We start out with some good news. Caroline Connors of LaBella Cucina Restaurant in Middle Village gave a beautiful wedding reception at the restaurant for her niece, Marie Guez who married Myles McGee. There were 100 guests in attendance wishing the bride and groom many years of happiness. The celebration included an outdoor cocktail hour, a beautiful dinner in the restaurant followed by a Venetian Hour which was celebrated on the Cucina patio. Music and dance was provided by Cucina singer, Angela. Owner Joe Passanante succeeded in making sure that this would be a memorable occasion, one that all will remember for many years to come.

We would like to acknowledge the help we got after the tornadoes hit our area from the students at St. John’s University when they were in Juniper Valley Park helping with the massive clean-up after the storm. A great bunch of kids, and we thank them for their help. The St. John's University students that participated on the team during University Service Day were:
Kristie Dass, Jamil Jimenez, Anisah Lee, Marisa Klausner, Lindsay Bauer, Ashley Beal, Ryan McCormick, Michelle Kim, Kritika Vayanth, Bridgette Anguilano, Lorraine Mundanchira, Bhoomi Thakkar, Omar Ismail, Christina Dolmo, Amandeep Kaur, Chung In Kown, Morgan Binwalee, Melissa Salm, Tiffany Landon, Lucas Kawa.

Also on hand appraising the situation was Alpha Company Joint Task Force Empire Shield of the National Guard that sent some of the troops to our area to do what they do best; help in disasters. And, no question, Middle Village was very hard hit from the storm and “disaster” is not too strong a word to describe what happened in our neighborhood on September 16th. Thanks guys and gals of Alpha Company, for all your help.

Our Lady of Hope student, Luke Renda reports to the Korner that OLH 6th grade soccer team beat St. Margaret’s team at Mafera Field 2-0. Our Lady of Hope’s team picture is part of this news.

Congratulations to our very own Juniper Berry Editor, Lorraine Sciulli, who was given a Community Board Service Award from Barry Grodenchik Deputy BP and Queens Borough President Helen Marshall acknowledging her 15 years of service to our neighborhood as a member of Community Board 5. The Award reads, “In grateful recognition of outstanding and dedicated service to your Community Board and to the Borough of Queens.” Our community boards are the watchdogs of our neighborhoods and Lorraine has been a member of the Board for 15 years now and counting! Good Luck to Lorraine and we wish her many more successful years serving our great community.

We have been advised that Anne Landers and Tracy O’Connor Hubbard have entered the real estate business in our town. Anne, a practicing attorney, is the daughter of John T. Landers, Esq. They have been providing legal advice to countless Middle Village residents for 41 years at 62-87 Woodhaven Boulevard. Anne is a licensed real estate broker with Tracy Hubbard serving as her licensed sales agent. If you would like to list your property with Anne Landers Realty Corp. please call Tracy Hubbard at (516) 658-1634 or Anne Landers at (516) 873-6433, e-mail landersreality@aol.com. It’s always nice to see the businesses being passed down through the generations and the loyalty they show by staying in the original town where they started 41 years ago.

Andrew LaSala and his wife, Francine LaSala, welcomed a baby boy, born September 10, 2010. His name is Frank Joseph LaSala and he weighed in at 8 pounds 3 ounces and is 21 inches long! Congratulations to the proud parents and we can’t wait to get a picture of this new guy in town!

By the time you read this Killy’s Korner, Our Lady of Hope will have had its 50th Anniversary Dinner/Dance on October 23rd at Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston with a packed room of well wishers. This event celebrated a momentous milestone for Our Lady Of Hope Parish that, some of you may recall, started out as a tent on Eliot Avenue back in the day! They’ve come a long way serving the spiritual needs in our great community and we all look forward to wishing Pastor Michael Carrano a successful future as they embark on their next 50 years in Middle Village!

On the afternoon of October 23rd there was the reunion at Resurrection Ascension for all their graduates up to year 1949. Many of us attending this reunion looked forward to seeing all our old classmates! It was great to touch base with everyone from our past!

After the tornadoes struck our neighborhood, kids were out in full force making the best of a tough situation (as Middle Villagers always do). As you can see from the attached photo they managed to have fun climbing the fallen trees and watching the news reporters as our neighborhood was thrust into the spotlight. The kids in the picture are Nicole Werner, Dana Cerillo, Julia LaRosa, Amanda Miller and Juliana Chiodi.
The residents of 84th Place between Furmanville Avenue and 64th Road banded together to help clean up their block after the storm. The effort impressed New York Times reporter Fernanda Santos who was walking the neighborhood after the storm with JPCA president Bob Holden on Sept. 17th. Ms. Santos wrote a great article highlighting the block’s efforts.
Chase Bank on Eliot Avenue and 74th Street is very close to their opening day scheduled for Nov. 16th. They are looking for employees and it seems like a nice place to work locally for anyone who has some free time and who wants to earn a buck or two. Keep them in mind.

Congratulations and Best Wishes to Pete Kedrovic and Alexandra Eliopoulous on their engagement.
A dinner party was held in Astoria at the Trattoria L’Incontro to celebrate the occasion. The happy couple is planning their wedding next October 7 at the Carlyle on the Green. Peter is a third generation Middle Village resident.

That’s it, another Killy’s Korner goes to press. It’s been a busy and turbulent month in our town and hopefully things will get back to a normal pace. Don’t forget to send us your good news so we can include it in our future Killy’s Korner articles.