Hello Everyone. We have had an eventful summer here in Middle Village . It started off with the moving Viet Nam Memorial Wall being set up in Juniper Valley Park June 29th thru July 2nd. A color guard was provided by Queens Chapter 32 of the Vietnam Veterans of America. It gave us an opportunity to honor the service men lost in the Viet Nam War, five hundred and twelve being from Queens.
The Juniper Park Summer Concert Series started off with The Boston Burglars on July 10th. The band was terrific playing music for young and old. Many people enjoyed dancing under the stars.
On July 17th Juniper Valley Park was rocking to the sounds of After Dark led by Gary Colter, Executive Board member of the JPCA. That concert will be remembered for quite some time.
German Night on July 17th was a great night with singers and dancers performing for the crowd. Old friends reunited at Juniper Valley Park that night. Pictured are Florence Killcommons Albrecht, RoseMarie Schwarzler Diaz and Tony Diaz. All grew up in Middle Village.
Italian Night on July 31st attracted a hug crowd. They heard the amazing voice of Christopher Macchio who sang well known Italian love songs as well as show tunes familiar to all. It was a great night. Pictured here at the concert are Virginia Klein Havriliak and husband Al. Viginia’s father Artie Klein was one of the founders of our Civic Association and served as the second President.
The last concert of the Juniper Park Summer Concert Series ended with the band called “Generations.” What a great night of entertainment with so many attending and they were up and dancing to the music! “Generations” literally rocked the room! At the end the large crowd wouldn't let them leave the stage! There were great song selections, terrific singers and it was a fun night in Juniper Park. Local boy, Lenny Musso, was the crowd favorite in leading the band back to Middle Village. It was a fitting send-off for a great 2012 concert series.
If you’ve ever dined at the famous Middle Village restaurant Niedersteins, you have to know Estelle. Well here she is in retirement riding a Vesper with her son-in-law Rick Buoncore in Ohio.
Henry and Virginia Anusiak are proud Great Grandparents of two beautiful granddaughters. Here they are pictured with Lorelai Olivia Demery and Hayden Emily Goldberg. Congratulations!
On Sunday, June 17th Our Lady of Hope’s Girls Softball teams won four CYO Diocesan Championship.
The 4th Grade Hope Hornets in the Pee Wee Division won the CYO Championship by defeating St. Adalbert’s in a 6-2 victory.
And for the second year in a row, the 5th Grade Hope Hornets won the CYO Championship in the Novice division defeating St. Virgilius 9-2.
The 6th Grade Hope Hornets in the Bantam division won their game 2-0 over O.L.B.S. for a 14th straight win for the season and won their CYO Championship.
And for the boys baseball, the Pee Wee fourth Grade boys team won the CYO championship beating St.Gregorys 8-2. This victory capped an undefeated season for the team.
Our Lady of Hope’s Rookie team arrived for the final game knowing that all 3 Hope teams before them had already won there championship games. If that wasn’t pressure enough they were up against an undefeated St Luke’s team that was a two-time Diocesan champs. OLH fell behind 7 -0 in the fifth inning but never quit and came back to capture their first diocesan championship with a 9-7 win. It was a great team effort as well as a great life lesson for these true champions.
Best wishes to Father Peter as he leaves Our Lady of Hope for a new assignment in Rome. It was a short stay here in OLH and we will all surely miss him. We will keep you in touch with Middle Village and send you our Juniper Berry Father Peter. Hope you will visit us in the future. A farewell for Father was planned for Sunday, Sept. 9th at the 12:30 Mass followed by a reception.
The Middle Village Volunteer Ambulance Corp will celebrate their 40 years of service to the community on Nov. 3rd at Connolly’s Corner, Grand Avenue, Maspeth. All are welcome. Contact Joseph Magnus at 718 639 3290.
And this in from the Secular Franciscan Fraternity of St. Adalbert Church who celebrated their 50th Anniversary on June 25th. The fraternity was founded on February 25, 1962 by Fr. Stanley Wlooyka, O.F.M. Also honored was two of the members Betty Pietromonaco (30 years) of Astoria, and Anna Raia (25 years) of Maspeth. For additional information, Contact the Rector (718 639-0212)
Congratulations to Jack & Carol Veracoechea who welcomed their 12th grandchild, Camryn born August 8th. Proud parents are John and Jennie Veracoechea.
I am happy to report that our good friend Gunther Duy is back after knee surgery at The Hospital for Special Surgery. Gunther is as good as new and serving his customers at Gunral Service Station.
A Happy Birthday to Frankie LaSala who turned two years old on Sept. 10th.
Joey Diaz sent this picture of his Dad in to the Berry. It is Tony Diaz and Jim Colter playing for the Midville Dodgers a “few” years ago.
A bit of Broadway was provided by Maggies Little Theater of Middle Village. The Group performed “Anything Goes.” on July 20, 21, & 22 to rave reviews. No need to travel to Broadway folks, it’s right here in our town.
JPCA Executive Board Member Angelo Raneri and his wife Josephine celebrated their daughter's 2nd Birthday recently. “Happy Birthday Olivia Lianna! You're growing so big, mommy and daddy love you so much.”
There is some good news for all who have missed O’Neill’s Restaurant. The new structure is moving along and it is expected that the restaurant will reopen on December 7th. George O’Neill can be seen on site holding court everyday and eagerly gives a progress report to those who stop by to ask. Good Luck to O’Neill’s.
The following came to the Korner from Lorraine Sciulli:
There was a Sciulli family reunion recently and about 75 relatives came from Alabama, Massachusetts and as far away as Iowa. The surviving original Sciulli siblings from a family of eleven kids are pictured here. From left to right they are, Bobby, Anthony and Johnny with their spouses Gerri, Evelyn and Lorraine. Three of their many nieces and nephews are also pictured, Josh, Anna Leigh and Christina from Alabama. They all had a great time reminiscing about past family events and enjoying niece, Anna Sciulli Zecca’s great home cooked food served at her beautiful home, pool and all in Medford, Long Island.
File this one under “still best of friends after all these years.” Middle Villagers Ceil Carrano and Anne Holden attended most of the Juniper Valley Park Summer Concerts. They’ve been best of friends for over 50 years and were regular participants in hundreds of community events over the years. For several years they volunteered at Juniper Park Civic Town Meetings. The photo (top) was taken at the Boston Burglars concert in the park and the photo (above) was taken in 1965.
Middle Village was well-represented at the Republican National Convention in Tampa. CSPAN cameras captured delegates Amy Holden (l.) and Margaret Ognibene during Ann Romney’s speech.
