By:Paul J. Condra
Bidding a sad farewell to the end of the East Rockaway Trade Association last spring, merchants are now focusing on the future of East Rockaway's new Chamber of Commerce, which is just about open for business.
Pulling the strings to bring the group together is Paul Lanzetta, whose Main Street music store is also functioning as the chamber's impromptu main office. There amid acoustic guitars and Beetles memorabilia, Lanzetta keeps a few sections of his back-office file cabinet.
This is a place he has dedicated to his new project compiling the chamber's bylaws, a task which involved tailoring the individual chamber's needs to the laws governing the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce.
It's enough to make me crazy,Lanzetta said of the task. There are so many.
Still, Lanzetta said he wants to bring something new to the businesses of East Rockaway. And at the risk of losing a pinch of his own piece of mind, he craves the opportunity to bring merchants in the village together.
Our goals will be to work side-by-side with the business community and the village officials to make our town the best possible place for our families to grow and our businesses to thrive,he said.
Lanzetta said he's eager to get going, and the businesses of East Rockaway are stirring to rise out of the dust of the old Trade Association a topic those involved in the new chamber are reluctant to discuss.
In April, shortly after a defamatory suit claiming questionable election procedures was filed against the group by its former president, John Wolfsohn, it voted to disband, citing negative publicity from the law suit and a general lack of interest among business owners to keep the association together.
Wolfsohn said the suit, which concerns an election in which he said non-dues paying members were allowed to vote and thus rest
