Hello Everyone! Hope you all had a great summer. Even though it is always too short it was a wonderful summer with lots of hot beach weather.
The Summer JPCA Concert series ended on August 6th with Italian night which had been postponed from an earlier date because of a threat of severe storms. There was a tremendous turnout despite the new date and wonderful performances from Italian Tenors, Chris Macchio and Tony Valenti.
At this concert old friendships were renewed as pictured here with Roger Armbruster & Jackie Robinson who hadn’t seen each other for years and had grown up in Middle Village as boyhood friends. Also pictured here is Florence Killcommons Albrecht and myself. Concerts were a great success and attended by many. After Dark, The Boston Burglars and Generations rocked Juniper.
The following note was sent in by Roger Armbruster to Lorraine Sciulli: “A brief word of thanks to you and John for providing a memorable evening of wonderful music, old acquaintances and laughs. The turnout was far beyond my expectations; you did a first rate job. You proved that the celebrated American author, Thomas Wolfe, is wrong when he tells us, ‘You Can’t Go Home Again.’ The good stuff is timeless and doesn’t quit.”
A great time was had by all at the 77th Street Block Party on Saturday, August 3rd. It began with an outdoor breakfast, had afternoon activities for the children and a great DJ that began at five o’clock.
During the installation of the red light at 72nd St. and Eliot Ave., the DOT removed the street sign honoring Firefighter Michael Weinberg. Through
persistent efforts of the JPCA, the sign was restored in its proper place.
A Very Happy Birthday to Gussie (Accursia) DiMarino, Ridgewood who will celebrate 107 years on Sept. 14th. Gussie is pictured here with her hairdresser, Marianna of Classic Touch on 80th St. where she gets her hair styled and a touch up once a month. God Bless, Gussie! You are an inspiration to all.
Bill and Ilse Gobler celebrated their 45th Wedding anniversary at Chalet Alpina with all their friends. What a happy and festive occasion with everyone having a great time. Bill and Ilse are long time JPCA members and we wish them well and many more happy years together
For Adrienne Jarocki, 17, an international fencing champion from Middle Village, Queens, Sundays are only partly a day of rest. She may not have classes at the Bronx High School of Science, but she is usually holding a saber, either at Sheridan Fencing Academy on the Upper East Side, where she has trained for three years, or in competition in the United States or abroad. Though she came to fencing on the late side, after getting tired of competitive ballroom dancing and the beauty pageant circuit, she was Miss New York Preteen 2008. Ms. Jarocki won a silver medal at the Junior and Cadet World Championships in Porec, Croatia, in April, and will fence as a freshman at Harvard this fall. But first, she will graduate from high school on June 21 and spend a month in Poland, where her parents, Jaroslaw, 54, and Anna Jarocki, 47, are from.
Congratulations to Brian Holden and Allison Plate who were married at a destination wedding in the Four Seasons hotel West Palm Beach Florida on August 6th. Brian is the son of Bob & Amy Holden. The newlyweds celebrated their marriage at a reception on September 14th in Scarsdale.
And in the Killcommons family, Katie caught her first fish in Montauk this summer. And a very Happy Birthday to Katie on September 2nd
The picture (above right) shows a plaque with Lorraine Sciulli's name and identity with the JPCA. It was placed on the wall in the Marilyn Monroe Room of ParkSide Restaurant in Corona thanks to Lorraine's good friend, Bill Gobler. Bill made it a point to always tell management at ParkSide that because Lorraine, 1st Vice President of the JPCA and Editor of the Juniper Berry, does so much for her community a plaque should be placed on the wall. ParkSide owner, Tony Federici responded by arranging to have a Lorraine Sciulli plaque posted on the wall in the room identified as the Marilyn Monroe room along with many other notable patrons who frequent the restaurant. If you never ate at ParkSide in Corona you have missed one of the nicer treats in life. Food, ambiance, service, prices that are reasonable and everything else that goes with running a good restaurant are personified in ParkSide located at 107-01 Corona Avenue in Corona.
On September 1st, Lauren Salvatore married Benjamin Farkas at the Overlook Lodge in Bear Mountain in a ceremony witnessed by their many friends and family. Lauren is the daughter of Bill and Beth Salvatore of Middle Village and Ben's parents are Agi and Benjamin Shani. We wish Lauren and Ben many years of happiness together.
Congratulations to Catherine Mulvihill of Middle Village, who is a member of the Class of 2015 at Providence College. Catherine traveled to Australia this summer as one of ten recipients of the College’s Father Philip A. Smith, O.P. Student Fellowship for Study and Service Abroad.
Congratulations to the 6th Grade Girls Our Lady Of Hope Hornets on winning their third straight CYO Diocesan Softball Championship. Way to go girls!
Gloria Sfiroudis of Maspeth was honored by the United Federation of Teachers at the UFT Scholarship Dinner at Russo’s on the Bay. She was presented with a plaque for her “Untiring Commitment to the Students at P.S.229.” She is a teacher for fifty years, having taught all grades from K to 6th grade. She held positions as Assistant Principal, Corrective Reading, Talented and Gifted, Educational Enrichment and Teachers College Writing and Reader’s Workshop. Presently, she is a Teacher of Library/Technology. She also raises funds for many causes including the March of Dimes, Cancer Walk/Run for Women and Emergency Disaster Funds.
Joke: Husband takes his wife to a disco. There's a guy on the dance floor living it large – break dancing, moon walking, back flips, the works. The wife turns to her husband and says: “See that guy? 25 years ago he proposed to me and I turned him down.” Husband says: “Looks like he's still celebrating!!”
