1972-04-20

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FARMINGDALE OBSERVE!
AN OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE VILLAGE OF f » • U£ Py
SERVING THE GREATER FARMINGDALE AREA, BETHPAOt, mc
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V I L L I . 1C(
A MEMBER OF THE OBSERVER/ TRIBUTE GROUP OF NEWSPAPERS
VOL. 9 N O . 3 5 Second Class Postage has been paid at Farmingdale, N. Y. 11735 • Published by THE OBSERVER. INC.. Box 146. Farmingdale. N. Y. Thursday April 2 0 1 9 72
Teachers Prepared
To Face Residents
The Farmingdale Classroom Teachers Association
( CTA) is going to put its case before the public. A
meeting has been called for Monday, June 24, at 8: 00
p. m. at Mill Lane Junior High School during which the
teachers will present their position to the taxpayer,
supposedly the one who has the last say over the
amount of money to be spent in Farmingdale's
educational system.
A DEED WELL DONE: Prof. Terrence Larney ( right), Coordinator of Athletics at Queensborough
Community College, presents a check of $ 783.91 for the Long Island Colleges' Olympic Fund drive to
Dr. Charles W. Laffin, Jr.. Long Island Aggies' President and Chairman of the fund- raising com­mittee.
Looking on are Al Kahn ( left), Chairman of Health and Physical Education at Queen­sborough,
and Tom Watt, Farmingdale U. Athletic Director and Coordinator of Sports Events for the
Colleges' Olympic Drive. According to Dr. Laffin, more than $ 6,000 has been raised thus far by
colleges on Long Island who have set a goal of $ 10,000 for the Olympics.
" Things look very bleak,"
admitted Robert Riedy, 1.
vicepresident of the CTA and
chairman of the negotiating
committee, " nobody in his right
mind wants a strike and. possibly
a jail sentence but the past ac­tions
of the board leave us very
little choice."
Two facts stand put that, ac­cording
to the teachers, gives
their association no choice but to
stand firm: the unilateral
abolishment of sabbatical leaves
in violation of the contract and
the demand of th?. board to in­crease
the teaching periods for
English teachers.
Currently, English teachers
give four classes and one con­ference
period a day. For fiscal
reasons, the board wants the
number of classes increased to
George Benkert Post to
Hold Loyalty Day Parade
The Corporal George Benkert Jr. Post 516 of the Veterans of
Foreign Wars will sponsor its annual Loyalty Day Parade on
Sunday, April 30. It will be the 17th year that this post is spon­soring
the parade which will start at 2: 30 p. m. behind Village
Hall. The grand stand will be in front of the Bohack Store on Main
Street. Representatives of local, state and federal government
will be in attendance. In honor of Loyalty Day, John T. Hallahan,
mayor of the village of Farmingdale has issued the following
proclamation:
WHEREAS, by public law No. 85- 529 of the 86th Congress, Res.
H. J. 4 in Joint resolution, July 17, 1958, the House of Represent­atives
and the Senate of the United States, May 1st of every year,
has henceforth been designated as National Loyalty Day and
approved by the President on July 18, 1959.
WHEREAS, it becomes more important each day that our
citizens be reminded of the blessings of this country so that they
are prepared to fight the inroads of Communism at home,
National Loyalty Day now affords them that opportunity to
proclaim their faith in a democratic form of government.
WHEREAS, there are continuing efforts to destroy the dignity
of man through the suppression of freedom of speech, freedom of
the press and freedom of worship as one chooses: and
WHEREAS, it is the duty of each American to stand up for that
which he believes and that which thousands of American have died
for on battlefields throughout the world, now
THEREFORE, I John Hallahan, ( Mayor) of the Village of
Farmingdale pursuant of the joint resolutions of the Congress,
and together with the Officers and Members of the Corp. George
Benkert Jr. Post No. 516 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, do
hereby proclaim Sunday, April 30, 1972 as Loyalty Day in the
Village of Farmingdale, New York, and urge that every man,
woman and child join in a Public Demonstration that will show
the people of the world our undivided devotion to join our
Government and our way of life. I further urge full and complete
cooperation by all organizations in the Village ' to actively
participate in all public Loyalty Day Celebrations and to assist
the Veterans of Foreign Wars in urging public display of all our
I citizens of Sunday, April 30, 1972.
V . ; • •
Grover Starts Selection
For Academy Nominations
Competition for Congressman
James R. Grover, Jr.' s
nominations to military
academies will open with an
examination July 5, the Babylon
lawmaker has just announced.
Young men interested in the
classes entering June, 1973,
should write to Mr. Grover's
office, 1234 Longworth House
Office Building, Washington,
D. C. 20515, to receive written
authorization to take the test. All
candidates will be notified ap­proximately
two weeks before
the examination of the time and
place for testing.
The competition, which also
includes a personal interview and
a check of each young man's
background, will produce
nominees for the United States
Military Academy, Naval
Acacemy, Air Force Academy
and Merchant Marine
Academy. " The education of­fered
to young men considering
careers as service officers is
among the best in the world." Mr.
Grover said. " By employing
impartial testing and interview
procedures, I am insuring that
the very best candidates are
named. My previous nominees
have made enviable records at
these fine schools and I am sure
that the men selected in the
current competition will do
equally well."
School District to
Meet on Curriculum
Farmingdale School District
will hold a curriculum meeting on
Monday 24, at 8: 30 p. m. at the
Farmingdale Senior High School.
The public is invited to hear
about and to discuss innovations
and changes planned for the
school year of 1972 / 73 »
Bomb Scares Were Pranks
" This is not a prank call," an unidentified male voice told a
dispatcher at the South Farmingdale Fire House on Tuesday night at
7: 18 p. m., " there is a bomb ready to go off at the fire house." As it
turned out, it was, fortunately, a prank call after all.
According to a report from the 8th precinct, there were two bomb
threats called in that night. In each case the caller was a male.
The second call came at 8: 16 p. m. informing the fire department
dispatcher in South Farmingdale this time that a bomb was about to
explode at 123 Woodward Parkway, a private residence.
In each case men of the precinct and the Fire Department rushed
to the scene, searched the grounds and found no bomb. Police
Detective Robert Millman is in charge of investigation. There are no
definite suspects at the time.
five. This would eliminate 12
additional teaching positions on
the secondary level.
" We are not screaming about
staff reduction due to attrition,"
Riedy said," we know that
enrollment has decreased. But at
the same time we can not agree
to any other dismissals of our
members. Any union doing that
might as well close shop." .
" Our demands are
reasonable," Riedy continued,
" all we want is maintenance of
the present contract and saTa'rv
improvements and fringe-benefits
in line with the
presidential guidelines. Because
of the uncertainty about
economic conditions on the local,
state and national level, we are
only asking for a one- year con­tract."
The teachers are distressed
about what they believe is a
deliberate effort by the board to
cast the teachers into the role of
the villain and to provoke a strike
which would be to the financial
advantage of the school board.
According to the Taylor Law
teachers are fined two days pay
for one day out on strike.
The situation in negotiations
between the board's represen­tative
Henry Weinstein and the
CTA is at a standstill at the
moment. Both sides are awaiting
the recommendations of fact­finder
Ed Levin, a NYU faculty
member. As soon as the fact­finding
report is received, both
sides have ten days to accept or
to reject the recommendations.
Both sides could renew talks
during that period.
Should no agreement be
reached a legislative hearing
with an impartial arbiter will
have to be scheduled. According
to the Taylor Law, the impartial
arbiter would be the local school
board. " This really shows you
how the cards are stacked
against the teachers," Riedy
bitterly commented.
Although they have not stated it
publicly, the teachers are on the
side of those who favor an en­tirely
new method of financing
educational costs.
" The property owner is being
bled," said Riedy, " we all know
that. I pay $ 1,700.00 taxes a year
myself. And what about older
residents who own a house and
have no regular income any
more? School taxes should be
based directly on ability to pay."