The-Leader_1970-05-21

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LIBRARIAM"-
NASSAU CTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM
EISENHOWER PARK
EAST MEADOW, N H 1 1 5 5 4
"NASSAU'S LARGEST WEEKLY"
Freeport's
Official
Newspaper
21,000 READERS
FREEPORT
2lp Cede 11620
BALDWIN
zip Cwia 11510
MERRICK
Zip Code 11S66
35th Year. No. 5 FHEEPOHT. N. Y., THURSDAY, MAY 21. 1S70
ROOSEVELT
zip Code liSTB
Inside Freeport
b y J t j h i i M u ck
Can you rememlier what you were doing at 7:00 p.ni. on Novem­ber
9, 198S? Or at 12 noon on November 22, 1963? Or at noon on
December 7, 1941? At first glance these seem like absurd questions.
But when you link them up with hiatorical events that took place
at those times, you will probably recall exactly where you were
and what you were doing. One date of course was Pearl Harbor. One
was the murder of President John Kennedy. And the third was
history's greatest power failure, the infamous Blackout of 1965. Now
do you remember? Most people who were old enough, have those
dates so engraved on their memories that they can recall their exact
circumstances at those times.
When the blackout occurred in '65, 1 was in my office in Mer­rick.
Various machines were running, and the lights were on, the
air conditioner was whirring away. Then all went black, and silent
I thought it was a blown main fuse, but soon realized that all l i ^ t s ,
including street and traffic lights, were out In my car heading to
the Merrick Post Office I learned on the radio that a blackout had
occurred. Soon I was in a terrific traffic Jam at the comer of Mer­rick
Road and Merrick Avenue, and for the first time I realized how
vitaUy important those red and green traffic lights are, something
we take for granted. With the traffic lights dead, everybody hea^d
into the intersection and a mammoth tie-up took place. So I beat
my way back home to Preeport via side streets. There, in common
with thousands of other local Freeport residents, I gave thanks for
Freeport's Municipal Power Plant. Except for a brief period when
our plant diverted power to Rockville Centre in an effort to help that
village start its idle Diesels, we had electricify throughout the black­out
that had plunged 80,000 square miles of northeastern United
State into darkness, caused the greatest traffic jam in history, slopped
elevators, brought crises to hundreds of hospitals, and created a
strange fear that affected 30 million people.
Fr«eporl . . . "A Diamond SUnlng"
A N.Y. Times reporter, flying over the immense blacked-out
area during the night, said that Freeport was "like a diamond shin­ing
in a sea of blackness." There is no doubt that Freeport is the
envy of other communities, even great cities like New York, for the
vision of its leadership since our first tiny plant in 1898, in develop­ing
its own self-sufficient electric system. 1 bring up this subject
at this time because we are now entering another summer season
with the threat of massive blackouts threatening sections of the U.S.
to a grearter extent than ever before. This past weekend, on tele­vision
and radio, we heard repeated warnings emanating from a
conference of power officials that "there is a real and present danger"
of power failures this summer. New York City is one of the areas
mentioned as "sitting on the powder keg of possible power failure."
So as we in Freeport breathe a sigh of relief, we should perhaps
look back over this past decade of the Sixties and marvel at the
short-sightedness of the political opposition that tried so desperately
to thwart Mayor Sweeney's drive for 100% power production for
Freeport.
The opposition sought first to prevent the purchase (and later
to force the removal) of the giant Nordberg Diesel Generator, a
major step in the rejuvenation "of the power plant on Sunrise High-
(Continued on page 5) ,
PRICES FIVE CENTS PEH COPY
Mayor Sweeney To Dedicate
New Power Plant June 6th
The new Freeport Electric Power Generating Plant will be offi­cially
dedicated on Saturday, June 6, Mayor Robert J. Sweeney an­nounced.
The ceremonies at U a.m. are expected to draw many
interested local residents, plus dignitaries from all over the State.
Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller has been invited as the guest of
honor. State Senator Norman F.
Lent and Assemblyman Arthur
J. Kremer wiU both be on hand.
Many other New York State
officials who have been active in
the Municipal Electrical Utilitiea
Association have also been in­vited,
including Charles Engelder,
of Wellsville, President and David
B. H. Dalrymple, of Sherburne,
Secretaiy. Blayor Sweeney is a
past president of the statewide
association, and Freeport is one
of the few municipalities in the
State which has achieved self-sufficiency
in electrical produc*
tion.
One week after the great re-
(Contlnued on page 8)
Levy To Address
Freeport Chamber
Date: Thursday, May 21. Time:
12:30 p.m.
Place: Sea Breeze Restaurant,
foot of Miller Avenue, Freeport.
Speaker: Noi^an Levy, Asst.
District Attorney of Nassau Coun­ty.
Subject: Organized Crime.
Archer St. Orients
First Grade Moms
The Wednesday, ftlay 27 meet­ing
of the Archer Street PTA is
planned as a welcome for par­ents
of incoming first graders.
Specialists from the staff will
discuss subjects of special inter­est
to parents of first graders,
and there will be a tour of the
classrooms.
Miss Marion Whalen, Guid­ance
Counselor, will speak about
the change from kindergarten to
first grade, while Miss Mary
Dempsey and Miss Evelyn Kosky
will explain the first grade cur­riculum.
Mrs. Patricia Langman,
School Nurse, will discuss good
health habits for first graders.
Hie meeting is scheduled for
May 2T at 3 o'clock.
Atkinson PTA
To Install Officers
The Caroline G. Atkinson Ele­mentary
PTA wil hold its final
meeting for the current school
year on Thursday, May 28 at 8
p.m. in the school library. The
program includes the installation
of officers for next year and a
film on our environment, "Won­derful
World of Sound."
Village Board Sets
Public Hearing On
Lower Salary Increases
The Freeport Village Board voted yesteiday to hold a publk
hearing on June 8 to set Board salaries at ^,000 a year for te
Mayor and $3,500 a year for each of the fckif Village 'murtees. These
new figures represent reductions of |3,000 and |1,600 respectively
from the amounts originally proposed at the beginning of tile year.
— The pay scale of Fre^xurf a t<V
Freeport SOP To
Install New Slate
After unanimous election at the
last regular meeting, the Free-port
Republican Club • and Com-mitteemens
Council will install
the 1970-71 slate of officers at a
dinner-dance to be held at Carl
Hoppl's, Baldwin, on Wednesday
evening, June 24 The club offi­cers
to be installed are:
President, Berkeley Swezey,
Ist Vice Pres., Fred Eager.
2nd Vice Pres., Angie kCuUin.
3rd Vice Pres., Frank Smith.
Treasurer, Arline Schmidt.
Rec. Secretary. Audrey Hen-drickson.
Corr. Secretary, Martha Sween­ey.
Fin. Secretary, Alice Fraser.
Sgt.-At-Arms, Richard Vurture.
General Chairman Frank Srnith
anounced that Town of Hemp­stead
Presiding Supervisor Ralph
G. Case will be the honored guest
fo rthe evening and also act as
installing officer. Most village,
town and county officials have
already indicaed that they will
I attend.
Pl^*''"^!!lfl;
government officials has betn the
subject of controvert ever aince
the budget hearing in January,
when the Board ottablithed sal­aries
of 110,000 for Mayor anA
15,000 for Trustees, up from $5,000
and $2,500. There had been no
salary increase for the governing
body since 1964. I^alitkal o^Kai-ents
of the administratiim Initisted
a petition drive to compel a pub­lic
referendum on the <pwstiaii,
which was successful in product
ing signatures of the requited 10%
of the number of Freeport voten.
In announcing the reduced sal­ary
figures Mayor Robert 1.
Sweeney said, "If we had let tiie
$10,000 and $S,000 -sataries go to
a public vote we might very wtSl
have found that the majority of
Freeporters do not feel this is
exhorbitant for the top jobs in
the Village. But the settling of
the question would have in­volved
a full scale political cam­paign
between my politick party
and theirs, at a time when there
are much broader problems and
issues that should be getting the
attention of all comunity minded
Freeporlera. Unfortunately the
state law requires that the Vil­lage
Board must set its own sal­aries,
subject to petition, which
automatically makes it a political
football."
LEOAL AJWOIIIitifT^iniUian i, llMlaff 3*m of Mwilciu
iPtasldani oi ttm Sax Assodatfam of Hassan flSounty. disettHft
Conuniitae asdgnmaat «4ili Chaxlas P. Bueklar* Jx» of BaUwin.
Mr. Buddaf is ChalzaUMti of ilia BulUUns and Grounds Cdmmiltaa
of ilw Bar Assodalloii. Tlie IHsfinpiialiad Sarviea MadalUiEm of
tlw Bav AtfodaMim cif Massaii Cduntr vUl ba piatantad to ilia
Kma. Eatl Waxtaii, ionni^ CUaf Jiiiliea of fha V. B. Supntnl
Coittt at ilia 7lBt Annual Dbuunr at Hia Gazdan CUtf KotaL on
T|MinHlB7, Mar 21*
SNCH Auxiliary
To Meet Tuesday
The next regular meeting of
the South Nassau Communities
Hospital, Freeport Auxiliary, will
l>e held on Tuesday, May 26 at'
I2:4S p.m. at the Church of the.:..-
Transfiguration on Pine , Street,-
Freeport. —•
Program: A film on "Li^t-in«*
Shadow" will be shown. Ilefresh«I
ments will be served.
Mail Curtailed
Memorial Day
llhe Freeport Post Office wilt
have no window service and no, ^
cairier delivery seivbie <HI 'S^^ri^
urday, Mf^ 30, 0iimm^ ^OjB^f
Special deEveiy .inafl'-;«Wl-j^,:af^^.,,.!,^;:,.i.jy.,^m^^^^^^
livered 'sM- ^ecflvi^'•and''tfit-ilote^
will be open_.|orv^]ip6tt$|«l6S
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