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Inside Seaford’s Spring Fling
Student honored for giving back
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VOL. 74 NO. 19
MAY 7 - 13, 2026
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A bid to restore Coast Guard at Jones Beach including year-round searchand-rescue coverage. Lunday said the Coast Guard Boaters along the South was working toward restoring Shore say that restoring full staffing levels, which could Coast Guard operations at bring rescue operations back to Jones Beach would improve Nassau County year-round. safety in Jones Inlet, one of “We have a plan to be able to Long Island’s busiest and most move, if supported in the [fiscal challenging wateryear] 2027 budget ways, following a request, to move recent commit[Coast Guard perment secured by sonnel] out to those U.S. Rep. Laura Gilsmall boat stations, len. and that’ll help us At a House Comrestore the operatmittee on Transing posture,” Lunportation and day said. “I look Infrastructure forward to getting hearing last back to you … month, Gillen, the including the privice ranking memoritization of ber of the Coast MICHAEL CARUSO Jones Beach.” Guard and Mari- Publisher, The For boaters who time Transporta- Fisherman magazine regularly navigate tion Subcommittee, waters off Jones pressed Coast Beach, the potenGuard Commandant Kevin E. tial restoration is welcome Lunday on reductions to Sta- news. tion Jones Beach’s capabilities “Jones Inlet is one of the in 2024 due to staffing and fund- busiest boating inlets on Long ing shortages. Island, and anything that “I’m deeply concerned about improves boater safety is of the impact of those changes,” importance,” Michael Caruso, Gillen said during the hearing, publisher and owner of The noting that the station was Fisherman magazine, who among 19 nationwide affected boats in the area, said. “Restorby a force realignment initia- ing a fully operational Coast tive that reduced operations,
By HUNTER FENOLLOL
hfenollol@liherald.com
Courtesy Brandon Weissman, WeisFlicks
Lindsey Parke’s family and friends and other members of the Wantagh community took part in a memorial softball tournament at Eisenhower Park.
Remembering Lindsey Parke
Community gathers for memorial tournament in E. Meadow By HUNTER FENOLLOL hfenollol@liherald.com
The sound of laughter, cheers and bats hitting softballs filled the air at Eisenhower Park last Sunday. It was a scene that felt familiar to the family of Lindsey Rose Parke. But for them, the memorial tournament held in Lindsey’s honor was about more than a game. It was about remembering the kind of person she was and the impact she made. “It’s kind of like a full-circle moment,” her brother, Timothy Sitzman, said. “Seeing everybody get involved, it shows the type of person she was — always being there to help somebody else.” Parke, a 19-year-old firefighter from Levittown, died in January, a passenger in a vehicle that crashed on Old Country Road, whose driver, police said, was operating the vehicle recklessly, and was later charged. Her loss shook the community. In the
months since, her family, friends and fellow firefighters have worked to ensure that her memory lives on — not only through grief, but through action. The outpouring of support, they say, mirrors the way she lived. “She never hesitated to help anyone,” her sister, Haley Parke, said. “So the fact that no one else hesitates to do for her now — that’s exactly who she was.” For Lindsey, helping wasn’t just a habit — it was a personality trait. There were the everyday moments, like working with children at camp, where she would proudly tell her family about kids calling her “Dr. Lindsey” after she put bandages on their scrapes. “She’d come home and say, ‘They’re calling me Dr. Lindsey, Mom,’” her mother, Annette Sitzman Parke, recalled. “She loved that — just helping them with a little BandAid and making them feel better.” And then there were the moments that showed just how instinctive that drive was. CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
H
aving a fully operational Coast Guard is like a security blanket for boaters.
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