Building on the success of newsletters from prior years, welcome to this year's inaugural edition! Find out who our upcoming speaker is, announcements to make you aware of, what happened at our holiday celebration that recognized community service awards winners, plus learn more about our featured member. Many thanks to Paul Cassella of the Rotary Club of Southampton who helped with the newsletter's creation including design and formatting. Enhancements are expected as we learn the intricacies of Club Runner platform capabilities--and invite guest editors to manage content--stay tuned!
All the best in the new year of possibilities,
Diana O'Neill, President 2024-2025, Mineola-Garden City Rotary Club
Mark your calendar for January 14 meeting
Trees – Garden City’s Treasure
New Tree Policy
Village Arborist to Report
by Althea Robinson
for the Garden City News "This Week in Rotary"
Published January 3, 2025
All are invited to join the Mineola-Garden City Rotary’s first lunch meeting of 2025 on Tuesday, January 14, 12:15 at Mineola’s Davenport Press restaurant, 70 Main Street, Mineola NY. Rotary will be pleased to welcome as guest speaker, Joseph Umana, Garden City Village arborist.
The importance of maintaining Garden City’s treelined streets, recognizing the environmental benefits, and working to increase our overall tree canopy is the aim of the new Tree Policy recently unanimously passed by the Village Board of Trustees and Joe will have an integral part in this on-going process.
Joe began working with the Recreation and Parks Department with the task to address the Village tree situation and to work with Andy Hill of the Parks Department along with the in-house Village planting crew. Acknowledged to have a passion for trees, Joe will speak on his first year as Village arborist – issues found and corrected, initiatives, policy and what the future holds for horticulture in Garden City.
Born and raised on Long Island, Joe started his work in the landscaping horticulture field while in high school at Kellenberg Memorial, Uniondale. He attended the University of Delaware where he graduated in 2013 with a Bachelor’s in Plant Science and Horticulture with a concentration in Landscaping Design.
After graduating, Joe attended Walt Disney’s professional internship program in Orlando, Florida. After Disney, Joe returned home to Long Island and studied to pass the Certified Nursery Landscape Professional, the ISA Certified Arborist Exam and the Municipal Specialist Arborist Exam. Joe started his career with the Village as arborist in January 2024.
A request to update the profiles of members is forthcoming via email from Club Runner so that we can ensure the membership roster is correct. Please respond using the link provided in the email or reach out to mineolagardencityrotaryclub@gmail.com for help.
Breakfast Meeting on January 28
The second Rotary meeting for January will be a breakfast to be held on Tuesday, January 28, 8 a.m. at the Carle Place Diner, 151 Old Country Road, Carle Place, NY. Fee: $20 payable at the door. To reserve, email mineolagardencityrotaryclub@gmail.com.
January Service Project/Activity
Part of our 100th Anniversary planning is to conduct a service project/activity each month. January's focus is a toiletry drive to benefit MOMMAS House, a nonprofit that provides housing and support services to young mothers and their babies since 1986. Mother-Child Housing Programs are located in Nassau County. Please see list of items needed at this link to their donations webpage:
Bring donations to the January 28 breakfast meeting or drop off to Meg Norris at Garden City News, 821 Franklin Ave #208, Garden City, NY 11530 during business hours anytime before the meeting. We will also need volunteers to sort, itemize, pack up and deliver the donations.
February Service Project/Activity
Our February focus is a cleaning supplies and household goods drive to benefit General Needs, a Rotary District 7255 signature project, that serves veterans in transitional housing. Please access for more information: https://generalneeds.org/. Donations can be brought to upcoming February meetings or to the Garden City News office. We will also need volunteers to sort, itemize, pack up and deliver the donations.
December 18 Holiday Dinner/Community Service Awards Event, a resounding success!
As a prelude to year-long planned activities to celebrate our 100th anniversary, we commemorated the launch of this impressive milestone with a holiday-themed Community Service Award Dinner on Wednesday, December 18, 2024 at the Stewart Manor Country Club from 6 to 10 pm. Over 130 guests enjoyed the festivities including 16 Rotarians! Fundraising proceeds are being compiled now. It was such a special event as we came together to spread holiday cheer and experience the true joy of giving back.
The highlight of the evening was the presentation of Rotary's Community Service Award to two exceptional civic-minded individuals who embody the ideals of Rotary's motto, "Service Above Self." Our honorees were Mineola Mayor Paul Pereira and Garden City Public Library Trustees Chair Randy Colahan who were feted for extraordinary service to both the Mineola and Garden City communities.
The evening began with a cocktail hour that included open bar and featured a special performance by the renowned Garden City High School Chamber Orchestra directed by Andrew Albani. An elegant buffet dinner followed in the holiday-themed ball room. An array of 32 raffle gift baskets and two silent auction prizes benefited Rotary's myriad services and good works. And returning to officiate at emcee was our affable Rotarian Ray Sikorski, past president and past Community Service Award recipient.
Planning committee members:
James Brady
Kimberly Carlstrom
Jennifer Ferrara-Poupis
Diane Marmann
Joanne Meyer-Jendras
Meg Norris
Tina O'Keeffe
Diana O'Neill
Katherine Perrera
Althea Robinson
Ray Sikorski
Ads for printed program
to celebrate event and honorees:
Adelphi University
Brosnan & Associates, LLP
Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty
Garden City Public Library
Hengstenberg's Florist
Incorporated Village of Mineola
Kilburn Road Friends of Randy Colahan
Kiwanis Club of Garden City
Deb & Tom Long
Long Island Volunteer Center
Mary Maguire
Diane P. Marmann, Esq.
Mineola Chamber of Commerce
Dr. & Mrs. Peter O'Neill
Diana & Jack Pascal
Paul LeSueur Legacy Foundation
RotaCare
RTS Print Services
Scott Perrin, The Event Office
Schroder & Strom, LLP
Mary & Francis Tierney
Tsontos Furs of Mineola
Unicorn Graphics
Raffle prize donations from local businesses
& organizations:
Ambiance Beauty
Ambiance Salon
Angelo & Co.
Bagel Boss East
Beverage Barn
Bileddo's Key Food Marketplace
CheerWare
Cultural Arts Playhouse
Duck Donuts
Garden City Chamber of Commerce
Garden City Pizza
Iavarone Bros.
Robert Mehran, Jr., Esq.
New Ground
Pantano's Bagels
Repeal
Revel
Salon Aqua
Salvation Army
Seventh Street Cafe
Stow and Behold
Taku Sushi/Asian Fusion
Tsontos Furs of Mineola
Raffle prize donations from Rotary Club members:
Arthur Anderson
James Brady
Randy Colahan
Jennifer Ferrara-Poupis
Diane Marmann
Joanne Meyer-Jendras
Tina O'Keeffe
Diana O'Neill
Katherine Perrera
Althea Robinson
Monetary donations:
Patricia Force
Anita Frey
Kiwanis Club of Garden City
Martin Lord
Ann Paulson
Leo Stimmler
Matching Happy Bucks for RotaCare:
Jim Brady
Gary Fishberg
Tom Gelsdorf
Ray Sikorski
Helmut Schuler
Other in-kind:
Kimberly Carlstrom, graphics
Garden City High School Chamber Orchestra
Garden City News, event publicity & ad commissions
Chairman, Board of Directors, Garden City Public Library
A lifelong resident of the Inc. Village of Garden City, Randy has spent more than 20 years in Garden City’s Public Library system. He had served as Library Trustee since 2002 and as Chairperson and President since 2007. Randy’s leadership positions also include service as former president of the Garden City Centennial Soccer Club from which he was the recipient of the Past President Award, the Fiftieth Anniversary Award and Tim Kevil Award. He has coached numerous intramural and travel soccer teams. Randy had served as president of the Estates POA, as a director on the Original Turkey Trot Race Committee and as a director of The Mens Association (TMA). Randy also served on the Adelphi President’s Advisory Council, the Duke University Admission Committee, and on several GCHS Class of 1970 Reunion Committees. Professionally, Randy has held management, sales and ownership positions in the printing and graphics art industry for more than 50 years having received numerous industry awards. Randy serves as a proud member of the Board, Kiwanis Club of Garden City and as an active member of the Mineola-Garden City Rotary Club. For his lifelong philanthropic contributions, he was honored with the 2024 Community Service Award at the December 18 Holiday Dinner sponsored by the Mineola-Garden City Rotary Club.
From left to right, Althea Robinson (event planning committee), Randy Colahan with his wife Elena Colahan, and Joanne Meyer-Jendras (event planning committee).
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