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2010 Archive Page 1
Kings Park Jazz Festival
2011!
Technical Coordinator Rick
Holmes
The Kings Park Jazz
Festival Celebrated African Heritage History Month on
Feb 18th, 2011 at the RJO Heritage Auditorium. The night
was filled with Musical Master Pieces as well as
heartwarming surprises. The Directors to this 6th annual
event announced that the Kings Park Jazz Festival will
in the future be know as "The Ranny Reeve Jazz Festival"
in honor of Kings Park's Musical Mentor.
Ranny Reeve
"Well if you can't get a
thrill from that, you must be pretty hard to get a
thrill from!" Remarked the Maestro Himself Mr. Reeve".
Known for wearing his
untied work boots and torn flannel shirt as concert attire as well as his no-nonsense
approach to jazz music as a language, Ranny was in
attendance at what eventually became a "Ranny Reeve Tribute" evening at the
popular jazz festival.
The audience stood at attention
as the infirmed Mr. Reeve slowly walked to the piano on
stage with the help of a walker and Festival MC's Lois
Vulpis and Steve Weber. All was quite as Ranny,
sat down in front of the piano, as he did so many times
past and played one of his time honored lullabies.
Virtuoso performances were
turned in by jazz musicians including
Dr. Kayhan Zandieh,
Miss
Emily and Pappa Ron,
Glenn Baldwin's Friends of
Jazz, Gerard
Johnston, Mark Wierzbowski, Danielle Mascolo, and John Little
as "Tri Force"
and pianist Bennet McComb, an 11 year old from
Eastern Long Island.
Special guest performance
by Kings Park Historian and Icon, Mr. King Pedlar, who
surprised even his oldest friends by playing several
jazz standards on the Baby Grand Piano which was donated
last year to the Kings Park Heritage Museum by Gail and
Jack Hessel. "I have known King since he was my bus
driver 40 years ago, I had no idea that he could play
jazz so well.", remarked one past Kings Park Graduate.
Special Thanks to Rick
Holmes, Derick Troxler and the entire tech crew for
their expertise and dedication, not only to the Heritage
Museum, not only to the School District but also to the
very best of what life has to offer....."the Performing
Arts".
Click Image Above to View!
Heritage
Museum's Myra Fontana:
Person of the Year
2010
The Times of Smithtown has
chosen to Honor King Park Heritage Museum Trustee Myra
Fontana as the 2010 Person of the Year!
Click
Here to Read Article!
Joseph
C. Merola
June 4, 1927 -
November 28, 2010
President Kings
Park Heritage Museum
"The Mayor
of San Remo" - He will be with us always."
Click
Links Below to View:
Joe Merola History 2009
Lifetime Achievement 2001
Bikini Letter Home 1946
Newsday Article 1973
Newsday Article 1984
Picture
Gallery:
Click in Image Above
to View
Joe
Merola's Deli - End of An Era
The
Building in which Joe Merola's Deli operated for decades
was raised to the foundation last week by Joe Merola
himself. This Deli which was located on St Johnland Road
in San Remo was the heart of local community for
decades. Joe explains he will miss the building but
remarked that it was about time for the property to be
renovated.
Mr. Merola recalls that he watched the community grow
and change over the years while working behind the
counter at the popular deli. “When I first came to San
Remo, 81 years ago, there were no paved roads, they were
all dirt roads. Once a year the town would send a truck
out and spread oil on the road. The mostly barefooted
children would have black feet for weeks.”
Some things from the old days Joe says he will never
miss, “Outhouses, we had no bathrooms or running water.
We made our cottages out of the materials which were
available. My uncles made their homes of the wood they
saved from shipping crates. We had no heat and the roof
always leaked.” Joe paused for a moment, shuffled a few
leaves on the ground with his shoe, looked up and
corrected himself, “We loved it, it was the best times
of our lives.”
"I
remember Charlie Gardner", Joe remarks with a kind
grandparent like grin as he recalls the past Kings Park
School Board President and current President of the
Kings Park Chamber of Commerce, "Charlie worked for the
consumer affairs department as a teenager, he would come
by and check my scales. And boy did he love bologna."
"I also remember the time Saint Anthony called on the
phone. I said thee Saint Anthony? That’s my
wife's patron saint, I never spoke to a Saint before.
The Caller on the other end of the line paused and
corrected herself and said that this was actually the
secretary from Saint Anthony's High School; We are out
of bread."
Joe went on to explain the future of the property, 'My
son Craig is going to build a new home on the property,
he is the little boy in the picture and has grown some
over the years as well. He is a medical doctor now and
just celebrated his 50th birthday."
Joe Merola recently celebrated his 83th Birthday, is
President of the Kings Park Heritage Museum, an active
member of in the Kings Park Sons of Italy and enjoys
spending time with his older sisters, who live in San
Remo, just around the corner from our….“Merola’s Deli.”
Story By Steve Weber
Kings Park State
Psychiatric Center Remediation Study 2010
Download:
KPPC Remediation Study
(Upper 368 Acres)
York Hall Restoration Study
"Kings Park" - A
Documentary by Lucy Weiner
Click Image Above to View
Documentary Trailer
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"Kings Park" offers an
unprecedented look at public mental health
care in America by focusing on the story of
a single abandoned institution, Kings Park
State Hospital on Long Island, NY. The film
begins with director Lucy Winer’s efforts to
come to terms with her commitment to Kings
Park as a teenager in the late 1960’s.
Although her goals are purely personal when
the film begins, her desire to resolve the
issues of her past is soon replaced by a
driving need to learn about the
institutional world in which she was once
locked away. To this end, Lucy seeks out
other former patients, their families, and
hospital staff, who share riveting firsthand
accounts of life at Kings Park from
dramatically different perspectives. These
intimate glimpses of a vanishing world bear
witness to the many changes in treatment,
policy and attitudes over the past century. |
Ecosystems of Life -
Nature Tour!
Video by Steve Weber -
Hosted by Jan Porinchek
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The
Kings Park Heritage Museum is proud to
announce the release of “Ecosystems of
Life”. Produced by Steve Weber and Hosted by
Artist and Naturalist Jan Porinchek; this
documentary explores the varied and fragile
ecosystems of the Nissequogue River State
Park.
There are
many ecosystems within walking distance
inside of the Nissequogue River State Park;
fresh water wetlands, brackish estuaries,
woodlands and the Beaches of the Long Island
Sound, all are treasured habitats which need
to be protected and enjoyed. This
documentary explores these ecosystems.
“The
environment is not an issue, but a framework
under which all decisions are made” explains
the filmmaker Steve Weber, “Jan Porinchek
provides a informative and entertaining
nature tour of the former Kings Park
Psychiatric Center. “
Click Here to View Online!
(requires very fast connection)
Click
Here to Download!
(saves video to your computer)
Also Playing
on Smithtown Cable and Verizon FIOS
on the Smithtown Government Chanel!
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Kings
Park Family Spotlight!
The Dwyer Sisters!
4 Dwyer Girls,
Photo circa 1940's- 3 sisters and one cousin.
Seated L to R: Peggy, Helen and Cousin Agnes Dwyer.
Standing in back Mary Dwyer.
Two of the Dwyer
sisters - Mary and Peggy married 2 Flynn brothers -
John and Tom. Big John Flynn was a highly
decorated Marine hero who fought on several Pacific
Islands. When he left the Marines he went to work
for the post office. Eventually ended up working at
Kings Park State Hospital as an attendant. Later on
went to the KPSH Recreation Dept and finally chief
of the Volunteer Dept before retiring to Florida.
Peggy married Tom
Flynn who was on the Suffolk County Police Dept.
Helen Dwyer - Married Mattie O'Reilly. Both worked
at Kings Park State Hospital. Agnes Dwyer
married Bob Liebner.
Mary and John were the
parents of Danny Flynn killed in Vietnam.
Danny Flynn
Kings
Park School District Receives
Distinguished Service Award
The United States
Coast Guard Honored the Kings Park School
District with the Distinguished Service Award in
recognition for Leo Ostebo, Kings Park Heritage Museum
and the entire Kings Park School District's support of
the USCG.
Click
HERE
to view Award
Click Image Below to View
Picture:
Pictures By King Pedlar
Leo Ostebo - KP Museum
Founder
Honored by The Times of Smithtown
Kings Park Heritage Museum
Founder and Director Leo Ostebo was honored by the
Smithtown Times with the 2009 Good Neighbor Award
recognizing Leo Ostebo's lifetime of commitment to the
Kings Park Community
Click
Here
to Read Article
1979
NY Times Article
This
1979 Article details the efforts of the Kings Park
Heritage Museum's Founder and Current Director, Leo
Ostebo's constant efforts to empower the students of
Kings Park to be accepted to the Military Academies.
And 30 Years Later,
Leo is still at it!
Click
HERE to Read Article!
St Johnland Home Letters
Dean was a child living at
the St Johnland Home in the mid to late 1940's. These
letters are the actual letters he wrote home to his
mother. Heart-Wrenching and Heart-Warming, all at the
same time!
Click HERE to Download Letters!
Irish Heritage Night 2010!
(Updated! to include '66, '67,
'69)
Kings Park High School Yearbooks!
1955 -
1956 -
1957 -
1958 -
1959 -
1960 -
1961
1962 -
1963 -
1964 -
1965 -
1966 -
1967 -
1969
Click On Link Above to Download
Yearbook!
Yearbooks Scanned by King Pedlar
and Compiled by Steve Weber
Video Release! - Video Release! -
Video Release!
Kings Park History by Bill Walsh
Click Image Above to View!
State of the Art documentary on
the history of Kings Park which focuses on the St Johnland Home
and the Kings Park State Hospital. Bill Walsh, a professor at
the New York Institute of Technology, uses state of the
art filmmaking techniques, historic materials from the Kings
Park Heritage Museum and interviews with Miles Borden, King
Pedlar and Steve Weber to tell this mesmerizing story of the
unique history of Kings Park.
Click
HERE
to Watch Video
Also Playing on Smithtown Cable
and Verizon FIOS
on the Smithtown Government Chanel!
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