Greetings,
After one of the longest months in March I can recall, we now finally say hello to April and a fresh breath of spring. Whew, just when I thought we had an easy winter with the snow we got hit with an avalanche of a month. With the nicer weather just around the corner, the chamber is already busy planning our Free concert on June 9th featuring multiple acts over an 8 hour period and of course our annual fair in mid-August (16-19th). Both events will be held on the grounds of the Holbrook Country Club, thanks to the gracious hospitality of Supervisor Angie Carpenter and the Islip Town Board. Don’t forget to mark or load those dates into your calendars as these events you won’t want to miss.
On Memorial Day, May 28th, the chamber will be hosting our annual parade along Main street/Furrows Rd./Union Ave. The procession commences promptly at 11 AM in the Mamma’s/Holbrook Bagel shopping center and culminates at the Holbrook Vietnam Memorial (Alex Di Guardia). Everyone should make it a part of their morning and stop down along the route or at the memorial to honor those who gave their lives for our freedom.
On April 24th, there will be a Special Election in our district for the NYS Assembly seat that was vacated by former Assemblyman Al Graf. The candidates Deborah Slinkowsky and Doug Smith are both Holbrook residents so please get out and vote.
On behalf of the chamber, I would like to apologize to the community for the long delay in removing all of the holiday decorations. It was an unforeseen and unfortunate delay that caused this circumstance to occur. I can assure you this will not happen in the future and we thank everyone for their patience with the process.
As our Vice President Kevin Guilfoyle reported in last month’s column, there are a number of issues that the chamber has been working on with the local municipalities. Kevin and I met with Islip Supervisor Carpenter last month where we communicated our concerns and she was very receptive towards assisting the community in all ways possible. We will also be sitting down with the Town of Brookhaven to discuss major concerns with the safety & traffic mitigation along Union Ave and at the foot of Main St. by 7/11 where cars keep driving up on our berm area.
We will report on our progress as things get done. We’re hopeful this summer the community will begin to witness some tangible improvements on the northern part of the business district.
In closing, the chamber would like to honor & remember long-time Holbrook Fire Department member, former chief and Commissioner Mike Timo who truly was an integral part of the Holbrook Community in so many ways. Mike passed away last month after a long and courageous battle with his health. We thank his family for sharing him with us for all of these years.
Wishing everyone a very Happy Passover & Easter
All the Best Always,
Rick Ammirati
President
Holbrook COC
