Letters to the Rockville Centre Herald Editor, Feb. 3, 2011
Herald story inspires team
To the Editor:
I saw the story “Gymnasts seek conference title” (Jan. 27-Feb. 2) on the South Side varsity gymnastics team. I felt compelled to write to say that it was an awesome piece. Very often we forget that a story like this has an impact — a positive impact — on the athletes that we coach. I got several compliments from our parents, and I let them know that it is the writing of the Herald’s sports editor, Tony Bellissimo, and the fact that he always has the athletes in mind that makes it so great.
The girls were so inspired by the story that it helped motivate them to clinch the conference title. This is only the second time that we have done this in the 13 years that I have been the coach. We were at a deficit statistically in every category against a very strong North Shore team and managed to come out on top. We got our best score of the season.
Thanks, Tony! South Side gymnastics and volleyball appreciate your stories.
Cheryl Scalice
Varsity coach, South Side High School
Thanks for an outpouring of sympathy
To the Editor:
It is certainly sad for anyone who experiences the loss of a parent. However, words can’t express the joy my sisters, Pat and Pam, and I felt at the outpouring of love and expressions of sympathy we received from so many kind people from all over the country and as far away as Europe.
Many heartfelt thanks to the Herald for its stories about our mother, Vera Clark’s, 100th birthday celebration at MacArthur Park last July 29, and another one about her passing on Jan. 11. Hundreds of people contacted us by card, letter, phone or e-mail or paid visits to Mom’s viewing at Glynn’s funeral home. Because she was 100, one might have expected a smattering of attendees at her wake. But the number of those who braved the cold and snowy weather was truly a testimony to her time here on Earth and to her memory.
Since Mom and her family were a show business family (the Rooneys) during the days of vaudeville, they played many a circuit with other famous entertainers of the day, such as Eddie Cantor, Al Jolson, Fannie Brice, Bill (Bojangles) Robinson, Eddie Foy, George M. Cohan, Bert Lahr and many others. Tommy Glynn and his staff were a tremendous help in staging all of Mom’s show business memorabilia in the two-room viewing area, where visitors could see her life in pictures from as far back as 1911, including photographs and manifests of the ships on which the troupe of family members traveled to and from Europe for engagements. One of those engagements was a command performance for the King of Denmark, Frederick VIII.
So, as much as Mom’s (who was known as ViVi) death was a sad event, it was also a celebration of her exciting and fulfilling life, and on behalf of her descendants, I wish to give thanks to all who expressed their sorrow and gave Mom a wonderful sendoff in the true tradition of a star. She would have absolutely loved it.
Mickey Clark
Rockville Centre
Heart Association promotes National Wear Red Day
To the Editor:
On Friday, Feb. 4, the American Heart Association urges Long Islanders to wear red and raise money to fight the No. 1 killer of women — cardiovascular disease. Donate $5 to join the Go Red for Women movement and receive a red dress pin.
The eighth annual National Wear Red Day is an easy, powerful way to show support for the movement. Go Red for Women invites women to make it their mission and help to save lives by telling five women the know that they want them to live.
Nearly 42,000 women die annually from cardiovascular disease, including more than 5,600 women across Long Island. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women 25 and older, and kills more women annually than the next four causes of death combined.
Start getting healthy right now with Life’s Simple 7 and the My Life Check Assessment from the AHA. These free online tools can help you privately evaluate your heart health, learn more about the seven risk factors for heart disease and take action to make changes that can improve your quality of life. Take the assessment online at http://mylifecheck.heart.org.
Jessica DiMeo
American Heart Association
