🌱 Smithtown Daily: Scout's Toy Drive + Unemployment Rate Down

Rise and shine, Smithtown! Diane Witek here to help you get started this Friday with everything you need to know going on today in town.

First, today's weather:

Cloudy and warmer. High: 51, low: 39.

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Here are the top stories today in Smithtown:

1. Scout Daniel Kyranakis Hosting Toy Drive With Four Local Drop-Off Sites: Daniel Kyranakis, a senior patrol leader for Boy Scout Troop 565, and a junior at Smithtown High School West, is hosting a toy drive to benefit the John Theissen Children’s Foundation. Daniel is collecting new, unwrapped gifts for boys and girls; ages range from infant through 17 years old. See where you can drop off your gift by Dec. 19. (smithtownmatters.com)
2. Smithtown-Area Unemployment Rate Improves: The latest available local unemployment figures are for October; that rate improved since September in the Smithtown area and continues to be lower than it was at the beginning of the pandemic. The Suffolk County unemployment rate was 4 percent in October, down from 4.2 percent in September. That reflected some improvement from October 2020, when the unemployment rate stood at 5.8 percent. (Smithtown Patch)
3. PD Searches Sump As Part Of Investigation Into Missing LI Mom. News of Melissa Molinari's disappearance has quickly spread over social media, and flyers with her picture have been widely circulated since police notified media on Friday. Addressing Twitter followers on Sunday, the father of Gabby Petito, Joseph Petito, who started a foundation in his daughter's name to help the families of missing people, joined in the social media campaign to find Molinari.

Today's Smithtown Daily is brought to you in part by our friends at Verizon. They're building the fastest 5G network in the country. To learn how 5G is going to change life for you and your community — and to get access to this amazing technology — click here. And thank you Verizon for sponsoring this community resource in Smithtown!

Today in Smithtown:

• "The Art work of Tina Anthony." (9 a.m.)
• Library Playdate (Smithtown Library-Nesconset Building). (11 a.m.)
• Friday Funday (Smithtown Library). (2:30 p.m.)
• Friday Night Movie (Smithtown Library) (6:15 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• Sweetbriar Nature Center: "This eastern cottontail was described as being 'ginormous' by the folks at the car dealership. He jumped out of a vehicle that was brought into their repair shop. He ran around in their workshop for four days frightening the employees." (Facebook)
• Smithtown Department of Public Safety: "The men and women of the Smithtown Department of Public Safety send their deepest condolences to the family and colleagues of Nassau County Police Officer Hector Nunez." (Facebook)
• Smithtown Library Kids: "There is still room available in our Gingerbread Extravaganza program at our Commack Building. Register by calling (631)360-2480 ext. 396 or online at smithlib.org/children." (Facebook)
• Smithtown Performing Arts Center: "𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬. Enroll your child in one, two, or multiple classes!" (Facebook)

From our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Events:

• Bright Lights, A Magical Holiday Celebration at the Vanderbilt Museum. (Dec. 10 - 11)
• John’s Crazy Socks Celebrates Its 5th Anniversary with an Open House Party and Pop-Up Shop. (Dec. 11)
• Big Apple Circus is NOW OPEN in New York City! (Dec. 12)
• 57th Annual Children's Christmas Toy Drive. (Dec. 13)
• Add your event.

Announcements:

• Living with someone with memory issues? Paid study for both! (Details)
• Behind The Scoreboard — Ed Sullivan’s Huge Lesson For The World. (Details)
• Add your announcement.

Job listings:

• Lumber yard worker/ facility attendant/ Customer Service. (Details)
• Add your job listing.

Other classifieds:

• pets. (Details)
• Add your classified.

Loving the Smithtown Daily? Here are all the ways you can get more involved:

• Send a friend or neighbor this link so they can subscribe.
• Get your local business featured in front of readers.
• Send me a news tip or suggestion at diane.witek@patch.com.

That's it for today! See you all tomorrow for another update.

— Diane Witek

About me: Impassioned Writer, Website Designer, Social Media Marketer and newly proclaimed Baker. Lover of nature and animals of all kinds.