On January 22nd I attended the State of the Borough Address by the Honorable Melinda Katz. It was held at Queens College in Colden Auditorium. And, interestingly, I found out that there was a bus provided to Middle Village seniors who were given breakfast and after the ceremony a delicious lunch with various chefs giving “a taste of Queens.” The Middle Village Senior Center put this together, a very nice event.
This is from Captain Chris Manson, Commander of the 104th Precinct: Please welcome the newest member of the 104 Precinct. NYPD pink! Congratulations to Officer Charlie Sadler and his wife Gina on the birth of their baby girl!
Happy Birthday to Councilman Eric Ulrich (Howard Beach) on celebrating his 30th birthday on Friday, February 13th. Eric celebrated the big three-oh with his wife Yadira and daughter Lilly. Eric who is a good friend and support of the Juniper Park Civic Association said that he doesn’t mind turning 30 on Friday the 13th. Enjoy 30 Eric!
On Saturday, March 7th, St. Margaret’s Parish will host an Irish Dinner-Dance Celebration Music will be performed by the Cunningham Brothers. The always fabulous food will include Corned Beef, Shepherd’s Pie & Chicken. Beer, Wine, Soda, Coffee, Tea and Dessert will also be served. Doors Open at 6:30pm. Dinner Served at 7:30 p.m. The price, $45.00 Per Person, Call: Tina Browne at 917-365-3384; or Maureen Postel at 917-589-6804
Congratulations and good luck to the Our Lady of Hope 8th grade girls basketball team. They made it to the championship game which will be played on February 22nd vs Gate of Heaven.

Last month at the Ragazzo Races, the St. Margaret’s/ Resurrection Flyers brought home many gold medals. With the never ending dedication of Coach Dennis Fey. Cousins, Michael and Ricky Hubert won gold in the bantam and junior 800 medley relays. The junior team consisted of Jorge Aguilar, James Burns, Owen Kelly and Michael Hubert. The bantam team consisted of Ricky Hubert, Victor Osling, Shane Rooney and Kasper Niepojok. Special honors went to senior girl Karolina Niepojok for coming in first in the Ragazzo 1000 meter race. The flyers were equally proud of junior girl Zara McPartland for her second place finish in the Ragazzo 1000 meter race.
All the Flyers want to give a special thank you to coaches; Jeff Boger, Mark Codd, Dennis Fey, Mike Loftus, and George McCarthey, for all their support and encouragement. These coaches have made the Flyers track program a success for the past 20 years. The coaches have also expressed that it has been their pleasure watching many of the Flyers come up through the program and achieve equal success in running in High School and as well as college.

Kudos to O’Neill’s in Maspeth. They raised as much as $200,000 for the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in January. About 1,400 people paid $100 each to attend the mammoth fund-raiser. New York athletes signed autographs included Brian Leetch, Adam Graves, Mike Richter & Rod Gilbert from the NY Rangers; former Knicks greats John Starks & Anthony Mason; and Queens native (and former Boston Celtics star) Kenny Anderson. In the past O’Neill has hosted annual fund-raisers to aid families of NYC cops who died in the line of duty. Thanks to owners Danny Pyle & George O’Neill for their outstanding commitment to the community and this great charity.
We all welcome Father Peter Purpura back to New York from Rome. Although he won’t be back in Our Lady of Hope, he has been appointed to St. James Cathedral in downtown Brooklyn as Rector. Congratulations Father!
Here’s Fr. Purpura with Bishop DiMarzio and former St. James Rector, Msgr. John Strynkowski.
Congresswoman Grace Meng joined the leadership of the Juniper Park Civic Association in December for their 75th Anniversary Party. It was a great night and a fitting conclusion to the JPCA’s year-long anniversary celebrations. Here we cut the cake that was donated by the Glendale Bakery in Maspeth. The cake was a masterpiece and doing the honors with Congresswoman is (l-r) yours truly, First Vice President Lorraine Sciulli, Treasurer Tony Nunziato and President Robert Holden. I want to give a great big THANK YOU to Joe at Glendale Bakery on Grand Avenue. I asked my wife, Betty, to order a cake for our Christmas/Anniversary party. Joe was writing up the order and when Betty said it was for JPCA he asked what that was and when she told him, he replied: “Oh there is no charge for them, they do such great work in our community.”

Martin Luther School, located in Maspeth awarded 10 Academic Excellence Scholarships to the top scorers on November’s Academic Excellence Scholarship Exam.
The awards were given based on the student’s performance on the Test of Achievement Proficiency, which tests the student’s ability in reading comprehension and mathematical skills.
The students with the top scores on the test were awarded a half-tuition scholarship; the students with the next three highest scores on the exam were awarded a $2500 per year grant; the next four highest scorers earned a $2000 per year award. This year, Martin Luther School also awarded the Jill Rudzewick Memorial Scholarship to Olivia Younghese from St. Stanislaus Kostka School in Maspeth. MLS created this half-tuition award in celebration of the life and service of Jill and her family, to both the community and St. Stan’s, their home parish. Serving church and community are two traits at the core of Martin Luther School’s mission. The names and schools of the winners follow.
Ryan Boettcher, Redeemer Lutheran
Michele Deck, IS 227Q
Olivia Younghese, St. Stanislaus Kostka (Jill Rudzewick Scholarship)
Jake Cook, PS/IS 49
George Yankey, Martin Luther
Eric Schneider, St. Matthias
Liani – Marie Luke, Redeemer Lutheran
Mickey Malone, PS/IS 49
Laura Fay, Redeemer Lutheran
Brandon Tsang, PS/IS 49
Congratulations to Joe and Marianne Cerillo who celebrated their 50th Birthdays and 25th Anniversary!
“Middle Village,” the Magic Words –
While on “hiatus” at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn, Long Island recovering from acute pancreatitis, I met incredible nurses and doctors.
When I was in the ER my nurse, Carol, asked where I was from and when I said Middle Village she said her father was Eddie Jackson whom I know very well and who is a long time resident of our town.
Then there was a nurse who asked my daughter Kelly where she was from and when Kelly replied “Middle Village” the nurse said her Mom was the kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Dorothy Snow whom Kelly and all of my kids had at Our Lady of Hope. She was a teacher who was dearly loved by all.
One day while they were walking a patient past my room who was going home, I hear “Hi John.” It was Dennis White who lives in Middle Village and who works as a volunteer at St. Francis. I also know him from Citi Field.
Then one night my nurse came in and said “Killcommons, I know your name, you live in Middle Village.” It was Larry Carlin one of eight children from Our Lady of Hope. We also know the family. Larry Carlin is a wonderful nurse at St. Francis.
I also had two young nurses who were daughters of firemen whom I worked with before I retired.
As you can see, “Middle Village” is well represented in the work place at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn, Long Island!