C R Y D E R P O I N T 16 APRIL Battle of the Beards crowns champion BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO Face fuzz from near and far made its way to Astoria to try and win the title of best of the beards. The Quays, a corner bar that has been located at 45-02 30th Ave. for over 40 years, hosted the western Queens neighborhood’s inaugural Battle of the Beards on Tuesday, April 8, during a night filled with local music and drinks. A total of 23 competitors tricked out their facial hair, from full-grown beards to mustaches. James Albertelli, 50, came representing the Gotham City Beard Alliance to take part in his first competition. “I haven’t seen my chin in 12 years,” said the Flushing native who now lives in Manhattan. “I hate to shave. It’s easier to grow it.” Other competitors included Adam Bierton, who has held titles for his stylish mustache, and retired journalist Robert Mullen, also known as “Hollywood Bob.” The concept of the event and contest came together after members of the local Astoria band The Green Gallows worked together with Tim House, who co-owns The Quays with Dee Flattery, to put together a show. The contest was inspired by band member Sean Ryan Donnelly’s beard. Dan Roberts, one of the founding members of the Long Island Beard & Mustache Society, took home fi rst place at Astoria’s inaugural Battle of the Beards. “Sean has such a great beard and it’s that time of year when people want to shave off their beards,” said Adam Steiner, lead vocalist for The Green Gallows. “It’s a great farewell to winter.” The other members of the band are Astoria residents Blake Adam “Double Wide” Smith and Cara Cooley. 16 CRYDER POINT COURIER | APRIL 2014 | WWW.QUEENSCOURIER.COM THE COURIER/Photo by Angy Altamirano The night began with performances from Homesick Hound Dogs, Robbie Cook and The Green Gallows. After the performances, the first group of beards and mustaches was judged by audience applause. After two more rounds of judging, the final three came down to first place winner Dan Roberts, The Green Gallows’ Donnelly, who snatched second, and Guido Cappello, who took home third. “To win is great but to win in New York is even better. Here is home. It brings a lot of emotion. It makes me feel so good,” said Roberts, who is from Mattituck, New York, and is one of the founding members of the Long Island Beard & Mustache Society. “It’s not about having a beard. It’s all about having a good time.” Roberts, who has been growing his winning beard for almost three years and has taken part in various national competitions, took home an aged bottle of Jameson whiskey and a pair of Mets tickets. The owners of the Astoria bar plan to continue with the competition for the following year and perhaps also add a separate mustache contest to the list of events. “People came from miles around, and a lot of new blood came to the bar,” House said. “I want the talent to gravitate here.” The Quays has been the backdrop for a scene in 1993’s “A Bronx Tale” and, most recently, the pilot episode of CBS’s “Elementary.” For more Battle of the Beards photos, visit wwww.queenscourier. com. A celebration a century in the making BY LIAM LA GUERRE Woodrow Wilson was president, Babe Ruth played his first professional game and the world’s first transcontinental telephone line was established, the year Maria Regina Lucarelli was born. Lucarelli, a resident of Brandywine Senior Living at the Savoy in Little Neck, will turn 100 years old on Sunday, April 13, and she will have a birthday party at the senior home to celebrate her experiences during the last century. To reach the century mark, Lucarelli didn’t have to rely on a fountain of youth or a special anti-aging potion. Her advice to younger people is to just take it easy. “You let each day go with whatever happens,” she said. “Go with the flow.” Lucarelli’s life has been a wild ride through some of history’s darkest moments, including World Wars I and II and the Great Depression, as she struggled to achieve the “American Dream.” Lucarelli was born in Toritto, Italy, in 1914. As a child, she traveled with her parents to America, where she completed junior high school and learned English. Eventually, she moved back to Italy to settle down and help her family during the Great Depression. In 1947, she married Filippo Lucarelli, a conductor and musician, and the pair had two daughters in Italy. In 1953, when the family decided to board a ship to move to America permanently, the couple learned at the last minute that Filippo’s papers weren’t in order. She went alone and he remained in Italy with the children. Initially, the problem with Filippo’s papers should have taken a few weeks to fix, but ended up splitting the family up for about seven months, becoming the most devastating period of Lucarelli’s life. “That was the biggest obstacle I think my mother and father had to face,” said Lucarelli’s daughter, Chiara Ceglian. “I just can’t imagine the heartache that everyone felt at that time.” After the family was reunited, they lived in a small apartment near Gramercy Park in Manhattan, where the rent was a bargain at $50 a month. In America, Lucarelli used her skills as a seamstress to become a fashion designer working for department stores, Brandywine Senior Living will host a century birthday party for Maria Regina Lucarelli such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman. She also mended clothes for private clients, “saving every penny” she earned, Ceglian said. After Lucarelli gave birth to her final daughter, the family moved to a house in Long Island with a relative. Then Lucarelli used her savings to buy her own THE COURIER/Photo by Liam La Guerre house in Long Island, where she remained until she retired. Her daughters are hosting her century birthday party, but cake and drinks aren’t on Lucarelli’s mind these days. “I made it through the bad,” said Lucarelli, who is a great-grandmother of two. “I’m happy to be alive.”
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