Greenport: GFD Rescue Squad to host its annual chicken dinner fundraiser at Soundview Oct. 12

What happened to September? One more day and we’re into the 10th month of the year! Slow down, world; I need to catch up!

Congratulations to the Greenport PTA, which raised over $3,000 at Saturday’s chinese auction. While I know it was a group effort, I also know there was a driving force behind it all, so a great big round of applause goes out to Sandy Martocchia for the insane amount of time she put into making it such a huge success.

I found out this week that in addition to being chosen to perform in the All-State concert this year, Shawn Peterson was selected to represent Greenport in the orchestra at the NYSCAME All-County Music Festival in November. Way to go, Shawn!

Steven Webb, son of Lynn Webb and grandson of Elise Webb, all of Greenport, will be honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps on Sept. 30. He completed one tour of duty in Iraq and two tours in Afghanistan. He will complete four years of military service with a rank of Cpl. E4. Thank you, Steve.

St. Peter’s Lutheran Church will hold a special Blessing of the Animals service on Saturday, Oct. 1, at 4 p.m. All are welcome to bring their pets. For more information, call 477-0662.

The Greenport Fire Department Rescue Squad will hold its annual chicken dinner fundraiser at the Soundview on Wednesday, Oct. 12, from noon to 8 p.m. Tickets are $18 per person and are available from any squad member, at the door, or by calling Dan Creedon at 477-8717.

Congratulations to the Porter football team for their impressive 41-16 win over The Stony Brook School last Friday evening. They have another home game this week, but don’t show up on Friday evening. For this week only, they’re going back to the old way of doing things and the game will take place Saturday at 2 p.m., when the Porters host the Mount Sinai Mustangs.

In conjunction with Fire Prevention Week, the junior members of the Greenport Fire Department will raffle off a Basket of Prevention containing a fire extinguisher, smoke detectors, a CO2 detector, lock box and a rope ladder. Most items were donated by local merchants. You can buy tickets at $1 each or six for $5 from any junior member or by calling Samantha Bumble at 477-6174. The raffle ends Sunday, Oct. 9.

One of the benefits of writing this column is that you get to meet some pretty wonderful people, even if it is via telephone. That happened this week when I got a call from Dr. Robert Savitt, who told me he and his wife, Reathel, were recently the guests of honor at a celebration of their 70th wedding anniversary. That’s not a typo, folks; they celebrated 70 years of wedded bliss. A very happy anniversary to you both!

Celebrating birthdays this week are Damon Rallis on the 29th; Joann Caravello-Modica on the 30th; Scott Ferguson on Oct. 1; Madison Harrison on the 2nd; Kristy Hansen, “Bumpy” Grilli, Sue Rogers, Mike Goldsmith, Joanie Kart, Kathy Hubbard, Jade Creighton, Denise Tjornhom and Teresa Bushey on the 3rd; Liz Morrison, Julie Terry Cartner and my cousin Paula Blados Reeve on the 4th; another cousin, Cassady Heaney, as well as Ryan Rempe, Chrissy McElroy and Jessica Henderson on the 5th.

Celebrating the day they said ‘I do’ are Chris and Paul Dinizio, whose 33rd anniversary is Oct. 1; Margaret and John Lellman, marking their 24th anniversary on Oct. 3; and my amazing cousin and her exceptional husband, Kathy and Bob Wallace, who will toast 37 years together on Oct. 4.