Midnight Oils Exhibition, October 4 – November 1, 2008

This Halloween season, The Smithtown Township Arts Council will present Midnight Oils, a fine arts exhibition celebrating frightening subject matters cast in a philosophic, romantic, or humorous light. The exhibit will be on view at The Mills Pond House Gallery in St. James, October 4 – November 1, 2008. The public is invited to an opening reception Saturday, October 11, 5-7 pm to meet exhibiting artists and view their work.

The exhibition will include a gargantuan 7-foot-tall statue, as well as many other captivating works by local, national and international artists. Juror Alain Khadem, a Long Island-based artist, specializes in vantisa art, a form that marries well with the spirit of Halloween. He was recently featured in The New York Times as one of the national exhibitors in STAC’s Digital Long Island exhibition. In addition to receiving a recognition award from the Hopper House Art Center in Nyack, he also won the weathervane design contest for the EEAC Carriage House in the Town of Riverhead.

Midnight Oils will be part of The Full Moon Festival on The Mills Pond House grounds. During this month-long celebration of Halloween Lore, The Smithtown Township Arts Council will be sponsoring its highly popular House of Horrors October 10 – October 31, 2008.  Khadem will be hosting Omnia Vanitas, a flash presentation focusing on the significance of iconic objects and symbols in vanitas art, and there will be a Ghoulish Gala, a costume contest (details and date to be announced soon).

For full schedule and calendar of events, please go to www.stacarts.org

All proceeds from the festival will go to support the St. James Fire Dept. Ambulance Co.,  and The Smithtown Township Arts Council with its wide range of music and art programs.

For more information, call the Smithtown Township Arts Council at 631-862-6575, or visit www.stacarts.org.

The Smithtown Township Arts Council is a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization

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Smithtown Township Arts Council
Mills Pond House Gallery
660 Route 25A
St. James, NY 11780
www.stacarts.org
Contact: press@stacarts.org
(631) 862-6575

Psychics Not Only Help Police, but Everyday People

(SMITHTOWN, New York) – During unstable economic times, more people are concerned about layoffs, bills and what will come in the future. While some turn to financial planners or career counselors, others turn to psychics.  “There is great relief in knowing what is to come and being able to prepare,” said Melody Bard, a New York Psychic trained by her famous mother Yolana Bard. “I get a lot of people interested in what’s to come both financially and in other areas of life.”

Bard studied for nearly 20 years under her famous psychic/author mother, the late Yolana Bard, who began a career as a psychic to New York City socialites. Melody Bard worked to hone her natural intuitive abilities, and while she has worked with both law enforcement to track down criminals, she has a real passion for working with everyday people.

“These are human questions – what’s to come of me? Will I have a job in a year or be living on the street?” said Bard. “In these economic times, we begin to ask these questions.  I was homeless at one time and know firsthand what it feels like to lose everything.”

Bard, Yolana’s only daughter, inherited her psychic practice, as well as her psychic talents. With a confidential client
list including diplomats, celebrities and executives, she has used her talents to help with Past Life Regression,
police cases and even paranormal investigations. Though working with the general public is one of her most
fulfilling activities.

“It’s really exciting for me to be able to help someone get clarity in just one psychic reading,” said Bard.
“Whether it’s a world leader or a school teacher, I still feel I’ve made a big difference.”  Yolana Bard, Melody’s late mother, was called the “Queen of Psychics” and written about in The New York Times and other media. She was at one time named “New York’s Best Psychic.”  Bard offers private consultations for new clients. Half hour phone consultations are $150.00, and full hour are $225.00.

For more information, email Melody Bard at:
justonemelody (at) @yahoo.com, or call 1-(631) 406-6123. Or visit www.justonemelody.com

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Explore your creativity at the Mills Pond House this fall and winter.

Smithtown Township Arts Council announces its Fall art class program for students ages pre-K through high school. Class sizes are small and geared toward each student’s ability level. Classes are non competitive and taught by professional artists and educators.

We register students through the first day of class where spaces exist.

Call 631 862-6575 for a brochure or visit www.stacarts.org/classes

Art Rocks (ages 3-5), Flipbook Animation (ages 8-12), Fashion Illustration for Beginners (ages 9-12) ,Painting from Life (ages 14-up), are a few of the many classes being offered.

The Smithtown Township Arts Council is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

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Smithtown Township Arts Council
Mills Pond House Gallery
660 Route 25A
St. James, NY 11780
Phone: 631-862-6575, Fax: 631-862-8730
www.stacarts.org
e-mail: press (at) stacarts.org

Local Company Launches YourRetirementToday.com

Syosset, NY - New Yorkers, are you concerned with your Retirement? Are you wondering how you can protect your hard earned money? A few strokes on your keypad can help get you the information you need to know to get ahead in this rough economy.

There now exists a website www.YourRetirementToday.com to help give you insight and a FREE newsletter to help you to better get a hold on your Retirement nest egg.

With the financial landscape constantly changing, the only thing we know for certain is, it will continue to change.  We’ve seen first hand a vast economic reshuffling of not only financial markets domestically but globally.  We’ve seen skyrocketing gas prices, major economic institutions closing their doors, the government taking over banks and the real estate market crashing.

The newsletter titled “The Top 10 secrets on how to protect your Retirement” is a great quick read to help you get a leg up in this struggling economy. 

If you live in the New York area and want to protect your Retirement, please visit www.YourRetirementToday.com to request your Free Copy today!

Isn’t it about time you put your Retirement First?

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Vivid Dream Public Relations
VividDreamManagement (at) gmail.com

Jeb Ladouceur to Speak at the Mills Pond House in St. James

Local novelist Jeb Ladouceur will be the featured speaker for the Smithtown Book Club’s October meeting. May Chasteen, president of the venerable literary organization announced that the club will hold its October meeting at the historic Mills Pond House, 660 Route 25A, St. James. The program is scheduled to begin at 8:15 PM on Tuesday night, Oct. 21st.

In addition to his prepared remarks, the Smithtown author will read excerpts from his books ‘Frisco’ and ‘The Palindrome Plot.’ A question and answer session will follow and complimentary refreshments will be served. The private Smithtown Book Club has opened this meeting to the public and admission is free, according to program chair, Lisa Scott. She asks, however, that those planning to attend RSVP to 724-3717, since seating may be limited.

The esteemed book club, founded in 1937, has arranged special accommodations at the Mills Pond House in anticipation of a popular turnout like those the local writer has generated at the Huntington Book Revue and Borders in Lake Grove.

Mr. Ladouceur will answer and discuss the five questions he is asked most frequently when touring bookstores, colleges, and libraries, including: “Where do you get the ideas for your novels?” The author’s publicist, Debbie Lange Fifer, said that he will personalize copies of his celebrated thrillers for guests who request it.

Ladouceur’s appearance follows a widely anticipated engagement at the Suffolk County Ethical Culture Society in Dix Hills. Subsequent to the Smithtown Book Club event, his ongoing tour takes him to upstate Warwick in the Lower Hudson Valley, home of the renowned Baby Grand Books.

Jeb Ladouceur is recognized throughout The Island for his successful career in advertising, public relations, and publishing. A former New York State Senate Candidate and charter member of Governor Mario Cuomo’s arson task force, the author is founder and Publisher Emeritus of The Fire News, circulated continuously among firefighters since 1973. He and his wife Elizabeth have lived in the ‘Landing’ area of Smithtown for some fifty years.

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Smithtown Township Arts Council
Mills Pond House Gallery
660 Route 25A
St. James, NY 11780
www.stacarts.org -  website
press (at) stacarts.org  -  press contact
phone- 631-862-6575

New Music Gets Right to the Heart; Spans Folk, Rock, Roots and Americana Genres
 
(Long Island, N.Y.) Long Island-based folk-rock artist Joe Iadanza has brought together a unique group of classically trained, jazz-schooled and folk-versed musicians to craft an inspired new album that fondly tips its hat to songwriters from the generation of James Taylor, Cat Stevens and Jim Croce.
 
Featuring original songs by Iadanza (guitars and vocals), Traveling Salesman is a heart-opening — sometimes foot-stompin’ — album that spans the genres of folk, rock, roots and Americana, while exploring themes of love, stepping out into the world, and learning to enjoy the ride.  
 
Iadanza’s percussive, finger-style grooves and soaring poetic vocals are accented by the musical talents of his core band: Carolin Pook (violin), Craig Akin (double bass) and Joe Hertenstein (drums and percussion).  Folk harmony trio Gathering Time (comprised of Glen Roethel, Hillary Foxsong and Stuart Markus) arranged and performs extensive backing vocals, while taking the lead on the album’s closing track.  David Mowry, of the noted Philadelphia-based father and son duo Beaucoup Blue, plays slide-dobro on one of the album’s tracks.  “Collaborating with friends and giving these talented musicians the freedom to create from their own perspective contributes to the album’s unique sound,” says Iadanza, who previously toured extensively in the Northeast as “Joe Songwriter.”
 
Co-produced by Iadanza and recording/mixing engineer Jon Castelli at Sound Surgeon Long Island studios in Smithtown , New York , Traveling Salesman was mastered by Nathan Dantzler at The Hit Lab.
 
Traveling Salesman is available at select retailers, live shows, and online at CD Baby, itunes, www.DigStation.com, www.amazon.com and www.joeiadanza.com. A U.S. tour to support the new release is being planned for this winter.
 
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Dowling College To Host Lecture On “Race-Conscious Affirmative Action”

OAKDALE, NY - In celebration of Dowling College’s Annual Theme on the topic of “Diversity” Dr. Donald Beahm, Associate Professor of Political Science, will present “Race-Conscious Affirmative Action” on Tuesday, October 14th at 2:30 p.m. in the Fortunoff Hall Hunt Room at the historic Rudolph Campus in Oakdale.  This event is free and open to the public.

Affirmative action has come to be one of the most controversial issues of the last forty years. This presentation will focus on Supreme Court rulings that pertain primarily to race-conscious affirmative action. The consideration of race as it relates to employment decisions, admission to graduate and professional schools, and the awarding of governmental
contracts, to name a few,  has lead to a great deal of confusion and misunderstanding about what affirmative action was meant to accomplish. Mischaracterization of Supreme Court rulings by public officials often has lead to further mystification on the part of the public regarding affirmative action. This examination of affirmative action will not only discuss where Court doctrine has taken us in the past, but it will also explore where it might lead us in the future.

About Dowling College
Dowling College is an independent, coeducational college that serves more than 6,500 students at its historic Rudolph Campus on the banks of the Connetquot River in Oakdale, NY, and the 105-acre Brookhaven Campus in eastern Long Island and a business center located near the Nassau-Suffolk border in Melville. Dowling offers Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees in several disciplines through its four schools: Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Education.

If you want it done right….do it yourself.

Many times have you heard that said? One woman from Long Island actually took that challenge literally. Although tired of hearing her friends complain about dating opportunities being slim to none for the over fifty crowd, it took one of her friends to actually be turned away from a speed dating event because she was ‘too old’, to motivate this women into taking action into her own hands.

JoAnne Kong has established a company called Get Smart About Dating, a dating service that works only with individuals aged 45 and over, providing dating opportunities for singles in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond.

Ms. Kong, a New York State Certified Public Accountant, has over 25 years of business experience, predominantly, as you would expect, in the financial business arena. So why would she think she could successfully establish and run a “dating” service? “There are some basic business principles that always need to be followed to make any business successful” she says.

“Any entrepreneur must do her homework; research the market needs, evaluate the competition, develop a good product, compile a business plan and consistently evaluate and modify accordingly”. Ms. Kong says “The market is there. Long Island is packed with baby boomers; successful, interesting, professional singles who don’t have the time to look for a match on line. These individuals are perfect for the speed dating process as they know what they want, are confident and decisive. However, not just any speed dating process will work for them”

Get Smart About Dating treats these individuals with the respect they deserve. “We don’t check your ID at the door nor treat you like an adolescent, as some other services often do.”

“We recognize there are different challenges facing the mature dater and we have modified the speed dating processes accordingly. And we always remember that, as any challenges come along, if we are prepared and watching for them, along come opportunities as well.”

Get Smart About Dating is just starting out, but the foundation seems to be in place for a very success business.

You can learn more about Get Smart About Dating and its events by going to its website www.GetSmartAboutDating.com

Dowling College Celebrates Turning 40 By Running a Year-Long Blog Documenting the 1960’s

(OAKDALE, N.Y.) - To document the 40th anniversary of Dowling College as an independent institution, the Dowling College Library is running a year-long blog entitled Born in the Sixties: The First Year of Dowling College, 1968-69.  Week by week, using digitized text and images from the Library’s Archives, Born in the Sixties recaps what was happening on campus and in the world forty years ago. Text and images taken from the student newspaper, the College yearbook and other documents describe the first twelve months of the College, set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, the 1968 Presidential Election and the run-up to the lunar landing.

Hosted on the Wordpress platform, Born in the Sixties runs from September 2008 through August 2009 at http://dowling1968.wordpress.com. All images used on the blog will also appear on the Library’s Flickr account at http://flickr.com/photos/dclibrary/.

Throughout the year we will also be posting podcast interviews with Dowling faculty, alumni and community members discussing the history of the College and various aspects of life in the 1960s. Topics include former NASA engineer Fred Zito, Ed.D, ’02 discussing his work with Grumman on the lunar landing module, and Edgar Award-winning mystery writer Mike Jahn, ’65, relating what it was like as the first Rock and Roll critic for the New York Times, covering Woodstock and the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and The Doors.

All viewers are invited to comment on the blog, add suggestions and ask questions about our history. If you have any Dowling related memorabilia or photos from the late 1960s and would like to share them with this project, please contact Chris Kretz at 631-244-3396 or at kretzc@dowling.edu.

About Dowling College
Dowling College is an independent, coeducational college that serves more than 6,500 students at its historic Rudolph Campus on the banks of the Connetquot River in Oakdale, NY, and the 105-acre Brookhaven Campus in eastern Long Island and a business center located near the Nassau-Suffolk border in Melville. Dowling offers Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees in several disciplines through its four schools: Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Education.

YogaFit Benefits New York Communities at the 2008 Teacher Training Workshops

Awaken your spirit and help your community by joining YogaFit for the 2008 Teacher Training workshops in New York, NY on October 18-19, 2008!  Fitness trainers, massage therapists, group exercise instructors, and enthusiasts have the opportunity to participate in the best yoga training program worldwide.

This informative two-day workshop gives instructors the tools to create dynamic, user-friendly, fitness-oriented yoga classes. The learning includes correct physical execution, transitions and modifications to yoga poses, sequencing, class formats, effective ways to communicate the mind/body connection, and methods of developing safe teaching skills for 40+ poses. Trainees begin with level 1, which is designed for beginners teaching yoga, practicing yoga, and learning yoga. For experienced Yoga instructors, this workshop is designed to offer new skills to teach Yoga classes in the mainstream health club or gym environment, focusing on the physical fitness benefits of traditional yoga poses. There are no prerequisites, only the desire to learn and commitment to attend.

What makes YogaFit especially unique is the company’s mission to bring Yoga to the masses. When only 10% of the U.S. population belongs to a health club, YogaFit plays an active role in getting people moving and requires every YogaFit Level One trainee to perform 8 hours of practice teaching in a community service setting before receiving a Certificate of Completion. YogaFit trainees will bring the practice and benefits of Yoga to your neighboring communities, such as seniors in long term care homes, cancer patients and survivors, disabled persons, incarcerated persons, terminally ill persons, children, mentally challenged individuals and military servants, just to name a few. The benefits of YogaFit’s socially responsible program are endless for local communities.

YogaFit is also dedicated to community service via community outreach programs from their corporate headquarters in Torrance, CA and partner studios across the world. To gain a certificate of completion, participants in the YogaFit Teacher Training must donate 8 classes to a group of people who normally would not have the opportunity to take yoga. YogaFit trainees have worked with Handicap, Seniors, Children, Teachers, Stressed out Corporate Executives, Teens at Risk, HIV + , breast Cancer Survivors and others. YogaFit has changed the lives of many in the past and will give the same opportunity to local residents.

YogaFit is the hottest trend of the millennium. YogaFit overcomes the mystery of yoga by delivering a practical, user-friendly style, which is accessible, understandable, and doable by individuals at any level of fitness. The YogaFit style tightens and tones the entire body, enhances balance, improves flexibility and builds core strength by combining traditional fitness training, focused breathing and strength building through yoga poses. The result is a mind-body workout that improves health, athletic performance and mental acuity in people of all ages and fitness levels.

“If you can breathe, you can practice yoga,” says Beth Shaw, founder and president of YogaFit.

YogaFit has trained over 90,000 fitness professionals and yoga instructors at facilities in the U.S. and internationally, and has been integral in the practice of yoga becoming an primary part of health club, gym and spa programs throughout the world. Taught by YogaFit-trained instructors with in-depth experience and skills in both yoga and fitness, the YogaFit method is the only nationally recognized CEC partner for ACE, and been a member of IHRSA since 1997. It is also the only yoga instruction certified by TSI NYSC WCS BCS PSC - Fitness Clubs. Team YogaFit has 50 National trainers currently.

To register for the 2008 YogaFit Teacher Training in New York, NY, visit the YogaFit website at www.yogafit.com. You can also send a payment completed registration form to YogaFit, 2321 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, CA 90501. or call 888-786-3111, ext. 222 or 223.