With a diverse lineup of Bellmore-Merrick Central High School district students, alumni and musicians from throughout Nassau County, more than a dozen bands battled it out at the Brookside School last week at a Bellmore-Merrick Community Wellness Council event that raised more than $2,500 for the council’s annual Midnight Madness drug- and alcohol-free post-prom party. more

For the fifth year, the Bellmore-Merrick community gathered for Forever 9: The Robbie Levine Foundation’s annual Dealing with Hearts Gala. more

The Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District, the Bellmore-Merrick Community Parent Center and Nassau County Legislator David Denenberg will present a program about the college athletic recruiting process, “Does Your Child Dream of Playing Sports in College?” The event will take place on Thursday, Jan. 26, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at the Brookside School, 1260 Meadowbrook Road in North Merrick. more

They’re called “pharm parties,” short for pharmacy parties. A group of teenagers –– perhaps as young as 12 and 13 years old –– methodically swipe opiate-based pain killers like Oxycontin and Oxycodone from their parents’ and grandparents’ medicine cabinets, dump the pills into a big bowl when no adult is looking and take turns rolling a die. Whatever number comes up, that’s the number of pills a teen must ingest. more

Concerned parents are reserving their seats for “Dangers in Your Medicine Cabinet: What You Need to Know to Protect Your Children,” a parent-targeted substance-abuse awareness program that will be hosted by the Bellmore-Merrick Community Parent Center, in partnership with the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District, the Bellmore, Merrick, North Bellmore and North Merrick elementary school districts, Nassau County Legislator David Denenberg and the Bellmore-Merrick Coalition Against Substance Abuse. The talk will be held at the Brookside School, 1260 Meadowbrook Road in North Merrick, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 11. more

Residents of the Bellmores and Merricks danced the night away last Friday in support of the Bellmore-Merrick Community Wellness Council’s Midnight Madness substance-free post-prom party when the council hosted a zumba class at the Brookside School in North Merrick. more

The scenario is tragic, gruesome and perennial. A high school senior, all of 16 or 17 years old, gets a driver’s license. His or her proud parents hurry out to buy their child a new car –– perhaps a fast car. Within days or weeks, the teen is dead, killed in a fiery wreck. more

  The Bellmore-Merrick Community Wellness Council will hold a zumba dance class in the Brookside School gymnasium on Friday, Nov. 4, with proceeds benefitting the council’s annual post-prom party. more

Lack of grant money couldn’t stop the Bellmore-Merrick Central District’s Midnight Madness. The fourth annual substance-free post-prom party, hosted by the Bellmore-Merrick Wellness Council, got under way last Thursday night at Zachary’s in East Meadow without a hitch. more

Moolala, in the Merrick Commons Shopping Center, will donate a portion of its proceeds from every purchase on Thursday, May 26, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., to the Bellmore-Merrick Wellness Council’s fourth annual post-prom party, to be held in June. more