Community Columns

Mattituck News: Students shined in ‘The Wedding Singer’

The North Fork Community Theatre in Mattituck rehearses this summer’s Youth on Stage musical, “The Wedding Singer” in July.  (Credit: Katharine Schroeder)
The North Fork Community Theatre in Mattituck rehearses this summer’s Youth on Stage musical, “The Wedding Singer” in July. (Credit: Katharine Schroeder)

Making the most of the summer always means attending the youth production at North Fork Community Theatre. “The Wedding Singer” was an entertaining evening and it was so much fun seeing so many Mattituck students on stage. Although I loved the entire cast, Ryan Zlatniski owned his role! Great job! 

I ran into Nora and Tom Libretto at the show, who filled me in on the success of two of their sons. Maj. Michael Libretto was recently appointed a judge in the U.S. Marine Corps. He is stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and lives in Hampstead, N.C., with his wife, Janelle, and children, Skyler and Dominic. Mark Libretto was recently made a captain with JetBlue Airlines and is teaching at JetBlue University in Orlando, Fla. He and his wife, Angela, live in Clermont, Fla., with son Liam and are expecting a second son in November.

Last time, I wrote about the number of local graduates who travel the world. Carly Batist, MHS Class of 2012, has been added to that growing list and is currently on a seven-week internship at Wildtracks in northern Belize, working at the manatee and primate rehab center. Carly attends Cornell University, majoring in animal science, and will spend her junior year studying at Wageningen Research University in the Netherlands.

Happy birthday wishes go out in the next two weeks to Don Feiler, Jim Murphy, Mary Trentalange, Antonia Quintieri, Brandon Gholson, Jackie Papadopoulos, Melanie Keller, Kevin Diffley, Kevin Cande, Jason Zaweski, Clay Austin, Cheryl Lynch and Barbara Smith.

Lt. Karl (K.C.) Cutler will arrive home on leave from Fort Sill, Okla., in time to celebrate his 25th birthday Aug. 17. After completing his Field Artillery Basic Officers’ Leadership Course, he remained at Fort Sill to attend several Follow On Schools. After a few short days on the North Fork, Lt. Cutler will be stationed permanently at Fort Riley in Kansas.

I had the pleasure of running into a very special person last week at the library. Those of us whose children learned to swim thanks to the expertise of Kathy Connelly can understand how excited I was to see her. Kathy continues to visit the North Fork every summer to teach kids to be safe in the water and now finds herself teaching the children of children she taught many years ago. During the rest of the year, Kathy is a computer teacher in Wisconsin. So nice to see you, Kathy!

‘The Anniversary Waltz’ will play this month for the following lovebirds: Alexandra and Dimitri Papadopoulos, Eric and Gail Bressler and Pat and Don Feiler.

Congratulations to recent college graduate Niki Benedetto, who landed herself a great job at a design firm in the Big Apple.

Bev Wowak reminds everyone that the August book discussion on Ken Follett’s “Eye of the Needle” will be held Thursday, Aug. 28, at 4 p.m.

Lenny Llewellyn has been recognized for 55 years of service as a New York State boating instructor. Any organization or yacht club interested in scheduling boat safety courses for next summer is encouraged to call Lenny at 298-4793.

R031209_Arslanian_RContact Mattituck columnist Pat Arslanian at [email protected] or 298-8489.