Kathy Rousseau, Jim Moran, Jacqueline Czarnecki, Joe Geraci, Michael Guido, Frank Klement, Jim Lemley, Klyle Markott, and Rocco Morabito

 Boy Scout Troop 204                                                                                                  On Dec. 3rd Boy Scout Troop 204 decorated Kelli’s Pond for the holidays.  They spent considerable time raking and generally cleaning the whole area several weeks ago.

November 20th was a very special day for three scouts from this troop.  Brenden Coleman, Kevin Feinstein, and Kevin Matura  were honored at an Eagle ceremony commemorating their accomplishment in attaining this level of scouting.  Each worked very hard to achieve this designation, in part through community projects which they planned, funded, and worked through completion. 

For the coming year Life Scout Dan Martin will be building picnic tables with benches and a free-standing bench for the pond as his community service project. This is coming at a perfect time since a memorial garden at the pond will be planted this spring in honor of Kelli Harkins, funded by the Town of Brookhaven. We are looking for professional assistance in  planning this garden so please give a call to the civic number if you’re interested.

Another new component of this troop is Venturing BSA. It is the young adult program of the Boy Scouts of America for men and women who are 14-20.  Its purpose is to provide experiences to impact the positive development of youth at a critical stage in their lives and to prepare them to become responsible and caring adults. 

Our association sponsors Troop and Pack 204.  We are proud of this relationship and look forward to it continuing well into the future.

Beautification                                                                                                               Andrea Kinstler has volunteered to take over the responsibility of Beautification chairperson  this coming year. We will be meeting after the holidays to revitilize the committee.  If you are interested please call, email, or note it on your membership renewal form.

The trees promised us by the Orenstein-Leyton  Corp to replace the ones removed during clearing for The Vineyards were planted  Dec 5th at Sylvan Avenue Park.  They are beautiful specimen trees-Dawn Redwood and Pin Oak.

 3rd Annual Holiday Tree Lighting                                                                           This Sunday, December 11th, at 6:30 PM we will hold our holiday tree lighting in front of Starbucks in the Stop & Shop center.  This is co-sponsored by the Fire Department who will safely deliver Santa via a decorated fire truck at the end of his ride through Miller Place at approximately 7 PM. Prior to his arrival there will be coffee and hot chocolate provided by Starbucks, and cookies from Stop & Shop. The high school vocal jazz group will entertain us with their lovely voices, and the girl scouts will present a Christmas poem.  Santa will have plenty of time to listen to children’s requests upon his arrival. We ask that you consider bringing an unwrapped gift to contribute to the Starlight/Starbright foundation, sponsored by Starbucks.                                       

Rome Night lights: LIPA are you listening?
Giancarlo D’Alessandro, the Rome city councilor responsible for public works, has asked the city’s electricity utility, ACEA, to prepare a plan to economize on Rome’s street lighting and public lighting in general.
There are 170,000 street lights in Rome, most of them throwing more light up than down; many of these could be turned down, or even off late at night. The new plan will fix limits for the maximum light allowed for shop windows and signs, which may have to be turned off at midnight, for ornamental lighting and for the floodlighting of important monuments. Beams of laser light, often used by night clubs, may be banned. Astronomers are delighted since the amount of artificial light in the Rome makes it impossible to study the sky at night. Even the astrological observatory at Monte Porzio Catone in the Castelli Romani is affected by the quantity of artificial light; to see the sky clearly astronomers have to go to the mountains in the nearby Abruzzi region.             

Membership                                                                                                             We welcome new members Renee Almodovar, Sue Christie, Jayne Johnson-Seeberger and Rita Miszuk. It is time to renew your membership for the year 2006. Check your mailing label for the year you are paid up through. New residents are added to our mailing list for several months which is indicated with an * after your name.  We hope you consider learning about and joining our association.

Senior Citizen/MOD center update                                                                       The tearing down of the existing center is anticipated in the near future after removal of asbestos. The laying of the foundation and subsequent construction was planned to begin at the end of this year, with remaining work resuming in the spring. The majority of the Town of Brookhaven supporting staff is still planned to have offices at this facility. The mini buses originally slated to be housed on the property will now be located on Canal Road which will eliminate the extra traffic on roads that are already overburdened.

Planning /Zoning                                                                                                   There is still no word on the Delea property moving ahead in the application process with the town.  We will share information with you as we receive it. There are no other current issues other than the proposed Mobil station on Rt. 25A west of the CVS center, located in Mount Sinai but on the border of Miller Place, which is still in the beginning phases of discussion. We are awaiting our second meeting with the developers. Of concern is what will be done with the adjoining property since it would also have to be rezoned to allow sufficient land for the station.