POSTHUMOUS HONOR Willow Lake Trail renamed for Pat Dolan BY ANTHONY O’REILLY An overpass in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park has been dedicated to the memory of Patricia Dolan, the founder and first president of the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Conservancy. Local residents and elected officials gathered on Sunday, April 21 to rename the Willow Lake Trail as the Pat Dolan Trail. The trail’s highlight is a new bird blind, a four-wall metal shelter that allows bird watchers to look out on the skyline. Dolan often used the trail as a place to go birding. Park administrator Janice Melnick praised Dolan as an important part of improving the park in recent years. After Dolan’s death, Melnick said she heard from the Conservancy about dedicating part of the park to Dolan. “We’re happy to be able to do this,” Melnick said. “We had tremendous support from elected officials.” Dolan died on November 15, 2011 after being struck by a car. Elected officials including Borough President Helen Marshall and Assemblymember Michael Simanowitz spoke fondly of Dolan, saying they often heard from her about improving the park. According to Conservancy president Jean Silva, the trail was a favorite location of Dolan’s. Even during the winter, she enjoyed walking the path with her father. Silva said several volunteers have worked over the past few weeks to beautify the park in advance of the dedication ceremony, adding that there is still work to be done. “The volunteers did some great work,” she said. “We’re really looking for people to support this.” FLUSHING TOWN HALL TO HOST JAZZ FEST BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO Jazz is coming to Flushing Town Hall. The town hall and the Queens Jazz OverGround (QJOG), which promotes jazz education and musical enrichment, are hosting the first annual Spring Jazz Festival on Saturday, April 27. Three founding members of QJOG, a nonprofit collective, along with Ellen Kodadek, Flushing Town Hall executive and artistic director, trumpeted the event on Tuesday, April 23. Guitarist Amanda Monaco, bassist Mark Wade and trumpeter Josh Deutsch also played an original composition by Deutsch called “Take the 7 train.” “It’s going to be a very fun learning experience,” Kodadek said. It will “strengthen jazz for years to come.” The free festival will begin at noon and run through 9:30 p.m. It will feature free music workshops for children and adults, master classes for students and live performances by seven Queensbased jazz groups playing original pieces. Renowned saxophone and flute player James Spaulding is scheduled to perform. The festival will also feature the talents of middle and high school bands. The event is free and open to the public at Flushing Town Hall, located at 137-35 Northern Boulevard. The last performance of the evening is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. “We welcome as many walkins as we can fit in here,” said Wade. The festival is part of Flushing Town Hall’s jam session series designed to bring jazz to members of different communities. 22 North Shore Towers Courier n May 2013
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