Bethpage-Tribune_1973-08-02

              BETHBAGE
J-MEMBER
(M 1973]
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BETHP AGE LIB
47 PC,*ELl AV
aass»« 8LTHPAGE NY I 1 7 14
OLD BETHIKGE
also serving ISLAND TREES
PLAINVIEW PLAINEDGE SEAFORD
VOL. 7 NO. 37 Thursday, August 2 , 1 9 73 10 cents per copy
Kitty Circus Ups Adoptions Special Feature
FOP Hrt's Sake
Mee-YOWIE! Two of The Fearless Flying Felines caught in an
unrehearsed performance at the North Shore Animal League's Kitty
Circus delighting record numbers of visitors with their clowning and
acrobatics. They are putting on a continuous perofrmance from 9
A.M. to 9 P.M. every day in the week, including Saturdays and
Sundays, at the League's Mini Park, 22 South Street, Port
Washington.
"More of our kittens have
found homes in the last few weeks
than at any other time we can
remember. Adoptions have
doubled!" Mrs. Betty Rosenz-weig,
manager of the North Shore
Animal League, reported today.
"Maybe it's because school's
out or because we're open every
night till nine now. We don't
know. But we do know the Kitty
Circus is helping bring the
crowds." said Betty as she helped
a stranded calico kitten down
from a perch high inside the Kitty
Circus.
.Kitty Circus is a high, airy,
screened- tent capped with a
striped circus type top supported
by a carpeted pole for kitty
climbers. Brightly painted
platforms line the inside at dif­ferent
levels. The "performers"
are a troupe of homeless kittens:
"Little kittens in little cages
look terribly sad", commented
Mrs. Rosenzweig. "They're so
by Ann White
The art of living is often
overlooked-rarely overrated—'
not easily acquired-and only
partially inherited. Almost
inadvertently, often im­perceptibly,
people create in­dividual
patterns of living. The
chosen design is generally
molded by the degree to which it
is possible to share one's in­nermost
thoughts and feelings
with others. Communication and
acceptance may be an overly
simplified formula for living
creatively. Nevertheless, for a
large segment of the world's
population, efforts to com­municate
are usually rejected.
Unfortunately, society has been
geared to relate to the illusionary
twentieth century ideal of human
perfection. . In reality, "the
-~-M~rt»iiM^Mi«»iiiBlSitMiit>W constitute a
full of life and love to play. In our very small minority.
Most people are handicapped in
some way. Almost everyone
wears glasses or needs them, and
almost as many people have
hearing deficencies. Individuals"
afflicted with these common
handicaps, do not think of
themselves as handicapped; and
they experience the usual amount
of rebuttel or acceptance,
depending their individual life­style,
or pattern of living.
However, the individual who may
have a handicap that confines
him to a wheelchair, or is the
victim of a rare physical or
mental illness, finds com­munication
with and acceptance
by the "non-handicapped"
. population incredibly difficult.
The uninformed or misinformed
public has built emotional
barriers of prejudice which add
pressures to the built-in
frustrations caused by the
handicapped condition. Some
advocate segrating "them" and
hiding "them" away in in­stitutions.
This attitude is caused
by social embarrassement which
stems from inexperience and
uncertainity as to what to do or
say. The best guide to over­coming
this uncomfortable and
cruel feeling of allienation is to
make it possible for everyone to
meet and socialize in a relaxed
recreational setting. In an at
mosphere of warmth and ac­ceptance,
people resond to people
as individuals. A handicap is only
one part of an individual-one
part of an extremely complex,
compilation of thoughts, feelings,
ideas, enthusiasm and interests.
Recreation
For The Handicapped
In an effort to socially integrate
all people, The Recreation for the
Handicapped Unit of the Nassau
County Department of
Recreation and Parks sponsors
exciting activities primarily
geared to adults, eighteen and
Circus they get that chance,
you can see."
"Wrestling together on the
floor.. Chasing each other up up
the pole. Jumping from platform
to platform. Peeking down from
high places. Stalking each other.
Sometimes there's a battle royal -
- all in play, of course, like
clowns."
"It is a miniature circus,
really, with miniature lions and
tigers acted by kittens."
Nationally recognized for its
progressive methods of finding
homes for homeless pets - both
cats and dogs - the North Shore
Animal League is best known for
its policy of never putting an
animal to sleep.
Located at 22 South Street in
Port Washington, the League is
Open for adoption of pets from 9
A.M. to 9 P.M. - 12 hours every
day, including Saturdays, Sun­days
and holidays.
oyer. About 250 people par­ticipate
in a variety of indoor and
outdoor recreational __ and
educational programs at The
Special Activities Center, just off
the Stewart Ave.- entrance to
Eisenhower Park, East Meadow,
every week. The architecturally
barrier free center has a char­ming
home-like character,
condusive to meeting new friends
and enjoying old ones.
As supervisor of the unit, I am
pleased to report that the overall
unique concept and innovative
program ideas have in a few
short months (the center of­ficially
opened in November
1972) set nation-wide precedents.
The programs are designed to
accommodate the interests of
Nassau County residents who are
motivated by a dedicated
professional staff to discuss their
individual leisure-time needs.
The staff helps to conduct the
activities requested and also
makes every effort to create a
climate of trust and relaxation.
On-going programs at the
center include discussion groups,
handcrafts and ceramic in­struction,
/ music appreciation,
drama encounters, introduction
to theatre arts, poetry therapy
workshops, and Fun Around The
World programs featuring the art
and culture of various foreign
countries. In addition Special
Weekend Attractions have in­cluded
outstanding professional
entertainments. The center is
open Wednesdays for scheduled
groups. Thursdays and Fridays
during the day, and in the
evenings from 7:30 P.M. to 10:30
P.M. In addition to Saturday and
Sunday for special groups or
special events. The following
groups are scheduled regularly
at the Center. The Industrial
Home for the Blind, Friendship
House, North East Psychiatric
Hospital-day center, Cerebral
Palsy, Association for Children
with Learning disabilities,
Epilepsy Foundation, Nassau
Stroke Club, and the Harmony
Club for the Blind. Thursday
evenings, individuals thirty years
is the periodically scheduled trips
to places of interest. Nassau
County Hydraulic-lift busses are
made' available to transport
groups to other facilities. Recent
excursions have been made to the
Yankee Stadium and to attend
performances at the Nassau
County Coliseum. The Ice Follies
was a particularly enjoyable
treat for many who have not had
an opportunity to see live en­tertainment
before.
An outstandingly successful
program which was awarded
Honorable Mention by The
Nassau County Recreation,
Parks and Conservation Society
is the Recreation for the Blind
and Aging program conducted at
The East Terrace, Nassau
Beach, in cooperation with The
Industrial Home For The Blind.
The program is now in its third
year and the number of par­ticipants
have trippled since it
rw*jts ^ firtit ;. initiated. . Ap­proximately
60 sighted and non-sighted
Nassau County residents
enjoy participating in Newspaper
discussions, poetry workshops
drama workshops, arts and
crafts, shuffleboard and physical
fitness programs. An outgrowth
of the program, (at one time
considered a pilot project), is
THE,SPOTLIGHT PLAYERS, a
touring theatre company which is
available to appear in schools,
libraries, and for organization —
have been enthusiastically received
by people of all ages and in­terests.
Last year's original
production "The Wonderful
World of Musical Theatre"
resulted in thousands of letters
from fans 5 to 85 years of age and
requests for this years production
"Around The World in Eighty
Minutes", (no resemblence to
Around The World In 80 Days)
has already exceeding all ex­pectations,
The current
production, written by Nat
Kotler, a blind member of the
group and is fully staged and
costumed. The group is
responsible for creating the
costumes and executing stage
effects. Many of the members
of age and over drop in and have multiple handicaps, and
TOUR: Oyster Bay Town Supervisor John W. Burke (second from
left) listens attentively as James Gildersleeve (right), Sanitary
Disposal Service Division Supervisor, points out features of the Old
Bethpage incinerator to Louis Welch (holding glasses), the Mayor of
Houston, Texas. Welch was in Oyster Bay as part of his tour of in­cinerator
facilities In Nassau County. Two representatives from
William F. KosuUcb Associates, hrtuwifor consultants, also listen.
They are William Miller (left) and Miro Dvirka (second from right).
gravitate to the programs which
may be of interest to them.
Thursday nights are fun. The
music may be reminiscent of the
50's but the spirit of friendliness
and conviviality is much the
same as Friday nites when the
under 30 crowd get together in a
simulated Coffee House at­mosphere.
On most Friday af­ternoons,
the newly-formed
men's club may-be found en­joying
a game of cards. Billiards,
chess, checkers and a variety of
games (some adopted to meet
special needs i.e., braille cards or
raised chess boards etc.) are
available. Specialists are
available to conduct programs as
requested, and musical
programs including live rock-bands
are very popular at the
center. Another popular activity
range in age from 55-to-97. It has
been my pleasure to work as
director of the group since its
inception. Since the actors have
had little or no theatre ex­perience,
and only one of the
blind actors reads braille, scenes
are developed through im-provisational
technics. The
musical director is Phylis
Margolis, music specialist for the
Nassau County Senior Citizens
Unit.
Additional - aa-goiug programs
include Wheelchair Basket-Bail
practice one. night a week,
September through May coor­dinated
and supervised by the
unit and conducted at Nassau
Community College. The unit
also sponsors an annual Poetry
* (Continued on Page 6)