I’ve had a couple of thoughts rattling around the ol’ noggin recently and figured I’d share them. So here goes, first off, my oldest granddaughter is completing 4K at the District 27 Public School at St. Camillus this year. After two years at this school, I am continually amazed at how cheerful, dedicated and just plain nice the teachers and administrators are. My oldest daughter and her husband are teachers, and I know first-hand how hard it is to maintain a home and family and then come into work and be cheerful every day. Somehow these teachers can do that, and they always leave me feeling cheerful, and hopeful, when I drop off or pick up the littlest mermaid. Of course, they will be put to the test next year when the littlest mermaid’s brother makes his entrance at 3K. As they say, that will be a horse of a different color. Another thing I love about this school is its diversity. The students come from all walks of life and teachers encourage them all to learn and be friends. I love it.
Second, the Connolly’s Open Mic series started a few weeks ago. It’s still early in the season, and with school out this week, I expect we will see more people attending, but so far, the Open Mics have been really good and well attended. Hosted for the fifteenth year by Squid (Guy Nevirs), this Open Mic attracts all types of performers from neophytes to seasoned performers. Most are from the peninsula, but some travel from outside Rockaway to do their thing. You get three songs, and your time on stage usually lasts about 15 minutes, but it feels like an hour when you are up there under the bright lights. The crowd and musical community is very supportive. The diversity of talent is amazing as there are the usual guitar players but also ukulele, harp, trumpet, percussion and lap steel guitars that play. There is also a nice collaboration that happens between players and opportunities to meet new people and play new songs. It really is a great treasure that more of Rockaway should investigate. Some nights are slow, but there are other nights that are simply magical. I highly recommend stopping in on a Tuesday night for a listen, I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Lastly, there has been a lot of social media posting about the hotel and beach club being constructed at the Riis Park Bathhouse, and rightly so. It is a very cool thing to utilize that space and provide another choice for Rockaway to entertain themselves all year round. It is a bold project, along the lines of The Rockaway Hotel. And hopefully the maxim, if you build it, they will come holds true. But a bit under the radar was another change that occurred recently. The entrepreneurs that run the Riis concessions recently bid and won the leases for the pitch n’ put facility at Riis and the driving range on Flatbush Avenue. With the backing of a local business entrepreneur, these young businessmen have re-invigorated both sites and are in the process of significantly upgrading both facilities. I recently stopped by both locations to hit some golf balls and noticed that they had already started the upgrades and were very hands on. This is a great sign for Rockaway, as these young risk-takers rebuild an important part of Rockaway. I heartily salute them and wish them well. Stop by to see for yourself. I believe when the Riis hotel is finally fully open, that they will benefit greatly by the synergy between the two.
All of this leaves me hopeful for Rockaway and its future. The fact that we are investing in our youth and that the young are in turn investing in Rockaway, is a sign that Rockaway is heading toward another golden era.
