When Teddy Roosevelt discovered a commotion, with people trying to shoo Roxey, the legendary Long Island Rail Road canine mascot, off the bed in his private train car, the 26th president said let him ride. And so Roxey rode the rails all the way from Garden City to Oyster Bay, home of Sagamore Hill, Roosevelt’s “summer White House.” That’s just one bit of the history and trivia David D. Morrison shared with about four dozen people who attended his recent talk about LIRR history at the...

Lawrence Wolff's walls are covered with movie memorabilia he has been collecting since he was a teenager. Credit: Danielle Silverman Stan Laurel, half of the quintessential comedy duo of Laurel and Hardy, was known to welcome strangers into his home. There, Laurel and his guest would typically kick back and watch a Laurel and Hardy movie or two together. Jack Benny, who, in a span of 14 years in the 1950s and ’60s, did 343 episodes of “The Jack Benny Program” on television, was born Benjamin K

Pet Peeves founder Janine Dion is winding down the volunteer group she started in 2001 but hopes to continue speaking on behalf of animal welfare organizations. Credit: Linda Rosier When discussing rescuing animals, Janine Dion has been known to say, “It takes a litter.” The litter, Dion believes, are the numerous people who contribute to the success of Pet Peeves, the organization she founded 20 years ago to help animals in need on Long Island. An outgrowth of Dion’s combined love for...

Hilary Topper, 60, displays the “Best Endurance” trophy she won last August when she came in last in a four-hour, 6-mile swim from Fire Island to Bay Shore. Credit: Morgan Campbell Hilary Topper grew up next to the ocean, but she didn’t swim in it. It wasn’t until age 48, after years of physical inertia and emotional upheaval, she immersed herself in fitness and, since 2014, has swum in waters from New York to St. Croix. She is still striving to improve her performance, but her goals now include...

Isabella Edelbach, 8, left, Danielle Miglino, 9, and Hayden Dejak, 8, of Girl Scout Brownie Troop #2399 meet English bulldog Davidson and earn their "pet badges" at a group session with Dogability dogs at Presbyterian Church of Sweet Hollow in Melville on Friday, May 20, 2022. Credit: Morgan Campbell At the start of her sixth Fear of Dogs session, a girl bounded into the DogAbility classroom, eager to pet Willie, a 7-year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel. “I see Willie every session...

That’s what it has propelled a Merrick woman to become the top fundraiser for GMHC’s AIDS Walk New York for the past three years and the second-highest fundraiser in the organization’s history. In her 34 years of participating in AIDS Walk New York, the world’s largest single-day HIV and AIDS fundraiser, Francine Goldstein has raised $827,000. Only Rita Fischer, who raised more than $1 million and died last year, has bested her. “I always told her, ‘Rita, you’re an inspiration to me,’ ” said Goldstein...

Now an inveterate birder, Dianne Taggart was, admittedly, slow to migrate to the world of ornithology. "To be honest, I came late to the outside world at all," Taggart said. "I was in my 40s before I got interested in anything in nature." As a child, Taggart liked staying indoors to read. Later, she was kept busy raising her daughter, working two jobs and going to college at night. Despite her late start, Taggart, who retired from the Suffolk County Department of Public Works, is making up for lost time...

David Silverman has had a lifelong dream: to ride across the country by bicycle. When he took an early retirement in September 2020 from PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he worked as a partner for 31 years running the emerging technology division, Silverman decided to ride that dream to reality. Silverman’s love for cycling developed in earnest as a young teen when he would frequently pedal from his home in Oceanside to Long Beach, where he liked to ride near the beach, relishing the freedom...

On any given day, you might find Ginny, Sophie and Cody out walking at Heckscher Park in Huntington. That’s Ginny Munger Kahn, president of Long Island Dog Owners Group, an organization that seeks to increase outdoor access for dogs around the Island, and her two glorious golden retrievers. "My main exercise is walking my dogs," said Munger Kahn, 66, of Dix Hills. "That’s what I love to do: I don’t run; I don’t bike." Dogs, like people, should have access to parks and beaches...

Versatility, curiosity and tenacity are the keys to Kenneth Wei’s psyche. In addition to completing 11 Advanced Placement courses at Mount Sinai High School — a course load that put him on track to be salutatorian and an AP Scholar with Distinction — Wei, 18, opted to diversify with electives ranging from psychology to ceramics to computer programming. “I just really wanted to enjoy my high school experience and not focus too much on grades, too much on academics, that stress a lot of people...

The road ahead was not clearly paved for Carmine Passarella. Instead, C.J., as he’s known to family and friends, forged his own path through determination, diligence and dedication. Noting that she separated from her husband when C.J. was 9, his mom, Judy Passarella, said, “I’ve heard him say that he’s never going to struggle like I did.” To prove it, she said, “he’s got the brains and the smarts and the drive and the will power.” Observing how hard his mother worked to support four kids on...

These are a few words that come to mind when describing Jackie Arias. Just before her sophomore year at Sanford H. Calhoun High School in Merrick, Arias was diagnosed with Takayasu arteritis, an autoimmune disease causing inflammation of the blood vessels that can result in heart damage. Soon after, she experienced kidney failure and, requiring dialysis several times a week, began home instruction. At the start of her senior year, Arias underwent a kidney transplant — and was back in school...

Most people don’t become entrepreneurs in their teens. But Samiah Davis is simply not like most people. Davis, 18, and a senior at Valley Stream Central High School, two years ago created Virtual Youth, an online business selling street-wear. She has since sold the business at a profit. Davis is awaiting a patent for The Lunch Cub, a combination teddy bear-backpack insulated lunch box that sprang from an eighth-grade technology class project. Gearing The Lunch Cub toward kids in kindergarten...

As a child, Bill Barto felt he stood out: All the other kids he knew had dads who served in World War II; his dad fought in the Great War — World War I. Barto, 69, of Bay Shore, can recall countless stories of his dad’s wartime escapades serving in the U.S. Army’s 16th Cavalry Division. “As soon as I found out he was a horse soldier, I was hooked for life,” Barto said. “I was constantly asking him questions, and he was always telling me stories." The younger Barto will be among those...

This time of year, Rich Blohm can be found in his garden apiary, tending to his 50 beehives and 20 bee breeding boxes. “The honey flow has just started with the blooming of the black locust trees,” says Blohm, a master beekeeper in Huntington, who’s been at his favored pastime for 44 years. “I make sure they have adequate room to store the honey that’s coming in.” It’s a sweet hobby for Blohm, whose bees produce about 1,500 pounds of honey each year. Blohm sells the bee nectar for $12 a pound...