, from
Mr. T (discontinued in the 1990s) to Count Chocula (now a Halloween exclusive) — lined the room, and a half-dozen small television sets played animated classics from the 1980s and ’90s. Visitors young and old took a seat, bowls of cereal in hand, and watched “ThunderCats,” “The Adventures of Garfield,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and more. The idea came from Seamus Keane, the museum’s creative director of special events. One young visitor, unaware he was speaking to the mastermind behind it all, summed up the experience best after watchConTinued on page 2
Uniondale voters passed the school district’s proposed $286 million budget for the 2025-26 academic year in Tuesday’s election with 616 votes. The budget is designed to maintain current educational programs, support staffing levels, and invest in technology upgrades across the district’s schools. As for the board trustee seats, both Addie Blanco-Harvey, who garnered 625 votes, and Alvin McDaniel, who had the support of 513 voters, ran unopposed and will take up their positions once again in the upcoming school year. The distric’s spending plan included a 2.5 percent hike in the tax levy, which amounts to a $3.3 million increase from the
current year. In addition, voters passed a separate proposition to spend up to $1.5 million from the Capital Reserve Fund, by a vote of 640 to 156. These funds will be used for capital improvement projects including installing new heavyduty safety fencing at Grand Avenue School, repairing sidewalks and parking lots at Northern Parkway, Turtle Hook Middle School, Walnut Street School and Uniondale High School, upgrading exterior LED lighting at multiple campuses, and installing new well pumps and irrigation systems at several athletic fields. The district plans to begin work on the capital improvements this summer; with completion expected before the 202526 school year begins.
School budget results for Uniondale school district
√ PASSED 616 voTES
For more school election results information, go to liherald.com/xxxxx