High Tide

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Can you believe that the Rockaway Times will be celebrating our ninth anniversary this Monday? We sure can’t! On June 26, 2014, this paper published its first issue and has continued to publish every Thursday since! The Rockaway Times is so incredibly thankful to the community for all the support we have received over these nine years. So, thank you and happy birthday to us!

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Yesterday was the Summer Solstice, marking the first official day of summer and the longest day of the year. While the days are long, they always seem to fly by this time of year. We hope all the students and teachers who are finishing up the school year in the next week or so have a wonderful and well-deserved summer break.

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Tuesday, June 27 is NYC Primary Election Day. While there is not a ton on the ballot this year, we still encourage you to get out and vote. NYC’s early voting has reportedly been down significantly this year with under 10,000 votes being cast in the first week as compared to over 17,000 last year. Make sure your voice is heard and get out and vote!

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Amp Surf is returning this Saturday, June 24 from 8:30 a.m. to noon at Beach 67th Street. They invite you to join them as they teach Veterans, People with Developmental Disabilities, and Special Olympians surfing through the healing power of the ocean. Amp Surf is still in need of volunteers for help on both land and in the water. To register for the event, you can visit ampsurf.org and click “New York” using the drop-down menu. If you have any questions, feel free to text John Roberts at (917) 734-8711.

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Tony Sabatino, the Woodhaven man who made daily trips by bus to Rogers, passed away peacefully on Thursday, June 15. The Rockaway Times covered his 94th and 95th birthday celebrations in late November, thrown by locals who took Tony under their wing when he arrived at the bar and made sure he was in good hands.

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Our friends at St. Francis de Sales are all keeping Jimmy O’Neill in their thoughts and prayers. Jimmy is just finishing fifth grade and is only 10 years old but has been bravely fighting cancer for more than three years. There was a special service at SFDS last night to pray for healing and strength for Jimmy and his family as he is undergoing a difficult surgery on Monday. We at The Rockaway Times are praying for Jimmy. Please keep him and the O’Neills in your thoughts and prayers.

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NYC Plover Project will be featured in a NYC episode of a new show premiering on NatGeo Wild, on Saturday, June 24 at 10 p.m., or now streaming on Disney+ or Hulu. The show, “Extraordinary Birder With Christian Cooper,” features life-long birder, Christian Cooper, helping the local NYC Plover Project volunteers protect Rockaway’s piping plovers. While the show will cover all sorts of birds throughout the season, this Saturday’s episode will focus on the piping plovers who we share our community with.

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The weather was near perfect on Father’s Day. It would be hard to imagine how the day would have been made better for most. Well, not that hard… The New York Lottery announced that the day before, a top-prize winning ticket in the Take 5 drawing had been sold on Beach 116th Street for over $37,000. We hope that one father had a REALLY good Father’s Day.