Four upcoming community events to keep an eye on

RIVERHEAD

Public hearing set on new kind of zoning
After all the resolutions were voted on at Tuesday’s Riverhead Town Board meeting, one of the town’s most prominent clergymen, the Rev. Charles Coverdale of First Baptist Church, stood up and spoke very briefly to the board.

“Thank you,” was all he said.

But close to two dozen members of his church sat silently with him while the board voted 5-0 to set a public hearing on Nov. 6 on a proposal to create a new kind of zoning, a Community Benefit Zoning Use District.

The resolution didn’t specify the church, but it is exactly what the First Baptist Church needs to go forward with its plans -- developed over more than a decade -- to create a family community life center on a 12-acre site owned by the church on Northville Turnpike.

After the meeting, Coverdale said that setting the hearing was important because nothing can be done without the zoning change. “It’s the first step,” he said.

The center, which would be built in stages, would have a performing arts theater, a 24-hour child care facility, a senior citizen wellness and day care center, and 132 one- and two-bedroom apartments.

— Mitchell Freedman

ISLIP

Town hosting annual Thanksgiving drive
Islip will host its annual Thanksgiving breakfast food drive fundraiser at 8 a.m. Oct. 10 at Villa Lombardi’s in Holbrook.

The town’s Islip Food for Hope group has for the past 30 years hosted a Thanksgiving breakfast event to raise money for food baskets for needy families who were participants in the town’s youth bureau, human development and handicapped services programs. The group includes town officials and employees, along with community members.

Last year, the breakfast raised enough money for 425 baskets of turkeys and fixings, sent to 57 different community agencies and local churches.

The Islip Thanksgiving Breakfast Committee welcomes donations at P.O. Box 517, Central Islip, N.Y. 11722. For more information, call Stephanie Barry at 631-981-4364.

— Sophia Chang

HEMPSTEAD TOWN
Councilwoman holds community meetings
Hempstead Town Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby will host her annual town hall meetings this month.

The Freeport Community Meeting will be held today at 7 p.m. in the Freeport Memorial Library, 144 W. Merrick Rd. Village Mayor Robert Kennedy and representatives from the village police are expected to attend, organizers said.

The Roosevelt Community Meeting will be held Tuesday at the Roosevelt Public Library, 27 W. Fulton Ave. The Hempstead Community Meeting will be Oct. 29 at the Hempstead Public Library, 115 Nichols Ct.

Representatives from various Hempstead Town departments will be at all the meetings to answer residents’ questions and give them community updates.

The meetings are open to the public. For more information, call Goosby’s office at 516-489-5000, ext. 4304.

— Aisha Al-Muslim

NORTH HEMPSTEAD
Candidate debates set for this month
Candidates for North Hempstead town offices and the Nassau County Legislature will face off at debates in Manhasset sponsored by the League of Women Voters later this month.

The first debate, which will feature candidates for town supervisor, town clerk and Nassau County District 11 legislator, will take place at 7 p.m. on Oct. 16 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, 48 Shelter Rock Rd., Manhasset.

Democrat Judi Bosworth and Republican Dina De Giorgio are seeking the supervisor’s seat, while Republican and incumbent Leslie Gross, Democrat Wayne Wink and conservative Joseph Wood are seeking the town clerk’s position. Incumbent legislator and Democrat Delia DeRiggi-Whitton is facing a challenge for the legislator’s seat from Republican John P. DiMascio.

The league also will host a debate between candidates for Nassau County District 10 legislator. That debate, which will feature Democrat Ellen Birnbaum against Republican Jane Centrella, will be held at 7 p.m. on Oct. 29 at the Manhasset Library, 30 Onderdonk Ave., Manhasset.

— Jennifer Barrios