🌱 Three Village Daily: Fatal Car Crash + School Food Drive

Good day, neighbors! It's me again, Debora Whitehead, your host of the Three Village Daily.

First, today's weather:

Mostly sunny. High: 50, low: 39.

Here are the top 5 stories today in Three Village:

1. A Central Islip man was killed in a single-car crash in the hamlet early Saturday, Suffolk police said. Christian Valero was driving a 2009 Nissan 370Z southbound on Lowell Avenue about 1:45 a.m. when the car traveled into a wooded area and struck a tree, according to police. Valero, 24, died at the scene. (Newsday)
2. Two Wading River parents are spending countless hours in the hospital once again, waiting for another one of their children to have a heart transplant. Everett Cotter, 11 months old, is the family’s second child to need the procedure done. His sister, Ruby, had a heart transplant almost exactly two years ago as well. (News12)
3. Schools throughout the Three Village Central School District gave to others by collecting hundreds of pounds of food items for local families and area soup kitchens. First grade students at W.S. Mount Elementary School hosted a Friendsgiving Food Drive. During the initiative, the students used their math skills to tally the donations received daily and create pie graphs to visually display the collection efforts. (Press Release Desk)
4. The Three Village Holiday Electric Parade returned to Setauket on Sunday. Celebrating its 25th year, the parade took place along Main Street/ Route 25A and feature festive holiday floats to kick off the season. Presented by the Stony Brook Rotary Club, this year’s Grand Marshal was David Prestia. The Setauket Firehouse hosted pre-parade festivities with music and performances by Ward Melville High School Students. (TBRNews)
5. The memory of a young man from Stony Brook has inspired a lacrosse jamboree that will raise money for scholarships for Ward Melville High School student-athletes. Joseph LaRosa graduated from WMHS in 2017 and left behind an impressive sports legacy, and in the few years after high school, he taught the community about courage. This past August, LaRosa died after a battle with the cancer desmoplastic small round cell tumor sarcoma. (TBRNews)

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Today in Three Village:

• ClubHouse Kids- Comsewogue Public Library. (1:30 p.m.)
• Board Meeting - Port Jefferson Free Library. (6 p.m.)
• Ginger Bread Cookie Decorating (Comsewogue). (6 p.m.)
• HSE - Winter Concert III - Smithtown High School-East. (7 p.m.)
• Graduate Jazz Combos - Stony Brook University. (7 p.m.)

From my notebook:

• As part of their study of a foreign language, Ward Melville High School French students recently met comedian and poet Amélie Prévost for an online "Atelier de Poesie," or a poetry slam workshop. (Press Release Desk)
• The Next Chapter, a forthcoming independent bookstore in Huntington that the founder hopes will "reincarnate" the spirit of Book Revue, reached its $250,000 fundraising goal Saturday. (Newsday)
• Two individuals were arrested in connection with a shooting that took place in Norwalk Friday night, injuring one person. (WTNH.com)
• In Our Lives, News 12's Gwen Edwards talks to Connect-Us' Pam Lewis about the upcoming celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth at the Klein Memorial Auditorium in Bridgeport. (News 12 Long Island)

From our sponsors — thanks for supporting local news!

Events:

• WEBINAR Italian Architecture Through the Ages: The Marvels of Imperial Rome (Dec. 14)
• Big Apple Circus is NOW OPEN in New York City! (Dec. 17)
• Sofiya Levchenko, Violin Recital - Stony Brook University. (Dec. 14)
• Add your event

Announcements:

• Behind The Scoreboard – Ed Sullivan’s Huge Lesson For The World (Details)
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You're all caught up for today. See you all tomorrow morning for another update!

— Debora Whitehead

About me: Debora Whitehead is a dedicated wife and homeschooling mom from Coram, NY. She has a bachelor's degree in Education and loves to teach and write. Her passion for the community reflects on her volunteering work at the "Mariposa Ministry, " a nonprofit family assistance program. One of her strongest believes is Jesus Christ and when she is not parenting, teaching or reading, she is writing. One of her favorites quotes is: " The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."- Eleanor Roosevelt.