By Angela Marshall
Twelve months a year, seven days a week, four hours a day. That's what Coach Frank Morris expected from his players. He gave that and much more to them. Morris died of a heart attack in Fort Myers, Fla., on Wednesday, Jan. 14. He was 70.
His motto, 12-7-4, was printed on the St. Agnes Stags' practice jerseys. You didn't have to be the best athlete to star on one of Morris' championship teams, but you had to work harder than everyone else. Morris believed in total dedication. His players had to be in top physical shape, better than their opponents.
For 26 seasons, Morris led the Stags, garnering many victories along the way, including one state and 10 Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA) championships. His record of four straight CHSAA championships stood unbroken for 30 years before it was finally eclipsed by one of his own players turned coach.
Morris, a 41-year resident of Merrick, was a physical education teacher at St. Agnes and not very fond of basketball when he began coaching in 1961. A lover of lacrosse, he didn't understand why basketball moved so slowly. So, he changed the game and forced other Long Island coaches to do the same.
Veteran gets long due diploma
John Madson got off the bus on the evening of Jan. 20 1946 and walked into his home in Ridgewood. He had just been discharged from the Navy. Fifty-eight years later on the exact date and at almost the exact same time, Madson received his high school diploma from South Side High School to a standing ovation at a Board of Education meeting.
A letter regarding Operation Recognition World War II Veteran Program arrived at Madson's house, and he decided to try to get his long over-due diploma. He put together a packet of information detailing his experience and awards and sent it to Superintendent Dr. William Johnson, who also happens to be Madson's neighbor, for consideration.
"I always felt bad about not having that type of education," said Madson.
February
Brown water has residents seeing red
At least 20 residents called the village in early February to complain that brown, rusty-looking water was coming out of their faucets. Not satisfied with the answers she was getting over the phone, one resident came to the Rockville Centre Board of Trustees meeting to inquire about this ongoing problem.
The resident, Judy Zipkin of Kennedy Avenue, said she and her neighbors had a similar problem last year, and now they want answers.
Village Administrator Ron Wasson assured Zipkin that the water is safe to drink and said the village is doing everything it can to find a solution. The village's water is tested several times a day.
"We would never have water put out that's not safe to drink," said Wasson. A Rockville Centre resident himself, he said he has also been plagued by the brown water in the past.
The issue isn't limited to Rockville Centre. Anthony Iannone, superintendent of the village's water department, said residents all over Nassau County's South Shore have been experiencing brown water problems for years. Although there are many hypotheses as to what might be causing it, no concrete solutions have been found.
5 charged in murder
Four reputed members of the Latin Kings gang and a female accomplice who allegedly provided the transportation and the weapon, all from Freeport, were arrested last Wednesday and charged with last September's murder of a 37-year-old Lynbrook man, Anthony Battaglia, whose brutal killing stunned the quiet community. Police believe that the five charged with Battaglia's murder are also responsible for a months-long robbery spree prior to the killing, including the robbery of a Rockville Centre couple three hours before the murder and robberies in Long Beach and Oceanside earlier that week.
The arrests were part of a five-month investigation by Nassau County police, who credited painstaking police work, interagency cooperation, tips from the public and the quick thinking of a Freeport police officer, who questioned two of the suspects after a traffic stop.
Overall crime down, arrests up
Year-end statistics released by the Rockville Centre Police Department last week show that overall crime is the lowest it has been in 30 years. The number of crimes committed in 2003 was 19 percent lower than in 2002. Police Commissioner Jack McKeon attributes the continued decreases to proactive policing. He said that instead of waiting for crimes to happen and then investigating, the department is using its resources to prevent crimes or to catch criminals in the act.
There were jumps in some categories, such as theft from vehicles and burglaries. There were 80 burglaries in 2003, compared with 68 in 2002, an 18 percent increase. McKeon blames the jump on one burglar who committed several break-ins early in the year. The commissioner said the department had identified the burglar, but before he could be arrested, he was shot by Hempstead police in an unrelated incident.
In total, the police department logged 1,284 crimes last year, down from 1,592 in 2002. There has been a steady decline in reported crimes since 1997, when the number peaked at 2,081. There were 18,444 calls for service in 2003, making Rockville Centre the third-busiest local police department in Nassau County.
Music man hired
After months of resumes, interviews and observations, the field was narrowed to one: Brian Zuar was named the new director of arts for the Rockville Centre School District which was announced at the Feb. 3 budget work session.
The last step before Zuar was hired was a visit by school officials to Pleasantville to observe him in his previous job as K-12 music coordinator. Acting arts director Ralph Campanella, PTA Council co-President Mary Jo Gallo Fox and teacher Andrea Patterson were among the group that went to Pleasantville.
"We look forward to having him join us," said Board of Education President Marcia Hirsch. Zuar was also interviewed by the board as part of the process. Hirsch described him as enthusiastic and a creative professional with a wealth of experience. She also gave him credit for wanting to finish the school year in Pleasantville. Zuar worked in Pleasantville, in central Westchester County, for three years as a teacher and music coordinator. He said that he was looking forward to working with the professionals in Rockville Centre and the high-quality students.
March
Former village attorney remembered
William E. Seward, 90, one of the founders of the Rockville Centre Little League and retired village attorney, died on Feb. 22.
"[He was] one of the finest village attorneys I ever met," said Mayor Eugene Murray.
Seward served as village attorney under five mayors, John Anderson, Albert Wood, Donald F. Browne, Leonard Sandel and Eugene Murray. He retired as village attorney in 1996 and stayed on as special counsel to Murray until 2001. Murray continued to visit Seward after he retired to hear his stories of the days when he was general counsel for Western Union. Seward was also instrumental in establishing the Rockville Centre Community Fund, which continues to help the less fortunate of the village. Murray called him a compassionate man whose utmost attribute was that he loved his family very much.
"He really loved the practice of law," said Village Attorney Martha Krisel. She said that even when Seward was in his 80s he still brought a fresh eye to cases and was very open minded about new trends and policies in the law. Krisel called him innovative, patient and unflappable. Part of what he loved about being village attorney was that every day was different.
County champs!
South Side boys' varsity basketball coach Jerry D'Angelo hoisted the Nassau County Championship plaque in front of throngs of cheering Cyclones fans at SUNY Old Westbury after the Cyclones defeated Jericho 62-47 in the Nassau County Class A finals. D'Angelo, 28, is believed to be the youngest coach ever to win a Nassau County championship.
The county championship, South Side's first since the 1997-98 season, was an objective that the team had since December. "My goal at the beginning of the season was to be playing for a county championship," D'Angelo said.
The Cyclones faced four-time defending state champions Amityville on March 12 for the Long Island championship. South Side, ultimately, could not power past the four-time state champion Amityville Warriors, suffering a 70-62 loss to the Suffolk team.
Going green
St. Patrick's parade marches on
With snow still melting on the ground, parade-goers stayed on the sunny side of the street and were glad that the Irish favor woolen fashions. The Rockville Centre St. Patrick's Parade marched down Maple Avenue on March 20.
It was the eighth year for the parade, which bills itself as "the parade that cares and shares." There were nearly 100 participating groups, including Irish dancers, Hibernians and Irish wolfhounds. Marines and brothers Timmy and Sean Ledwith marched in their dress uniforms holding the official parade banner. The Ledwiths recently served in Iraq and are from Lynbrook. They were asked to be a special part of the parade.
Each year, three charities benefit from the event and the fund-raisers leading up to it. The charities include three categories - national, Irish and Rockville Centre-focused. This year's charities are the Boomer Esiason Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Project Children and Friends of RVC 911 Memorial Foundation. Since its inception in 1997, the parade has raised over $203,000 for charity.
April
Barkeeps cautioned
There are 20 bars in Rockville Centre and a total of 81 businesses, including restaurants and convenience stores, that have liquor licenses. At a meeting with the State Liquor Authority arranged by the village, about two dozen owners and managers of bars, restaurants and stores learned where they stand when it comes to the Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) Law, losing their licenses and even being arrested.
"I think it's a great idea," said Anthony Geraci, one of the owners of Kasey's American Grille and Madison Hall, of the meeting. "It keeps everybody on their toes." The village sent letters to bar and restaurant owners to invite them to the meeting. According to Police Commissioner Jack McKeon, a similar meeting took place about five years ago, at which the police, the State Liquor Authority and businessmen and women shared concerns and insights.
The village strongly suggested that businesses that sell liquor invest in one of the machines that enable an identification card to be swiped and the information on it to be verified.
Hitman plotter guilty
Twice in the last two years a Rockville Centre man attempted to hire undercover agents to mutilate or murder accused rapists. David Quinn admitted to the plots in Queens Supreme Court before Justice Barry Kron on April 12.
The first plot involved the ex-husband of Quinn's girlfriend. The ex-husband was accused of raping his daughter and was later convicted of first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child.
Quinn, 37, of Greystone Road, was originally arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit the assault in December 2002 after a four-month investigation by the New York State Police Department. On Dec. 23, 2002, he allegedly paid $500 to what he thought was a hit man to "cut the girl's father in the groin area and sexually mutilate him," according to the Queens district attorney's office. The hit man was actually an undercover state police investigator.
After Quinn was arrested, the second plot, involving murder-for-hire, began in January 2003.
Zoning chair resigns
After more than 13 years, the larger-than-life personality that is Jeff Greenfield stepped down as chairman of the Rockville Centre Zoning Board of Appeals. Greenfield announced his decision to resign after hearing his final two cases.
Greenfield's decision to leave the board on which he has served for 16 years came in the wake of pressure from Nassau County officials concerned about his serving on both the Rockville Centre Zoning Board and the Nassau County Planning Commission. During his tenure on the county Planning Commission, Greenfield has recused himself from all Rockville Centre cases that were also scheduled to be heard before the Rockville Centre Zoning Board.
"It was an agonizing decision to pick between the county and the village," Greenfield said in his Lynbrook insurance office, NGL. But he maintained that this was not the end of his service to the village. "I'll be back," he said.
Heist gets hung up
A shopkeeper escaped with minor abrasions after three men held up his cellular phone store and threatened his life. Although the perpetrators escaped the store, police made four arrests within hours of the brazen daylight heist.
Tony Rajender, the owner of Wireless For You, a cellular phone store on Merrick Road, was behind the counter when three men entered at about 1:44 p.m. The men didn't say a word. Two took positions near the front of the store while a third strode to the back and walked behind the counter.
After the robbers had ransacked his business and fled the scene, Rajender followed them and got their license plate number, which he called into police.
May
Million-dollar market
Rockville Centre continues to dominate the South Shore in median home sale prices and has developed a million-dollar housing market in the past few years, according to preliminary data provided on the New York State Office of Real Property Services Web site. Earlier this year, a Hempstead Avenue house sold for $1.62 million, just shy of the owner's $1.75 million asking price. Other million-dollar homes have sold on Tamwood Court, Vassar Place and Roxen Road.
Broker Pat Nugent, of Marashinsky & Nugent, is one of many Rockville Centre real estate agents enjoying the pricey trend. "It's really blossomed," she said of the local real estate market.
The median home sale price in the Rockville Centre School District rose to $547,000 last year, up more than 7 percent from $510,000 in 2002. Over the past 10 years, the median price has more than doubled, from around $270,000 in 1994. Estimates include house, apartment and condo sales and could be slightly skewed by family-to-family sales for below market price.
Short life passionately lived
Shocked and saddened villagers thronged to Macken's Mortuary and St. Agnes Cathedral to say goodbye to Kimberly Marie Forgach, a South Side High School graduate who had plans to study law. The 23-year-old died at Mercy Medical Center on May 9 following a brief illness.
Kim, as friends and family called her, had tremendous inner strength, according to her father, Peter Forgach. Once she set her mind on achieving a goal, she never let up until she had attained it. He recounted story after story evidencing Kim's determination.
Some might have described Kim as vertically challenged; she would say she was just plain short. But she did not let that stop her from keeping up with her friends as a child. When a swim coach at the Rec Center told her she was too small to move up to the next level with all the others, she asked him for a test so she could prove to him that she was ready. He gave her one - swim the length of the pool and back - and she did it. Slowly and methodically she swam from one end to the other, the coach waiting at the side to jump in at any moment if she got into trouble.
"She was just a wonderful kid," her father said.
Oceanside school budget rejected
Jim Pericas did something on May 18 he never thought he'd do, something he never wanted to do, but, he said, something he had to do. He voted against the Oceanside School District budget.
Pericas understands the value of education, has six grandchildren living in the district and knows the schools probably need the money, but so does he.
The retired mailman and his wife both work part-time jobs to make ends meat. They have seen their taxes grow over the past few years, topping out at more than $7,000 last year. Standing in front of his Cleveland Avenue home in Rockville Centre and stretching his arms wide, he asked, "How can you pay another 9 percent?"
Pericas' frustration with rising taxes was mirrored in the responses of more than a thousand other voters. By a margin of just 10 votes, the $99,060,745 budget was rejected, 1,028 to 1,018. Dozens of other budgets across Long Island were also voted down.
The defeat came as a shock to school district officials. "The board had no inkling that the community was upset or that this was coming," said School Board President Sue Graham. "We had little attendance at our budget hearings, which leads us to believe that people are satisfied."
June
Parish Center opens
After years of planning, delays and prayers, the St. Agnes Parish Center opened on Sunday, June 6. Following the 12:30 p.m. Mass, parishioners were invited to a blessing and reception in the new hall.
Fund-raising for the new center began in 1999, just two years after Monsignor James P. Kelly was named rector of St. Agnes Cathedral. The fund-raising campaign also included plans to purchase a pipe organ and renovate the convent. Both projects have been completed. But due to the high cost of construction, the Parish Center had to be delayed and scaled down.
Kelly is pleased with the final results. Walking through the 8,300-square-foot main room, he asked, "Isn't it beautiful?" He pointed out the detailed woodwork and the electric shades that will cover the windows when students from St. Agnes Cathedral School come over to watch videos shown on the new state-of-the-art projector.
The old St. Agnes High School, the alma mater of many parishioners, was torn down to make room for the $4 million Parish Center.
Growing Up, Feeling Good instructor dies
Fifth grade can be tough. Kids are growing and changing in new ways and next year they'll be attending middle school. For over 20 years, Ellen Rosenberg and her "Growing Up, Feeling Good" program have helped ease kids through this transitional time. Rosenberg, 60, died of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in early May.
"She just had a way about her," said Mike Heller, athletic director for Rockville Centre schools. He had the pleasure of working with Rosenberg for 18 years, arranging for her to spend time with Rockville Centre's fifth graders and their parents every year.
Cyclones capture state title
What began as a dream finally came true for the South Side Cyclones when they beat the Corning East Trojans 12-9 for the Class B lacrosse state championship, bringing the title home for the first time in team history. This was South Side's first boys' state championship in any sport.
Wilson auditorium to be renamed
On June 30, 1984, after the late William McDonnell retired as principal of Wilson Elementary School, the mayor declared it to be Principal William H. McDonnell Day in Rockville Centre. Now, 20 years later the auditorium at Wilson School was renamed in his memory on June 13.
"He would be embarrassed," said his daughter, Terry Ganley, of the attention. Her father was a humble man who did his job and did not seek recognition, she said. He was 30 years old when he started as principal of Wilson in 1959. Before that, he taught at the Watson School for four years.
His influence as an educator is evident in his own family and beyond. Ganley is principal of West End Elementary School in Lynbrook and a former Wilson student who had McDonnell as his principal as a fourth grade teacher at West End.
McDonnell died in January of 2003 and since then his family, including his children and wife Barbara, and the staff at Wilson hoped there could be some way to memorialize him. The idea eventually evolved to name the auditorium after him. Ganely says that she hopes that when events take place there her father's name will be on the invitations and he will be remembered.
Herald building burns
A fast-moving fire ravaged the Herald Community Newspapers building in Lawrence on Tuesday, June 15, forcing about 120 employees to safely evacuate to the street.
The blaze gutted much of the historic building, at 379 Central Ave., which was home to Richner Communications, the publishers of 16 weekly newspapers and PrimeTime Guide. The buildings had been in continuous use as the newspapers' home since 1927.
More than 200 firefighters from 10 departments on the South Shore battled the stubborn blaze for more than two hours.
One of the greatest losses was the destruction of all bound volumes of the Rockville Centre News and Owl dating back to the 1930s. The volumes were brought to the Lawrence building in 2001 when Richner bought out the Owl's most recent owner.
"It's a terrible loss to the family history [of Rockville Centre residents] as well as village history," said Mayor Eugene Murray.
