By ANTHONY BOTTAN
Held at the Sandcastle in Franklin Square, the chamber honored State Assemblyman Robert Barra with a Special Appreciation Award for his continuos efforts to revive and revitalize the downtown area in Valley Stream. Barra is bringing in experts, notably a former governor of Delaware, who has had success reviving business districts, to assist in rejuvenating the flailing downtown businesses.
³We need people to come back to the mom and pop stores,² Barra said.
Barra said in his acceptance speech that though it may be convenient to have big-name businesses in the area, those companies take money from the community, but do not put any back into Valley Stream. It is the mom and pop stores, Barra said, who give back to the community by using its profits to do things such as sponsoring little league teams.
The state assemblyman made note that if the downtown were to undergo a face-lift, it must start with the owners of the shops. Barra said business owners must keep the fronts and sidewalks of their businesses inviting for patrons, which starts by keeping their store fronts clean.
³If the stores look like hell, people are not going to shop there,² Barra said.
There is no set timetable, Barra said, on when the downtown revival project will be finished, but he assured that the wheels are in motion.
Furthermore, Mayor Ed Cahill was given the Special Recognition Award for his dedication to the betterment of the village. Cahill joked during his speech about another honoree, Ancona¹s Pizzeria and Restaurant, and how when the restaurant first opened 33 years ago, he told his wife Mary Ann that the pizzeria would never make it.
Ancona¹s Pizzeria and Restaurant was given the Business Achievement Award for its long-standing commitment to serving the village. Ancona¹s has been family owned for 33 years and continues to be one of the most frequented eateries in Valley Stream.
The award was accepted by Antonina Wilson, the daughter of Lucia Pontrelli, who was the original owner when the pizzeria first opened in 1974. Ancona¹s was voted as one of the Top 10 pizzerias in Long Island in a poll done by Newsday. When asked how the pizzeria continues to be so popular with the community, Wilson said, ³hard work and inspecting all the food for the best quality.²
Cahill, who said he loves the pizza from Ancona¹s, saluted the Pontrelli family, who came from Italy to open their business in Valley Stream.
³What they did here is truly an American story,² Cahill said.
On a sadder note, Chamber of Commerce President Frank DeMita gave his farewell speech. He will be stepping down as president within the next month. DeMita spent the last two years as president of the Chamber of Commerce. DeMita¹s replacement, Thomas Day, reluctantly withdrew from the position for personal and business reasons, so DeMita will stay in office through September until a replacement is found.
DeMita is moving out of Valley Stream and to the North Shore, where he plans to play more golf, read and travel with his wife, Lois. To sum up his time as president, DeMita took a line from Bob Hope¹s television show: ³Thanks for the memories.²
Chamber of Commerce member Elliot Rosenbaum said a few kind words about DeMita, his presidency and the overall affect he had on Valley Stream. Rosenbaum mentioned that DeMita was once a math teacher at Valley Stream Central High School, and used a math equation to refer to DeMita¹s time in office: the whole is equal to the sum of its parts. DeMita¹s initiatives as president, Rosenbaum said, affected the commerce as a whole. DeMita started the Chamber of Commerce newsletter, introduced a business map for local businesses to advertise in and helped improve the relationship with the village and the chamber.
³Looking at the totality of his accomplishments, his presidency has been a success,² Rosenbaum said.
