Columns

Monday Briefing: The only place where contests are held for Oscar picks and naming a wild turkey

BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | Help us name the turkey that's been roaming Polish Town the past couple weeks.

Maybe the Polish eagle should be changed to a turkey. That’s one joke Polish Town resident and News-Review photographer Barbaraellen Koch emailed me over the weekend, in a thread about a wild turkey that’s been seen roaming around Polish Town for about two weeks now.

We spoke with some of BE’s neighbors this week, including one woman who said the turkey has been stopping by for food every day, and has even spotted it playing with her dog.

Of course it’s not too uncommon to see wild turkey roaming the East End. But one turkey who keeps coming back all by himself, day after day?

Barbaraellen had the idea this week that we should have a naming contest so Polish Town residents have something to call their new friendly mascot.

Leave a comment below or email me to let us know what you think the turkey should be called. We’ll announce the winning name on Page 10 of Thursday’s paper.

• Speaking of contests, the Second Annual Times/Review Academy Awards Contest will be back Thursday.

Once again we’ll be giving away a $100 gift certificate for Mattituck Cinemas to one reader who correctly identifies the Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress winners at Sunday’s Academy Awards.

One change to the contest this year will be that we will not just give it to the first person who comments with six correct picks. Instead we will enter the names of all the winners for a random drawing, this way it’s not a speed contest.

Having seen nearly all the nominated films — I’ll have seen them all within the next several days — I’ll give my prognostications online and in the paper Thursday. Once my column is published online at 6 a.m. Thursday you can begin leaving your picks of who you think will win in a comment at the bottom of my column. We’ll close commenting at 7 p.m. Sunday. We’ll also allow you to enter your picks with a comment below for those of you who want to enter now before you forget,

Here’s a list of all this year’s nominees. Good luck!

• Check back on the site later this morning for our preview of three basketball games involving North Fork teams today. We’ll have a reporter/blogger at each game, so if you can’t make any of tonight’s contests just follow along with the play-by-play on our website.

• Anybody else like chili and chicken salad as much as I do?

• In case you missed it this weekend there were more problems at the Budget Host Inn in Riverside.

• Last but not least, I couldn’t end this column without mentioning Linsanity (it’s actually mandated now that all media outlets mention Linsanity once a day). As a Knicks season ticket holder the past two years, I couldn’t be more pleased with Jeremy Lin’s rapid rise to NBA superstar. Here’s to hoping his story gives people in our community who’ve been told they can’t do something new hope that they can.

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